#112 Chatchainoi Chaoraioi - The Best Padman in Thailand (64 min)

We've been actually trying to get this session filmed for the Muay Thai Library for years. It's the kind of thing you never seen documented. An absolutely elite padman's fighter-shaping style, explained and show. One of the most special things about Thailand is its filled with vast experience and knowledge, like that of Kru Chat, but we in the West will seldom come in contact with it, especially if we don't find our way to Thailand. 

Kru Chat, above, is in my experienced eyes the best padman in Thailand. I've seen him before, training others at Dejrat Gym in Bangkok, with Arjan Surat, and given the experience of watching him and maybe once doing some rounds with him, I admit I was a little terrified about filming an entire hour with him. He's just so hard. Dejrat, in general, is hard training.... but Kru Chat stands out even amidst that hardness. In this session though, because he's training me from the start he was much less harsh than when I've seen him at full throttle. We get a beautiful introductory hour where he introduces his method, and the vocabulary of a style he brings out in the fighters of the Dejrat gym.  This session is just the first step. 

He's from the first class of Dejrat fighters, from the Golden Age. Back then Arjan Surat was entrusted with handling some of the best fighters of the day, including Boonlai Sor. Tanikul (in the Library), so for Chatchainoi to be from the house of Dejrat and raising his own son in that training as well (he's an incredibly tough stadium fighter named Petchatchai), he truly is from a lineage of just hard fighters. At 108 lbs, Chatchainoi was the first contender for the Lumpinee title, held by Hippy Singmanee. They never had the chance to fight for the belt due to politics, but Chatchainoi faced some intense opponents in Langsuan (at 114 lbs), Lakhin, and Samson Isaan, usually giving up size.

If you're a padman, a coach, a Kru, a teacher... whatever you call yourself in the role of shaping students, this is a session you do not want to miss. It's incredibly informative about how to shape fighters, how to build a fighter, how to structure training around the narrative of a fight. The best padmen in Thailand do this, and they do it almost without any instruction or repeated correction. Each round, Kru Chat has a focus on a particular distance and a particular weapon. But it's not "drilling," in a static sense. It's understanding jang-wa (rhythm) and readability (by judges & audience) by using that weapon at different distances, under proper timing, etc. And he builds through the narrative of a fight, starting with jap and teep, building to scoring rounds with heavy scoring weapons, clinch, and finally how to fight a 5th round against a derning opponent... various ways.

What to look out for:

1) If you are same stance, vs mixed stance:  If you are in a same stance fight (meaning both you and your opponent are Orthodox, or both Southpaw), you use your lead side to juggle and set up for power strikes. If you are mixed stance (one is Orthodox, one is Southpaw), you close your front side with a guard and just fire your power side.

2) Early Round Weapons: a jab, teep and hook are all you need for the first round. But timing, rhythm, juggling distance and readability are important.

3) Pivoting by Compass Headings: Kru Chat makes a big deal about having very clean forward, backward and pivoting movements. I overturn on my pivot and end up facing the corners. I'm not ready to throw anything. He shows me how you just face the center of the rope all the time, pivot clean, ready to fire, on balance, etc. That doesn't mean you can't move linear, it just means when you move like that' you're tracking in order to stay in the same position in relation to your opponent all the time. It's for readability. 

4) Mai Mua: I've been told this a million times. Mua in Thai means cloudy, indistinct, messy, murky... imprecise. It can be translated to "brawling" in English, but it's more nuanced than that. In the round where Kru Chat is teaching me how to dodge or block a kick, then kick back, he's making a point about not being Mua, in that you want your own block and own strike to be readable. Distinct. Precise. Don't hit back as fast as you can, it looks sloppy or it at best negates both the opponent's strike and yours. By taking a beat, you articulate both your block/dodge and your counter.

5) Clinch Position, Elbow to the Sternum: I know this, I teach this, but I don't do it as much as I know I should. Kru Chat emphasizes this position in way that makes it clear that it makes many other positions or grips obsolete. If you get this one right, there's no need for any other. Grip with your elbow in your opponent's sternum and you have control for turns, keeping them locked up and out, they can't swim in, you can turn them easily, and if they try to wiggle out they have to break their roop and you have a perfect window to be dynamic.

6) Fifth Round: Kru Chatchai focuses on a few different options for 5th round, from different distances. Teep, elbow, and headkicks.

