Sagat Petchyindee Session 3 - Muay Maat Tigers and Snakes (67 min)

Patrons can listen to this session also as a podcast, along with our thoughts here.

Above  is my third session with Sagat and probably my favorite so far. He is such an incredible energy - there is nobody like him - and his power and efficiency is just out of this world. But what I like so much about this one is the detail in which he goes through each thing that he shows me. You really get to see how systematic his weight transitions and economy of movement is. The viciousness of his counters is just this inherent thing, like it's inextricable from whatever he's doing, rather than the point of what he's doing. A tiger is going to do tiger things, kind of.

In our last session, he went through every weapon as if it were a system. Like, add all these elements together and you have Muay Thai. That's beautiful and it's a wonderful thing in the sense of archiving a series of weapons. But this one, in its depth and detail, feels more like Sagat. It feels more like every single thing he showed me was a variation on the theme of how to play his particular music. And it's a fucking awesome jam.

Library Coffee Podcast 

To just make Patreon even better Kevin and I started putting together 30 minute talks on individual sessions, spontaneous big idea takes on what each new Muay Thai Library experience is about. You can watch it on YouTube, or listen in podcast form. If you listen as a podcast you also get my entire commentary audio of the session itself as part of the podcast.

Watch Library Coffee on YouTube 

watch the Sagat Library Coffee on YouTube here.

Listen as a Podcast

Sagat Petchyindee Library Coffee Podcast #2 (for iTunes)  

Watch the Raw Session

Because Sagat speaks English we've also included a version of the session without my commentary, so you can more clearly listen to what he is saying directly. You can watch that here:

Sagat Petchyindee Session 3 - Raw Feed Supplement | Muay Thai Library 

Some things to look out for in this session:

1) Just watch his shoulders. Like, all the time. See how he pulls the opposite side back so dramatically in order to create reach and power on the side that's striking.

2) Confined vs. Constrained: he keeps everything so close to his body, never breaking his frame, but it's a matter of efficiency rather than a "tightness" in his movements. His elbows stay pinned to his body until they are forced out after he's already rotated. It makes his power unreal. I know it looks like he's barely touching me, and in terms of how hard he can strike, he is only barely touching me.... but Jesus. No mas.

3) Counters inside the opponent's guard: he works on a variety of options for this, but all of them are allowing the opponent's strike to come, blocking in some way, and then just destroying from inside that guard.

4) Parries for a counter: this is just barely moving the opponent's strike out of the way so that you can counter while they're off balance. Like how Quicksilver just kind of moves a bullet out of the way. That's what Sagat's deflections are like. Just super minimal but off-balancing nontheless.

5) The Float-In: Sagat kind of floats in on his straight strikes. It's his way of closing distance when he's already on his way in. But it makes him more 3 Dimensional than I feel when I'm just making sure I go side-to-side in my footwork or rotating from my legs. It's like Karuhat's float and rise on the kick, but it's on his punches and elbows. He never hunches, even if he's crouching.

6) Weight Transfer: watch this all the time. Every second. The way he puts his stance outside of my stance and can cross back and forth, it's like he's swinging an axe through a tree with every single strike. He must have been such a nightmare to fight.

Photo Stills from the Session

If you Enjoyed This Session Here are Others on Similar Themes

#60 Sagat Petchindee Session 2 - All the Strikes Tuned and Dangerous (101 min) watch it here 

One of the great, legendary names of Thailand, Sagat Petchyindee the inspiration for the Street Fighter character, goes through his entire striking philosophy with lots of technical correction and fine tuning. See the secret to his creation of smooth, efficient, explosive power, and witness the amazing man himself.

#38 Sagat Petchyindee (part 2) - Maximum Damage (61 min) watch it here 

Such an anticipated session, part 2 of Sagat Petchyindee, the inspiration of the Sagat Street Fighter character. It's hard to believe, but he's even better in real life. In this session his continues to teach his "stay in your frame" method of bringing maximum efficiency and damage to striking. 

#26 Sagat Petchyindee - Explosive Power (57 min) watch it here 

One of the great fighters in the history of Thailand, and the inspiration of the "Street Fighter" video game character, Sagat is like no other. Here he teaches how power has to come out of the ribs, and your frame, taking the shortest distance to your target, making sure your feet are constantly "organized".

#33 Kru San Sitmonchai - Control of Pace & Distance when Advancing  (56 min) watch it here 

Kru San is a big man but has incredible muay, a lightness to his movement that he transforms into a jai yen advancing Muay Thai style. In this session it's all about. Creating pressure without rushing, using the teep to set up combinations to the body and head, raising ring awareness, and using weapons at the appropriate time in your opponent's fatigue.

#43  Kongsamut Sor. Thanikul - Muay Mat Style (74 min) watch it here

This Lumpinee champion is perhaps most notable for when he lost a fight for the 102 lb Lumpinee belt, against famed Samart. Samart winning his first belt of many. Kongsamut has a beautiful Muay Mat (punchers) style that he mixes with low kicks, very differently than the Pornsanae style. He fights in close, and is constantly twisting, hitting high and low. Any Muay Thai puncher would benefit from the principles in his style.  

#37 Kongtoranee Payakaroon - Power In The Hands (89 min) watch it here 

5x Lumpinee Champion, 2x Fighter of the Year, Kongtoranee teaches the fundamental grounding of strikes that made him one of the most feared heavy-handed fighters in Thailand. Such economy of movement expresses the true beauty in his style, quite different than - but no less admirable - that of his young brother Samart. 

#64 Chatchai Sasakul - Elements of Boxing (72 min) watch it here 

Chatchai is not only a former WBC world champion, he also is the recipient of Thailand's Coach of the Year. He is one of the great striking coaches in the world, and in this session he breaks down all the basics from the footwork on up. Nobody has a more beautiful and potent hands foundation. Watch and learn from a master. 

#63 Robert "Sifu" McInnes - Muay Thai and Shorin Kempo (82 min) watch it here 

Robert "Sifu" McInnes has a huge legacy in Thailand. The other westerner to referee at Lumpinee Stadium, a long co-working relationship with Arjan Yodthong of Sityodthong of the Golden Age, as well as instructor to some of the strongest western and Thai fighters like Peter Aerts, Yodsanan and Sakmongkol. Not only is this session full of technique wisdom, he also recounts the Golden Age which eye witness veracity.

TIP BOX: if you are inspired by what you see and want to show added appreciation you can send gratuity directly to Sagat. Every time I send these extra donations and thank yous the Krus are really touched. Just message $5 or more via PayPal to the address sylvie@8limbs.us, please in the "add a note" section specify "for Sagat". I will transfer the funds, and cover any extra fees.

KRU FUND: additionally, 5% of all Patreon pledges go into my Kru Fund, and is directed back to the Krus and ex-fighters who have helped make this documentary Library possible: http://8limbs.us/muay-thai-thailand/starting-the-kru-fund

Portrait of Sagat's Fists - High Quality Print

Kevin is offering high quality acrylic display prints of his photographic portrait of Sagat's fists. These are only large size prints. 50% of the profit goes to Sagat himself, and 50% to help support his photography. If interested contact him on Instagram where you can follow his photography: IG @kevinvonduuglasittu 

  $400, $525, $700 (to 36"x 24")  + tax and shipping