Muay Thai Adventures
Recap to 2023
I fulfilled the rest of my UK Muay Thai trip part 2 in 2024. You can say it all started with part 1 in 2023 as I’ve mentioned in my 2024 updates. Back in 2023, I started journaling my progress in Muay Thai for the first time. I was training it on and off for some time back when I was practicing parkour (originally started with a bit of MMA but went more strictly Muay Thai some time during COVID lockdowns).
My friends and close training partners that I train with are mostly affiliated with Boxing Works and invited me to fundraising seminar for Team USA by Janet and Jackie on April 22, 2023. I also attended another seminar by Jackie on May 5, 2023 at Garden Grove Muay Thai. I like the positions, angles, and simplicity of the meta used by Bryan Popejoy and his fighters as “boring basics” win fights and are fundamentally important for beginners and advanced practitioners. Barry Robinson got a lot of the same principles explained on Dynamic Striking. I learned a lot in those seminar with those redirection drills, feints, and catch and shoot drills. Catch and shoot drills to this day are my bread and butter things to fall back on to drill to dominate the 50/50 as it’s very useful to always have an answer and be able to respond to be defensively responsible. This helps prevent an opponent from trying to walk you down with reckless abandonment.
I usually always plan to London UK for a month to 3 each year to see my old friends. Before that, I went to the WTBA Oregon Camp in August as I heard this might be the last one that year and my friend I usually train with is doing his instructor test there. Unfortunately, I don’t have any notes from there in this one as I busy training from morning to night for a few days; waking up in the morning to have some coffee and breakfast then going for a morning jog, to shadowboxing and some drills. For the rest of the day it’d be stations of bag works, pad works, Thai sparring, clinching, and shadowboxing until lunch and dinner. This was about the point of no return for Muay Thai for me and it was a great experience from the full training experience and food.
I also started playing around with going southpaw a bit more since I hurt my right side a bit and it felt a bit natural for me.
Once I got back home, I got a week left to pack and fly out to London. Since I’m not doing parkour much anymore, my friends are closer around West London so that’s bus 32 down to Kilburn from Burnt Oak, I figure I’d fancy coming through the Knowlesy Academy. I remember seeing some videos from a YouTube channel interviewing Shanelle Dyer who had a lot of highlight reel KOs (she’s in PFL doing MMA now) and some sparring videos over on Siam Boxing of Lyndon Knowles, Jonathan Haggerty, Liam Nolans, etc.
There were a couple of seminars there I caught with Damien Alamos and 1 with Liam Harrison over at Carlson Gracie where my friend trains at. Some good detailed simple drills that can be utilized effectively by Liam Harrison with the low kick setup, hook, and sweeps. Alamos was more tricky Muay Femur style. Nevertheless, I learned a lot during my time at the Knowlesy Academy. I promise I’ll be back 2024 for longer than a month. I felt like my teeps got a lot better since leaving the Knowlesy Academy and my kicks as well. If I were to check off the whole UK trip bucketlist of UK legends big 3 I need to pick their brains, so far I got Christian Knowles (I did 1 PT before I flew home) and Liam Harrison (during his seminar). I’d definitely like to pick Damien Trainor’s brain on my next visit and several of my friends are a big fan of Damien Trainor’s work.
Before UK Muay Thai Adventures part 2
I was back to training with my friends and training partners when I got back home. Start of 2024 was weird on a personal issue wise (some mistaken identity situation). I started training at Lineage Muay Thai and attended a seminar by Lerdsila on March 19, 2024. Lerdsila also got a tricky Muay Femur style and his stance looks more seminar to Taekwondo fighters with the long base rather than tall upright walk you down style that you see in most stereotypical Muay Thai fighters. Like Damien Alamos, Lerdsila also got a lot of tricks in the bag to show and he loves what he does.
I also fully swapped to southpaw since during my spars I tend to switch a lot, had better success in southpaw, and felt more comfortable there. This makes me wonder if I was supposed to be left handed growing up, but was always forced to use my right hand and never realizing it as my handwriting is the same in both my left and right hand. My grandpa is actually left handed, but back in the days you’re considered cursed if you’re left handed so you would get whipped until you use your right hand. Anyways, I didn’t grow up in Vietnam during the early mid 1900s so I wouldn’t know. My left side always been more accurate than my right side anyways.