7) The Three Stages of Defense: this is important for narrative scoring. Kru Chat talks about how there are 3 ways to defend: block, dodge, or catch and counter. You want a fight to be a progression, so being dynamic and showing power moves in early rounds works against you; it hurts, it makes you tired, and you've got nowhere to go. If you start out with blocks and dodges, when you bring the power moves out in the scoring rounds it looks dynamic. It reads like you've just got more levels to reach into. Early success doesn't always work for you, if you can't show you have more later.

8) Shadow: shadow should be 80% footwork and defense, 20% striking.

More on Chatchanoi:

He fought Weerapol for the 115 lb Rajadamnern belt, but could not pull off the win:

You can watch his fight vs Lakhin (who is in the Library), two very aggressive Muay Maat fighters. In this fight you can see the principle in his padwork of choosing the right weapons at the right range, almost all of this fight at very close range:

watch the fight here 

Playlist

This Entire Playlist of Chatchainoi fights - posted by our patron in comments - is great to watch. He's such a small fighter, and there is so much very close range continuous fighting that was a hallmark of Golden Age Muay Khao:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYkK4YyLWit9rJB4Pj6zVWwKVCWO7e4Hf 

Photo Essay

Kevin photographed the entire session and produced a beautiful photo essay on padwork and Kru Chat, you can read and view that in hi-res here. It's his aesthetic take on this session. 

above, Above  all fighters on the wall is  Baramajanmuay (Great Master) Ket  Sriyapai,  ปรมาจารย์มวย เขตร์ ศรียาภัย, the Muay Chaiya master of Arjan  Surat. Chaiya is a Southern Boran style Arjan learned in his youth,  known for its emphasis on simultaneous offense and defense. You can find  these hard defensive principles in his Muay of today.

If you enjoyed this session you would probably enjoy these sessions on similar themes and hands-heavy styles:

#90 Arjan Surat 2 - His Old School Tough & Defensive Style (94 min) watch it here

A legend of Bangkok and coach of the Thai National Team, Arjan Surat has a toughened, defense oriented, forward style. In this session he builds it from the ground up, starting with his old school arm swing on the kick (no swing, instead using it to simultaneously block), emphasizing balance and solid framing. Watch and learn!

#75 Lakhin Wasantasit - Boxing & Muay Thai Organized Destruction (76 min) watch it here

Lakhin was a beast, to stand in front of him was to invite disaster. Perhaps no fighter of the Golden Age was more feared for his hands. In this session he shows just what made him so intimidating, and how he developed a style predicated on inflicting maximum damage.

#41  Samson Isaan - The Art of Dern Fighting (64 min) watch it here

To "dern" in Thai is to "walk", which means basically to just come forward no matter what, to create a relentlessness. Voted Fighter of the Year in 1991, Samson Isaan was one of the great Dern Fighters of the Golden Age, and in this session he shows his forward pulsing techniques which are meant to just overwhelm his opponent. Also a great session for pressure Southpaw fighters.

#74 Samson Isaan 2 - Muay Khao & Western Boxing Excellence (59 min) watch it here

In 1991 there was no fighter more of a force than Samson Isaan, who took Fighter of the Year then. His relentless style combining Muay Maat punching aggression with Knee Fighting pressure and clinch made him a wrecking ball. In this session discover what made this little fighter so impossible to handle.

#88 Samransak Muangsurin - Muay Maat Legend Keys to Powerful Hands (61 min) watch it here

Samransak was nothing if not thunderous as a fighter in the Golden Age. He threw with serious, heavy hands and just brutalized his opponents. He teaches the basics of his Muay Maat style, how he brought boxing into the ring to massive effect. One of the all time legends of the sport.

#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.

#29 Pornsanae Sitmonchai - The Power of Hooks & Low Kicks (74 min) watch it here

A whole system of low kick and hook attacks is taught in this one session. Rajadamnren and 2x Lumpinee Champion Pornsanae is known for his brutal power fighting and this is how he gets it done. Cutting angles, lead arm control, invading space. Pornsanae teaches his philosophy.

#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".

#61 Arjan Surat at Dejrat Gym - Old School Master (37 min) watch it here

Arjan Surat stands as a tower in the pantheon of great coaches of Thailand. Coach of the Thai National Team, Kru of legends since the Golden Age, there is nobody like him. Learn the basics of his technique, but what is more look into the eyes of the one of the great coaches ever, training legends in his garage for decades.