There are two hearts inside every fighter.

One refuses to stop.

The other refuses to be moved.

In Thailand, I came to understand them through two simple phrases:

ใจสู้ — Jai Su. The heart that fights.

ใจเย็น — Jai Yen. The cool heart.

At first, they sound like opposites.

One burns. One cools.

One pushes you forward. One tells you to settle.

But the longer I have spent fighting, coaching and trying to build a life around Muay Thai, the more I have realised they were never meant to compete.

They were meant to protect each other.

Because a fighting heart without a cool heart will eventually destroy itself.

And a cool heart without a fighting heart will slowly become an excuse to hide.

This is the tale of both.

THE HEART THAT REFUSES

You can recognise Jai Su before anybody explains it.

It is there when a fighter gets hurt, takes one breath and steps back into range.

It is there in the last round on pads, when the body has already started negotiating.

It is there when somebody loses, returns to the same gym and begins again beneath the same eyes that watched them fail.

Jai Su is often translated as fighting spirit.

That is true, but it can sound too clean in English.

The real thing is rougher.

It is the part of you that keeps answering.

The body says enough.

Fear says leave.

Embarrassment says do not come back.

Jai Su answers anyway.

You see this heart everywhere in Muay Thai because fighting exposes it quickly. Technique can be rehearsed. Fitness can be measured. But when the round turns against you, everybody eventually meets the question beneath the sport:

What remains when this is no longer going your way?

Some fighters become smaller.

Others come alive.

Not because they feel no fear. Not because pain has stopped reaching them. They have simply decided that discomfort does not get the final word.

That is Jai Su.

And outside the ring, the opponent rarely wears gloves.

Sometimes it is debt.

Sometimes it is grief.

Sometimes it is another week of doing everything you can and seeing almost nothing move.

Sometimes it is waking up inside a life you no longer recognise and knowing nobody is coming to rebuild it for you.

In those moments, Jai Su does not always look heroic.

It can look like answering the phone.

Opening the doors.

Keeping a promise after the feeling that created it has disappeared.

Trying once more without any proof that this attempt will be different.

The fighting heart is not loud because it wants attention.

It is loud because sometimes life has to hear you refuse.

But every strength carries its own danger.

And the fire that saves you in one season can consume you in the next.

WHEN FIRE LOSES ITS DIRECTION

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There is something I see shorter fighters do all the time.

They fight like they have something to prove.

The taller fighter’s head is sitting all the way up there, so they spend the fight trying to reach it. Big overhands. Lunging punches. Forcing their way upstairs.

Rodtang against Jonathan Haggerty gives us a different picture.

He doesn’t spend the whole fight trying to prove he can reach Haggerty’s face.

He attacks what is already in front of him.

The body.

And he commits to it.

Mahasanae Framework: Attack What Is Given

Being shorter changes the targets available to you.

That doesn’t automatically have to be a disadvantage.

Against Haggerty, Rodtang repeatedly goes downstairs.

One sequence I really like starts from Haggerty’s teep.

Rodtang catches it.

And instead of becoming obsessed with immediately reaching the head, he commits to the body.

This is where being the shorter fighter starts becoming useful.

1. Catch The Teep And Take The Body

Haggerty wants to use his length.

The teep is naturally an important part of that.

Rodtang catches it.

Now the distance changes.

Instead of trying to reach all the way upstairs, Rodtang attacks the target already available to him.

The midsection.

There is something important here for shorter fighters.

You don’t always need to overcome the entire height difference.

Sometimes you need to make the taller fighter pay for giving you access to everything underneath.

2. Go Around The Shell

Rodtang’s left hook is one of his great weapons.

Watch what happens when Haggerty shells.

The head becomes protected.

For some fighters, that becomes an invitation to punch the guard harder.

Rodtang changes the target.

He takes the left hook around the shell and into the body.

This is such a simple idea, but it changes how you look at someone’s defence.

A shell protects something.

Which means it usually gives you something else.

If the elbows and gloves are committed to protecting the head, start looking underneath and around them.