2024 UK Muay Thai Adventures part 2
After some difficulties from the start of 2024, I headed back to London at the end of April. There were a lot of things to deal with but heading back to the UK and back to The Knowlesy Academy was non-negotiable for me. I could say it’s like my second home at this point and disconnecting from some of the troubles and distractions back home was super necessary for me. It was a good timing as the first of the Amazing Muay Thai festival by WBC was happening in Reading, UK so I invited my friend Omar to join in. We got pictures and workshops from Superbon, Nong-O, and Phetjeeja. There were merch and a lot of Thai food and it was a great experience.
I decided to try my first Interclub while I was there on May 26. Back in the US, I wanted to give the Point Muay Thai sparring circuit a go, but I was told I needed more time. The timelines doesn’t match up since at that point, I already have plans to head to the UK to see my friends and go back to the Knowlesy Academy as I told myself I would. I dropped Christian a message asking about how the Knowlesy Interclubs were so I went there and gave it a go. It was a nice experience and very controlled as I was told. I was happy I got to give it a go and try my hand to see where I was at. I needed a lot of work as my knees weren’t on point and I didn’t have much of a clinch game. My right hand defense and right teep defense needed work as I always get teeped my the right teep everytime I go in and eat a right cross. I need to get the elbows in a bit tighter to parry those. Other than that it was a great learning experience. In the gym, I try to make a point to work on clinch as much as I could and to get my knee timing and position correct. Vish helped me a lot there after classes and all the coaches gave me so much to improve on.
I wanted to check out the gym in Borehamwood (Knowlesy Academy new location where most of the strength and conditioning classes occur) on foot and want to see how it’d be jogging there. At first I took the bus since it’s my first time around there, but looking at the map, it’s only about 4 miles (7.2 km) jog to get there if I cut down Edgware Road and make my way through Elstree. In any case, it’s quite a scenic view cutting through the little path to see the horses, pluck a few blackberries, and a nice relaxing outdoor air in the trees. If anything, I enjoy the countryside vibe jogging out the outskirts of London than being in the middle of the city while seeing nice scenaries and horses. Plus it’d save me a few pounds which I can spend on some protein shake or a croissant at the local Aldi or Lidl as a post workout so I get myself a nice treat while improving my aerobic capacity. It cost me the same amount buying a protein shake compare to taking the bus from Borehamwood to Edgware. If I feel it, I’ll jog back (and eat a lot as that’s a lot of mileages in the bag). If not, I’ll take the bus back. Overall, jogging to Borehamwood was a nice relaxing activity for me. As long as I cut through Elstree it’s nice and scenic. If I run through Mill Hills from Burnt Oak on the other hand, that’s a hectic non-stop uphill (it’s not that steep, but it’s still a long way) run while playing frogger to dodge some cars. I don’t need to do in Elstree. I can just enjoy the horsies and I’m going to do some S&C right after anyways.
Shortly after I went back to one of my friend’s area in Clapham to get to Jonathan Haggerty’s seminar at BAMA. It was a nice seminar with a lot of emphasize on lead leg setup with aggressive teep and switch kicks. A lot of the combos are based on closed stance though. Unfortunately I was with someone who was orthodox stance and I’m a southpaw so there’s a lot of things that needed to be tweaked to make it work. If my friend didn’t have exams, I could’ve invite him to join since he’s another southpaw. Either way it was a nice day and I stopped by some street food to have a try of some vegan Ethiopian samosas and couscous to enjoy the day. I definitely wanted to catch Jonathan Haggerty seminar this year for one of the TKA stars.
While jogging to Borehamwood from Edgware to attend one of the S&C class, I saw Luke Bar and Toby Weapon came through into the gym. I was wondering who they were at first being a fan of Lawrence Kenshin’s striking breakdowns on some highlights of their fights in Thailand. I was quite mesmerized watching them work on the pads. I was also mesmerized watching Christian Knowles and Lyndon Knowles pad work preparing for Lyndon’s title defense as well. There’s a lot of little details and gems watching and learning. I was a bit shy about getting a picture at first, but Christian nudge me on. It’s quite surreal being surrounded by a culture of excellency and being there in the flesh.
