Muay Thai 101

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to be training with Matee Jedeepitak. I’ve been training for about 8 years both here in the States and in Thailand. I’ve been fortunate to have nothing but outstanding teachers, trainers who for the most part have been fighting since their early childhood.

This was by far the most thorough/technical Muay Thai instruction I’ve ever received. It’s amazing, the longer you train the more you realize you don’t know shit. We started off with some kicking and punching combos, and progressed to Teep (foot jab) drills. 3 days have past and my hip is still sore.

The Picture which was taken by BlackWidow, is of Matee critiquing my shitty right cross and demonstrating a proper right cross. (mat kom)

Matee is going to be opening up a camp, near the campus of Michigan State. Those of you who are within an hours drive should be scrambling to be one of his first students.

Fashion or Tradition?

So it seems like everyday when I walk into the gym I see more and more fighters training in MMA shorts. Most of them do roll, so it isn’t so much a statement, but an issue of practicality. I’m still undecided… I’d sort of feel like a poser, like I’m jumping on the MMA bandwagon. The other half of me thinks that this a natural progression. When Muay Boran became Muay Thai, changes were made fighters wore trunks. Is this where its going ? I guess when I see the guys at Lumpini sporting them I’ll know. I came across these, I’ve never been a big fan of the grappling shorts, but these did catch my eye. Personally I think they are on the pricey side @ $55 Here is a clip of Ganyao and Yodsanklai showing them off.

Dragon Leg’s Got Grill Skills

This weekend I had an opportunity to hangout with Matee “Dragon Leg”Jedeepitak.

Matee confessed that he was initially offended…”Who does this guy think he is?”

“Straight up, Matee is a Muay Thai Legend. With over 190 fights Matee has held the Lumphini and WMC belts numerous times. Currently he’s here in the Bay area training with Neungsiam Samphusri for their upcoming fights in Fresno. Matee is fighting Youseff Ahknikh a legit Dutch fighter, should be a very interesting match.Before I had ever met him, I heard countless stories about his pre-fight antics. Chris Cariaso of fight and fitness told me he once saw Matee drink about 9-10 pints of beer the night before fighting Danny Steel.One of the things that I was surprised to learn, was that Matee didn’t come from established camp. He was “Home schooled”, his dad was his trainer, and his brother the manager. You could say it was a family business. For Sparring partners he would go and train at a local camp for a few hours and head home at the end of the day. For those of you who know how camps in Thailand are set up, this is very rare. As he was coming up the ranks, he said a lot of fighters wouldn’t give him respect or the benefit of the doubt. He said he got a lot of shit from fighters because he wasn’t from an established camp. “What’s the matter… to good for our camp?” He said it only increased his “motivation”. Judging by Matee’s fight record , most of those fools caught a severe beat down.

Matee told me a story of how he originally met Bunkerd. Matee was 17 and Bunkerd was 27, when they met in the Lumpini Stadium ring. Bunkerd was already a veteran of the ring with well over 250+ fights. Bunkerd had accumulated so many injuries that at this point in his career his head was permanently cocked to the right. Matee confessed that he was initially offended… “Who does this guy think he is?” He was sure Bunkerd was taking the piss out of him. It was only only after the fight did he realize Bunkerd couldn’t actually hold his head straight. Anyway I’m training with him on Friday, should be sick. I’ll keep you posted… So what’s with the pic? To make a long story short, Bunkerd was “unable” to man the grill, so Matee stepped up.