Mahasanae Framework: Defence Creates Openings

This is something I want you to start noticing when you watch fights.

Don’t only ask:

“What did he block?”

Ask:

“What did he expose by blocking it?”

Haggerty shells upstairs.

Rodtang goes downstairs.

Now Haggerty has another problem to think about.

He can’t only worry about protecting his head anymore.

His defence starts getting stretched between two levels.

That is where combinations become much harder to read.

3. Finish Through The Middle

Rodtang doesn’t just land the hook to the body and finish there.

He comes back with the straight right into Haggerty’s midsection.

That gives us another layer.

The hook goes around the shell.

The straight right comes through the middle.

Now Haggerty has to deal with attacks coming around and through his defence while also worrying about different levels.

This is what makes simple weapons difficult to deal with when someone commits to them properly.

Rodtang isn’t searching for something fancy.

He is attacking what Haggerty’s position gives him.

Being Shorter Changes The Fight

This is what I want shorter fighters to take from this.

Stop treating your height like something you need to apologise for.

And stop feeling like every exchange has to prove you can reach the taller fighter’s head.

Look at what your position naturally gives you.

The ribs.

The stomach.

The midsection.

The openings underneath a high shell.

Rodtang is ferocious because he commits to those targets.

He doesn’t need every punch to finish upstairs.

He makes Haggerty defend his entire body.

And once a taller fighter has to start worrying about attacks downstairs, the fight changes.

How I Would Train This

Sparring

If you are the shorter fighter, give yourself rounds where you deliberately stop hunting the head with every entry.

Study the body instead.

Pay attention to what happens when your taller partner shells.

Where do their elbows go?

What becomes available underneath?

If they like teeping you away, start recognising the moments where catching that teep gives you access to the body.

Pad Work

Keep it simple.

Work the same ideas Rodtang shows:

Teep catch → body attack

Left hook around the guard → body

Left hook to the body → straight right to the midsection

The important part isn’t collecting combinations.

It is learning to see the body as your first option rather than your consolation prize.

Mahasanae Framework: Attack What Is Given

This is bigger than being short.

Fighters waste so much energy trying to force the target they want instead of attacking the target their opponent is giving them.

A taller fighter protects his head?

Attack underneath.

He shells?

Go around it.

His teep brings you into range?

Take what becomes available.

Rodtang doesn’t look ferocious because he blindly throws himself forward.

He looks ferocious because when something is there, he commits to it.

For the shorter fighter, the body isn’t the second-best target.

Sometimes it’s the target that makes everything else possible.

Mahasanae Personal Note

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

Continue The Journey

If this piece resonated with you, there are a few ways to go deeper.

Mahasanae Breakdowns

Ever watched an elite Thai fighter and felt like you were missing part of the conversation?

Mahasanae Breakdowns explores the timing, pressure, scoring, rhythm, composure, and hidden fight IQ that often goes unnoticed by spectators and competitors alike.

Subscribers get access to:

• Full fight breakdowns of elite Thai champions

• Visual frameworks that simplify complex fighting concepts

• Deep dives into scoring, pressure, ringcraft, and timing

• Cultural reflections from life inside Thai gyms

• Training ideas you can immediately apply to your own development

$10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support the next generation of fighters growing up in rural Thailand.

Mahasanae Fight House

Understanding fighting is one thing.

Being able to do it under pressure is another.

At Mahasanae Fight House, we focus on building the timing, balance, composure, conditioning, and confidence that actually transfer to sparring, competition, and everyday life.

Whether you’re training for fitness, self-development, or your next fight, the goal remains the same:

Become harder to break.

📍 Epping, Victoria

MAHASANAE FIGHT HOUSE

Fightlore+

You can train Muay Thai for years and still feel like there’s something important nobody has explained.

Fightlore+ exists to bridge that gap.

Through the Jungwat Series, Thai concepts, cultural observations, real fight examples, and years spent between Thai and Western fight culture, you’ll learn to see the sport through a completely different lens.

Not just what fighters do.

But why.