The week before visiting 8 Limbs Birmingham for Damien Trainor’s seminar, I stopped by at London Fight Factory since Jompop Kiatphontip was in town from Leeds. I hadn’t followed too much of Jompop’s work yet, but later looked up some more things and stopped by and he learned he trained up some very elite fighters up in Leeds. His seminar was great with a lot of basic things and very excellent details on how to make them work as well as some advanced counters. Jompop is a very interactive teacher as well and I really enjoyed the extra details in working in my long guard. I was a bit late since I ran to the tube right after sparring at Knowlesy Academy and spontaneously decided to drop by for this seminar and I was glad I caught it.
On Monday right after, I book a PT with Luke Bar. I trained in the morning first then had a protein shake while I waited for Luke. Reading through my notes today from what I took since June 24, I hope the next time I have my PT I made these adjustments now. I need to try and keep my weight 50/50 at all time, relax more. I think I’m doing these things now looking at my later notes since then, but of course higher level opponents are much different. I’d love to have another PT with Luke the next time I come back around London (if he’s not in Thailand by then). There’s a lot of details on setting up the clinch knees on the angle turn that I remembered when Luke was taking over for Lyndon’s class one day. I need to keep my head straight to look at Luke as well last time I was elbowing. Instead of pivot and rear kick, Luke showed me I can pivot and teep too in case they get that rear block in time, the teep will off balance them. There was a full plum lock Luke showed me as a shorter person where I gable in a T shape and try and press my head into a person’s chin. That’s the money one for me since I’m shorter and it’s something I’d need to fish up more if I get the chance. A lot of nice details. I wished my notes that time was a bit more detailed, but I got the jist of it as work has been busy around the same time as well. I definitely want to catch another PT with Luke once I’m around!
The day before going to Birmingham, I took a walk to Harrow to watch Roar FC and Lyndon Knowles defend his Heavyweight title. It was a nice day and the park by the rec center that Roar was taking on was really nice. I had some nice Sri Lanken food at the shop near by from Too Good to Go and it was nice catching up and watching some of my teammates fight. It was a great event. I definitely want to watch some more fights live. The next one I’ll go to would be OneFC in Denver. I did planned to before it sold out on the first USA event as my friends went there to fight Jackie Buntan fight. This time I’ll definitely go to One and watch Jonathan Haggerty’s fight.
The next day, I stopped by Finchley Road to catch the Flixbus to Birmingham as I wanted to catch a seminar with Damien Trainor. He doesn’t come out too often to have seminars so every now and then there’d be an opportunity. It was quite nostalgic going through Finchley Road again as I’ve stayed around there in the past for 4 months. I was a bit bummed out the Japanese shop wasn’t open yet when I went to grab the bus as some onigiris would’ve been nice travel food. I made my way to 8 Limbs Academy on time and got to explore a little bit of Birmingham (my first time there). I’m on a time constraint as I’d need to not be late for the seminar and catch the bus on time to get back to London to get to practice tomorrow at 6 AM. The seminar was great. A lot of hands combo and fast combos. It’d definitely be nice for my friends who like the Muay Mat style although Damien is a great technician with his hands as well. I got a picture and an autograph, but unfortunately I didn’t have too much time for chatters.
I spent the rest of the day exploring Birmingham after I filled out my notes for the day. Since there’s some free museums, I figure I’d explore some or some random parks around (there were a few places I didn’t get to as I’m on a time constraint as much as I’d like to trust my legs to run to a spot and run back to the bus station, I’d cut this short on getting back to London to sleep and get ready for 6 AM). There was an Indian restaurant my friend recommended me check out that wasn’t too pricy at Birmingham but unfortunately, it opens in the evening and my bus would leave by then so I ended up wandering through Chinatown and bought some Bun Bo Hue at a Vietnamese restaurant as I hadn’t had some Vietnamese food in ages. The Chinatown in Birmingham I thought was quite sizeable. I spent the rest of the day wandering through museums, libraries, and a few gardens until it was time to hop back on the bus.
At this point I finished what I’ve set out to do in London. I have a month left on my trip and since I’ve been training the whole time on end, it’s time to get ready for my second interclub. I’m surrounded by many great people who worked with me and helped me improve so much so fast.
