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Gulapkao Nor. Nonthachai - Old School Forms & Rhythms (53 min)
🕑 Added 2021-04-28 14:35:57 +0000 UTCGulapkao (The White Rose) was 135 lb Rajadamnern Stadium Champion in the early Golden Age. He showed me a photo on his phone standing in the ring after winning (or defending) the belt, Wichannoi Pontawee standing next to him in the ring. "I was more nervous about my hero standing there with me than I was to have the belt," he said, laughing. Gulapkao, whose name means "White Rose," is the manager of the Jitmuangnon Gym in Nonthaburi, just outside of Bangkok. The gym is very well known, has some incredibly recognizable talent, is huge in terms of the number of active fighters it has in its stable, and also is a powerful promoter. Managing this gym is a big deal, it's a high position. For me though, my purposes, I wanted to archive Gulapkaw's Muay, something outside of his normal routine now-days, as he's not a Kru at the gym, even if he does advice and order training for their fighters. It turns out, he is an awesome teacher and his Muay Thai is crisp, powerful, and truly beautiful (check out the slow motion in the end of the session to really appreciate it).
He showed me so much of his muay, and it was rewarding to have documented it for everyone, how beautiful it was. This is what the Muay Thai Library is about, capturing the fighting styles of these fighters before it becomes lost to Time. He also pulled in Kru Din as an assistant, to hold pads for me adn do a bit of playful sparring as a stand-in while Gulapkaw instructed and corrected. So you get a bit of Kru Din's style as well.
What To Look Out For:
1) Back Foot Balance: Gulapkaw isn't a back-footed fighter, so to speak, but he stands his ground by keeping his weight on the back foot maybe 60% of the time, bouncing his front foot to eat space, fake, counter, block, etc. It's quite a bit like Dieselnoi, actually. But it's not so much that he's "back footed" but that he plants that standing foot in such a way that he can eat the space and defend the space in front of him.
2) Sapok!: this is the Thai word for hips, so Gulapkaw will say this a lot throughout. Power comes from the hips, control comes from the hips, balance comes from the hips. It's not the "turn over the hip" command you hear repeated in the West all the time (which isn't "wrong" but it's not complete), but rather the flexibility and thrusting, rotation, and movement of the hips is what allows for speed and power.
3) Visualization: there's an emphasis on really seeing an opponent in your mind while you shadowbox, so you use rhythm and timing (jang wa) to find the right opening for a punch, to block and counter. It can't be meaningless or you're just wasting your time.
4) That Knee: both Karuhat and I were completely blown away by Gulapkaw's knees. I was just shocked at how scary and powerful it was against Kru Din, who is shorter than I am, (Gulapkaw said, "don't worry, I'm not using any power." Holy sh**), but Karuhat actually knows Gulapkaw personally and as a fighter, and even he had a "what the f***?!" response to seeing it in full swing. We work on this on the bag a bit, so you can see the difference in how he does it. It's a bit like Dieselnoi's knees in that he actually rotates the standing foot, but his focus is on his hips. It's all in the hips.
5) Juggling with Teeps: Gulapkaw says he has his fighters teep the bag with 50 teeps, balancing and not really bringing the teeping leg down unless absolutely necessary. It builds strength, accuracy, but mainly it's about balance and flexibility of that standing leg.
see who he picked as his Top 5 all time greatest fighters
Gulapkao with his 135 lb Rajadamnern belt, here posing with the legend Wichannoi. He said he was shaking in this photo because he was so nervous, as Wichannoi was his idol.
Kevin's Edited Stills and Photographs from the day:
for my photographs from the session see Kevin's Training with The White Rose album
If you enjoyed this session, these other Library sessions on similar themes may also be great for you!
#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!
#76 Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn 4 - How to Fight Tall (69 min) watch it here
There several sessions with the King of Knees in the Muay Thai Library, this is the fourth, but this is the first one where he gets the chance to teach a tall, long fighter like he was. If you are a tall fighter this is the session you don't want to miss. He is arguably the GOAT, an in this session he unfolds his entire fighting system of knee fighting pressure and distance control.
#78 Kru Ali Phet Kalim - Old School Forgotten Principles (64 min) watch it here
Kru is like a time capsule. He teaches the Muay Thai of a bygone era perched on a cliff edge in his gym in Phuket. He insists that fighters and teachers of today have forgotten important principles, and he show them in this prescious session. Unique blocks and clinch tactics from his generation.
#79 "Kru Pot" Bunpot Sor. Boonyaa - Muay Khao Depth (63 min) watch it here
Kru Pot is a Muay Khao master. He gained some internet fame from a video when he ragdolled Saenchai in a sharktank session (much larger) some years ago, but here you get to learn the whole system. The setups for clinch entries, the form and turns of his beautiful but relentless knees.
#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.
Comments
Ive watched so many of your videos sylvie but i think this has to be my favorite, the playful energy in sparring was amazing and both Kru Din and Gulapkao were so endearing and attentive! i want a freeze frame from the slow-mo to put on my wall where he connects with the bag on that incredible knee ! gave me goosebumps with the music Kevin played during the slow-mo as well
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
We attended Sirimongkol's cremation. His family kept multiple scrapbooks. I hope those get passed on forever.
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
There aren't any. He's around Samart's age, nearing 60, but most shows weren't recorded and kept back then. What we have now is because OneSongchai kept his archives and made "best of" anthologies. So even what we have now is barely anything, and it's mostly all OneSongchai as Petchyindee and Giatpetch (channel 7) didn't keep and/or publish their archives.
Sojiro Hattori
He doesn't seem that old so there must be videos of his fights but I can't seem to find any on Youtube. Maybe because titles are in Thai? If you could include Youtube links to the few fights when posting library sessions that would be amazing. Thanks
Yuri Savchenko
swai mak!!!!! watched all yours video! with notes and practice! what can i do now 555 .....going to watch second circle
Shell
This was very enjoyable to watch.. great session!!! Definitely another favourite to watch! I really liked the over the shoulder conversation filming too! Very cool!
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu
Clicks? Kicks?
David A. Cardamone
What an amazing session! I really like the emphasis on 'visualizing' during shadowboxing. That's really important. It develops the fighter's mind and its mental engine and strategetic thinking. Ive shadowboxed randomly or just trying to come up with creative combos, but to visualize an opponent and the entire phase of fighting is another matter and should be developed. In fact one should try to visualize an opponent doing a really sneaky trick and then you shadowbox a reaction to it- like visualizing one's opponent trying to get past your line of sight and you gotta change footwork to keep them in your line of attack, for example. I do have a question: About the clicks, some gyms do them inside the guard and some outside the guard. What is the significant differences?
Jim Molter
I really loved this one. Gulapkao was so fun watching and I am going straight to my Bag and trying these teeps and knees.
that's the kind of pad holder everyone wants haha
Shuli Baram-Guzman
Wow!!! The slow motion was mesmerizing 🙏 I'm actually going to try watching the movements of waves and play their sound in my headphones durring bagwork and shadow boxing....💁♀️
Brian MacDonald
Amazing as always. Love the joy of the pad work and the slow motion is outstanding. We are still in lock down, gym still closed and this is a really blessed whisper of the before times.