FIGHTLORE SERIES

Superlek lifts his lead leg.

His opponent immediately lifts his.

For a split second, both fighters are standing there with their legs raised.

Except only one of them knows what is happening next.

Superlek drops forward and fires the downward elbow.

It is such a simple sequence.

But underneath it is one of the most important things I have been learning about setting traps.

Your opponent has to actually fear the thing you are faking.

You Have To Be Willing To Awk Lei

In Muay Thai we have Awk Lei.

To let your weapons go.

You can have the smartest traps in the world, but if your opponent doesn’t believe you are actually willing to throw the original attack, why would they react to your fake?

This is something I think fighters can get wrong when they first become interested in feints.

They want every attack to lead somewhere.

Every teep becomes a setup.

Every kick needs another purpose.

Sometimes you need to just throw the teep.

Again.

And again.

Some will land.

Some won’t.

That’s okay.

Because you are teaching the opponent that when that leg comes up, something real might be coming towards them.

Now your fake has weight behind it.

The Trap Starts Before The Fake

This is the part I love about Superlek’s sequence.

The trap isn’t really:

Fake teep → elbow.

It starts earlier.

The opponent needs a reason to respect the teep.

Once that reaction exists, Superlek can begin manipulating it.

This is why simple weapons can become so deep.

You don’t necessarily need twenty different attacks.

You can take one weapon your opponent respects and keep showing them different possibilities from it.

The better they become at reacting to your first attack, the more predictable that reaction can become.

And now you have something to trap.

Mirroring

There is another layer here that you see all the time in Muay Thai.

Mirroring.

Lift your lead leg and quite often the fighter in front of you will lift theirs.

You see it constantly.

One fighter gives a movement and the other unconsciously answers with the same movement.

Superlek lifts his lead leg to show the teep.

His opponent mirrors him and lifts his own.

Now look at the position.

The opponent has reacted.

His leg is raised.

For that small moment, his movement has been occupied by the reaction Superlek created.

That is where the next Mahasanae framework comes in.

Mahasanae Framework: Freeze & Attack

When your opponent reacts strongly enough to a feint that their movement temporarily freezes, attack during the freeze.

Don’t admire the reaction.

Don’t fake, reset and then decide what you want to do.

The reaction itself is your opening.

Superlek raises the leg.

The opponent mirrors.

The opponent freezes.

Superlek attacks immediately with the downward elbow.

Show → Freeze → Attack.

The sequence is simple because the intelligence is in creating the reaction.

Why Simple Weapons Become So Dangerous

This is why I keep coming back to simple weapons.

A good teep isn’t only a teep anymore.

Once the opponent respects it, the movement of the teep itself becomes information.

You lift the leg and they show you what they want to do.

Maybe they parry.

Maybe they step backwards.

Maybe they catch.

Maybe they lift their own leg.

Now you are starting to understand them.

The original weapon creates the reaction.

The reaction creates the trap.

Building This In Training

Don’t start by trying to fake everything.

First, make the real weapon believable.

Sparring

Pick one simple weapon.

For this example, use the lead teep.

Actually throw it.

Let your partner feel that you are willing to release it repeatedly.

Then start watching.

What happens when your knee comes up?

If they consistently mirror by lifting their own leg, you have found a reaction worth exploring.

Now begin mixing the real teep with the fake.

When the fake creates the same strong reaction, attack during that moment.

Pad Work

Build the sequence in layers.

Throw the real teep enough that the movement becomes natural.

Then use the exact same beginning for the fake.

Lift the leg, draw the reaction, step into the downward elbow.

The fake should look connected to the weapon you have already established.

Mahasanae Framework: Make Them Believe

This is the deeper idea I want you to take from Superlek.

A trap has no power without belief.

You cannot be scared to let your weapons go and then expect your opponent to respect your feints.

Awk Lei.

Release.

Accept that not everything needs to land perfectly.

Sometimes the purpose of throwing a weapon is also to make your opponent understand:

I am willing to throw this again.

Now when you show them the same picture, their body starts answering before they have time to think.