July of 2024 I mainly focused on my second interclub as I have to fly back home to California around August. Mid July a few days before my birthday, I lost my job (like many other people in the tech recession). I guess the one part that stung was a “Happy Birthday, you’re terminated”. That part sucks more when I got back home as my teammates had been very supportive of me. I consider the gym like my second home looking at it and I must return (I’ll need to replenish my funds). Although I was jobless on my birth week, I got to enjoy my birthday with the people I care about and the people that care for me so it took that weight off. I’m not focusing on that right now. There’s nothing else to focus but all the work and effort I’ve put in to my training and the work that people invested in me as they got me to where I am. It takes a village after all.
My second interclub went very well. I felt great. My clinch improved a lot and my knees improved. Of course I am my biggest critic and I’d like to guard myself a bit more on my left kick and adjust my grip a bit better on the clinch (as I know now) for whatever comes next. I heard the instructions Coach Anthony gave me and executed it. He helped me a lot with my technique with important details on positioning as when I first came back to the gym I would drift too much which sacrifice my position. Vish always had worked with me after class on my clinch, knees, emphasizing finishing on a shot to focus on my weak point. Jennifer helped me prepared on cutting off the ring, southpaw tactics, pressure testing me to help me get my defense and all right after her fight as well. Also shout out to everyone else in the Knowlesy Academy that I’ve sparred with, trained with, etc. Christian for the 6 AM sesh. Thanks for the banter with those leg teeps as well Tony. It gave me some ideas on stuffing some jabs at far range. Also thanks to the folks back home at Lineage as well for helping me figure out some of my games and that I was better off a southpaw. I have a lot to be thankful for during that week and honestly, I’d probably be a broken man without Muay Thai in that moment. Anyways, that was a lot to think about and I don’t want it to all end here… I guess my next fight is my financial future and finding my way back… home?
By August I was back home in California. The last few things in mind for the remaining of the year was to see OneFC live and watch Jonathan Haggerty defend his title against Superlek and attend the Amazing Muay Thai festival in Los Angeles. I had a great time during the Amazing Muay Thai festival in Reading, UK. Denver, Colorado was nice and I stayed around Hostel Fish. It’s a nice hip place. I went for a jog immediately to explore the town since that’s how I get around when I arrive somewhere. I mainly passed through Ball Arena and Coors Field as I checked out the Lake and stopped by some grocery stores to pick up some food to cook.
On the day of OneFC, I did a HIIT workout, got some taco, explore around some more, then jogged to the arena to see OneFC. Unfortunately the security guard turned me away since bags can only be a certain size but luckily it’s just a mile jog back to my hostel to put away from stuff. Now if I walked, I’d be late. I guess like every trip I have to run and work for it so I ran back to the hostel then back to the venue to get in on time for the event. It’s quite a surreal feeling seeing OneFC for the first time; Demetrious Johnson’s retirement speech, Liam Harrison going out on his shield, and Superlek’s brilliant timing with his elbow. It’s some of the highlights of my trips from UK back to America.
On September 28, I got the opportunity to go to the Amazing Muay Thai festival at UCLA with my friends I train with back home. It was amazing to meet Yodsanklai and get a lesson on his timing being a southpaw myself. Duangdawnoi have some good kick catch and teep setups. Saenchai always been a hero to me with his tricky southpaw style as well. That was the last of the trips I had planned for 2024 at the time before my budget start to become very tight.
Future Plans
I got one seminar with Karuhat over at Left Hand Muay Thai in Los Angeles since it’s a rare opportunity to have a golden era fighter come by so I couldn’t miss it. I saw the post from Sylvie’s Muay Thai library that he’ll be touring America so I don’t want to miss that. I’ll attend that. I’m tight on money in any case so I’m not currently at any monthly membership so I just stop by the budget gyms to work on some S&C, use the bag, or train with a few local friends.
I want to go to Thailand after Lunar New Years (probably Chiang Mai) so I’m going to need to save up and budget. I want to learn as much as I can, share what I know with my friends, and have this adventure continue and try to make my way back to London again in May. I definitely should pick Lyndon Knowles’s brain on his clinch entries too since he always manage to get his opponent’s back and then have a session with Christian Knowles again.
Hope you enjoy the long read. That’s what I’ve been up to lately on my Muay Thai adventures. I don’t want it to all end here since there’s so much more for me to learn and experience. I’m going to need to restock my travel funds before then but I feel like I’ve gone too far to go back and this feeds my soul with joy; that never ending learning progress and sharing.