That’s when you can manipulate the answer.

That’s when a simple teep becomes a fake.

The fake becomes a freeze.

And the freeze becomes the elbow.

Before you can trap the reaction, you have to earn it.

Mahasanae Personal Note

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

Continue The Journey

If this piece resonated with you, there are a few ways to go deeper.

Mahasanae Breakdowns

Ever watched an elite Thai fighter and felt like you were missing part of the conversation?

Mahasanae Breakdowns explores the timing, pressure, scoring, rhythm, composure, and hidden fight IQ that often goes unnoticed by spectators and competitors alike.

Subscribers get access to:

• Full fight breakdowns of elite Thai champions

• Visual frameworks that simplify complex fighting concepts

• Deep dives into scoring, pressure, ringcraft, and timing

• Cultural reflections from life inside Thai gyms

• Training ideas you can immediately apply to your own development

$10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support the next generation of fighters growing up in rural Thailand.

Mahasanae Fight House

Understanding fighting is one thing.

Being able to do it under pressure is another.

At Mahasanae Fight House, we focus on building the timing, balance, composure, conditioning, and confidence that actually transfer to sparring, competition, and everyday life.

Whether you’re training for fitness, self-development, or your next fight, the goal remains the same:

Become harder to break.

📍 Epping, Victoria

MAHASANAE FIGHT HOUSE

Fightlore+

You can train Muay Thai for years and still feel like there’s something important nobody has explained.

Fightlore+ exists to bridge that gap.

Through the Jungwat Series, Thai concepts, cultural observations, real fight examples, and years spent between Thai and Western fight culture, you’ll learn to see the sport through a completely different lens.

Not just what fighters do.

But why.

FIGHTLORE SERIES

You’re standing on one foot, and the guy in front of you thinks he has you exactly where he wants you.

This is normally where the heavy punches start coming.

But in Jigsaw’s recent championship fight against Duan99, this exact moment becomes the trap.

Sawadee krup family,

This week I wanted to look at a counter you don’t see as often anymore.

Jigsaw is fighting off the back foot when Duan99 catches his kick.

Duan99 immediately sees an opportunity.

He has the leg. Jigsaw should be the one worried about defending. All he needs to do is pull him forward and start throwing his hands.

Except Jigsaw stays calm.

And that changes the whole exchange.

The Position Isn’t As Safe As It Feels

When someone catches your kick, there is a natural feeling that they have won the position.

You feel it in sparring.

Your foot gets caught and suddenly your mind goes straight to defence.

Get my leg back.

Don’t get dumped.

Don’t get punched.

The person holding the leg feels the opposite.

They feel like it is their turn.

That difference in expectation is important.

Because the moment someone believes you are only thinking about defence, they can become much easier to surprise.

Mahasanae Framework: False Safety

I call this False Safety.

A fighter believes they have created a position where they are safe to attack.

Their attention starts moving away from what you can do and towards what they want to do next.

In this case, Duan99 has caught the kick.

Now he wants to pull Jigsaw towards him and land his heavy punches.

But Jigsaw hasn’t stopped fighting just because his leg has been caught.

He is waiting for the next action.

And that is the real key to this counter.

Don’t Counter The Catch. Counter The Pull.

This is the detail I want you to remember.

The catch itself isn’t necessarily your opening.

The pull is.

Duan99 starts bringing Jigsaw towards him.

Jigsaw doesn’t panic and waste the moment desperately trying to rip his leg free.

He stays composed and almost uses the caught leg to reel Duan99 towards him.

Then comes the left elbow.

Duan99 thinks he is pulling Jigsaw into punching range.

But every time he pulls Jigsaw closer, he is also bringing himself closer to Jigsaw’s elbow.

That completely changes how I want you to see this position.

Your opponent isn’t only controlling your leg.

He may also be closing the distance for you.

Turn Their Favourite Habit Against Them

This becomes especially interesting against a certain type of fighter.

You know the one.

They love walking forward.

They catch your kicks.

The second they get hold of your leg, they pull you towards them and start throwing big punches.

After you have seen that reaction enough times, it stops being random.

It becomes a pattern.

And patterns can be trapped.

Instead of only asking:

“How do I escape when he catches my kick?”

Start asking:

“What does he always do after he catches it?”

That question gives you much more information.

If he catches and waits, this counter might not be there.

If he catches and dumps, you have a different problem.

But if he catches, pulls and immediately wants to punch?

Now you know what is coming.

The Real Fight IQ

This is what I love about the sequence.

It isn’t really about memorising another elbow counter.

It is about understanding how quickly advantage can change.

Duan99 has technically created a good position.

But his belief in that position influences what he does next.

He becomes the aggressor.

Jigsaw is supposed to become the defender.

Jigsaw refuses that role.

He stays calm enough to see that Duan99’s aggression is actually bringing him towards another weapon.

That is the part worth studying.

Sometimes the best opening appears when your opponent thinks you are the one in trouble.

How To Train It

I wouldn’t spend hours turning this into another dead combination.

You need the behaviour that creates the counter.

Sparring

This is where I would spend most of the time.

Let your partners catch kicks.

Don’t immediately panic when they do.

Watch what happens next.

Do they pull you in?

Do they punch?

Do they dump?

Do they freeze?

Start learning their habits.

If you find someone who consistently catches, pulls and comes forward with their hands, you have the reaction you need to start finding this elbow.

Pad Work

Have your partner catch the kick and begin pulling you towards them.

Your job is to stay balanced and calm.

Don’t throw the elbow just because your foot has been caught.

Wait for the pull.

As they bring you towards them and the distance collapses, fire the elbow.

You want the pull and the counter to eventually feel connected.

Push Kicks

The same idea can be explored when someone catches your push kick.

Again, the important part isn’t simply having your foot caught.

You are looking for the person who wants to use that catch to drag you forward into their offence.

Common Mistakes

The biggest mistake is panicking the second your leg gets caught.

Another is throwing the elbow automatically without reading what the opponent is actually doing.

This isn’t:

Kick caught = elbow.

It is:

Kick caught → opponent pulls and comes forward → elbow.

You still need balance.

You still need awareness.

And you still need to recognise the behaviour in front of you.

That is what turns a technique into fight IQ.

False Safety

This is why I keep coming back to the idea of False Safety.

A fighter can technically be in an advantageous position and still be walking into a trap.

Catching the kick is not the interesting part.

What interests me is what happens to Duan99 mentally once he catches it.

He believes Jigsaw now has to respond to him.

That belief gives him permission to come forward.

Jigsaw stays calm enough to see the next layer.

The leg being caught becomes the connection between them. The pull closes the distance. The distance brings Duan99 towards the elbow.

This is something I want you to start looking for beyond this one technique.

When does your opponent feel safest?

After they catch something?

After they land?

When they have you against the ropes?

When they think you are hurt?

Sometimes those moments create the strongest reactions because your opponent believes they already understand what happens next.

That is where traps live.

Don’t only look for openings in your opponent’s mistakes.

Look for openings in their certainty.

Mahasanae Personal Note

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

Continue The Journey

If this piece resonated with you, there are a few ways to go deeper.

Mahasanae Breakdowns

Ever watched an elite Thai fighter and felt like you were missing part of the conversation?

Mahasanae Breakdowns explores the timing, pressure, scoring, rhythm, composure, and hidden fight IQ that often goes unnoticed by spectators and competitors alike.

Subscribers get access to:

• Full fight breakdowns of elite Thai champions

• Visual frameworks that simplify complex fighting concepts

• Deep dives into scoring, pressure, ringcraft, and timing

• Cultural reflections from life inside Thai gyms

• Training ideas you can immediately apply to your own development

$10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support the next generation of fighters growing up in rural Thailand.

Mahasanae Fight House

Understanding fighting is one thing.

Being able to do it under pressure is another.

At Mahasanae Fight House, we focus on building the timing, balance, composure, conditioning, and confidence that actually transfer to sparring, competition, and everyday life.

Whether you’re training for fitness, self-development, or your next fight, the goal remains the same:

Become harder to break.

📍 Epping, Victoria

MAHASANAE FIGHT HOUSE

Fightlore+

You can train Muay Thai for years and still feel like there’s something important nobody has explained.

Fightlore+ exists to bridge that gap.

Through the Jungwat Series, Thai concepts, cultural observations, real fight examples, and years spent between Thai and Western fight culture, you’ll learn to see the sport through a completely different lens.

Not just what fighters do.

But why.

FIGHTLORE SERIES

We’re taught to look for openings when an opponent is vulnerable.

When they lose balance.

When they miss.

When they become tired.

When their guard drops.

But some of the best openings in fighting appear when your opponent does not feel vulnerable at all.

They appear when your opponent believes they are in control.

I call this False Safety.

False Safety is the moment your opponent gains an advantage, recognises a familiar pattern or enters a position they believe they understand.

Because they feel safe, they stop searching for danger.

That small psychological change creates the opening.

The Mahasanae False Safety Formula is:

SPOT IT → SELL IT → STEAL IT

Spot the moment they feel in control.

Sell them the reaction they expect.

Steal the exchange while their mind is already moving towards the next action.

You are not attacking their technique.

You are attacking their expectation.

Safety Changes What We See

Think about what happens when someone catches your kick.

You are standing on one leg.

They have control of the other.

They can dump you, push your leg away or fire back immediately.

Physically, they are in the stronger position.

Psychologically, something else happens.

The moment they catch the kick, their thinking changes from:

“I need to defend.”

To:

“Now it is my turn.”

That is False Safety.

They may still be watching you, but they are no longer searching for the same amount of danger. Their mind has already moved towards their counter.

That creates a gap between gaining control and using control.

And that gap can be attacked.

You can punch while balanced on one leg.

You can elbow them as they step into range.

You can prepare to fire the moment they push your leg away.

You can allow them to begin the counter, then interrupt it.

The important part is understanding that the opening is not necessarily created by the kick catch itself.

It is created by what the opponent believes the kick catch means.

They believe the exchange belongs to them now.

Your job is to let them keep believing that for half a second longer.

Step One: Spot It

The first step is finding the positions where your opponent feels safest.

These moments are different for every fighter, but they usually appear in one of three places:

1. Dominant Positions

Your opponent has caught your kick, controlled your posture, backed you against the ropes or secured a strong frame.

They believe their position has reduced your options.

That belief can make their next action easier to predict.

2. Familiar Exchanges

The same sequence has happened several times.

Kick.

Catch.

Return.

Reset.

Because the pattern has repeated, your opponent begins treating it like a routine instead of a threat.

Routine creates comfort.

Comfort creates assumptions.

3. Moments of Transition

Your opponent is moving from defence into attack.

They have caught the kick and are about to push your leg away.

They have blocked your combination and are beginning their return.

They have established control and are changing position to use it.

This is usually where False Safety is most useful.

You are not trying to overpower their strongest position.

You are waiting for the moment their control begins to change into action.

That transition creates the gap.

Step Two: Sell It

Recognising False Safety is not enough.

You must protect it.

If your face changes, your body stiffens or you begin loading the counter too early, the opponent will feel something is wrong.

The trap disappears.

This is where your poker face becomes a weapon.

Act normal.

Give them the reaction they have already seen.

If they catch your kick, do not immediately panic and fight for your leg. Stay composed. Let them believe the exchange is unfolding normally.

If you have been exchanging body kicks, continue showing them the same body-kick rhythm.

If they believe they have backed you into a predictable defensive reaction, give them just enough of that reaction to make them commit.

You are not pretending to be helpless.

You are hiding the moment you have chosen to fight back.

Sometimes the best way to create an opening is to let your opponent believe they have already created one for themselves.

Step Three: Steal It

Once the opponent commits to their expected action, you change the exchange.

Not too early.

If you change before they feel safe, they remain cautious.

Not too late.

If you wait until their control is fully established, the opportunity may be gone.

You attack between the two.

Between the catch and the return.

Between the block and the counter.

Between establishing control and using it.

That is the stealing point.

A great example is the elbow counter after having your kick caught.

The opponent catches the kick and believes you are trapped on one leg. They step forward to capitalise, but their confidence brings them directly into elbow range.

The position that made them feel dominant becomes the thing that helps you draw them closer.

You are using their sense of control against them.

The Head-Kick Switch

Another clear example appears in traditional Thai kick exchanges.

One fighter kicks.

The other catches and returns.

The first fighter catches and returns.

Both fighters begin settling into the rhythm.

Body kick.

Catch.

Body kick.

Catch.

After several repetitions, the exchange starts feeling predictable.

But that predictability is the trap.

The opponent expects the next kick to return to the body, so their defence and attention begin organising around the body kick.

At the last moment, the kick travels upstairs.

Same beginning.

Same rhythm.

Different ending.

I have seen Thai fighters create head-kick knockouts this way. The opponent was not completely unaware of the kick. They had simply been taught, through repetition, where they believed it was going.

The repeated body kicks created safety.

The head kick betrayed it.

This teaches us something important:

False Safety does not always come from dominance. Sometimes it comes from familiarity.

If the opponent believes they already know how an exchange ends, they stop studying its beginning.

Build the Trap Before You Spring It

You cannot betray an expectation that you have not created.

If you want the opponent to expect a body kick, you must first show them the body kick.

If you want them to step forward after catching your leg, you must observe how they normally complete the catch.

If you want them to trust a particular counter, you may need to let them use it successfully.

This is why traps require patience.

You are collecting information while building confidence in the opponent.

What do they do after catching?

Where do their hands move?

Do they push the leg away?

Do they step in with a punch?

Do they immediately return the kick?

How quickly do they move from control into attack?

Every repetition gives you more information.

But it also gives them more confidence that the same sequence will happen again.

That is what you are building towards.

Training the False Safety Formula

This concept should not be trained as a memorised combination.

It should be trained as a decision.

Drill One: Catch-and-Counter Study

One partner throws a body kick.

The defender catches it and chooses one of three finishes:

• Push the leg away.

• Step in with a punch.

• Release and return the kick.

The kicker’s job is not to counter immediately.

First, study the transition.

After recognising the defender’s habits, begin adding a punch, elbow entry or immediate return as the catch is being released.

The goal is to find the gap between control and action.

Drill Two: Build the Body-Kick Pattern

Exchange body kicks at a controlled pace.

Catch.

Return.

Catch.

Return.

After several repetitions, either fighter can change the final body kick into a head kick.

Keep the starting rhythm identical.

If the head kick looks different from the beginning, the trap has failed.

Drill Three: Dominant Position Sparring

Begin each exchange with one fighter in an apparently dominant position:

• Holding a caught kick.

• Pressing the opponent against the ropes.

• Controlling with a long guard.

• Finishing a defensive shell.

The disadvantaged fighter must remain calm and find the transition where the dominant fighter begins their attack.

This teaches you to stop treating bad positions as dead positions.

You may be at a disadvantage.

But your opponent’s confidence can still make their next decision predictable.

Start Looking for Confidence

The deeper lesson behind False Safety is that openings are not only physical.

They are psychological.

A fighter can have perfect balance, strong position and complete confidence—and still be walking into a trap.

In fact, their confidence may be the reason the trap works.

So when you study fights, stop looking only for moments where someone makes an obvious mistake.

Look for moments where someone appears certain.

Where do they believe the exchange belongs to them?

What do they always do after gaining control?

What familiar pattern have they stopped questioning?

Then apply the formula:

SPOT IT.

Find the moment they feel safe.

SELL IT.

Give them the reaction they expect.

STEAL IT.

Attack while their confidence carries them into the next action.

Some of the greatest openings in fighting do not appear when your opponent feels threatened.

They appear when your opponent believes the threat is already over.

Mahasanae Personal Note

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

Continue The Journey

If this piece resonated with you, there are a few ways to go deeper.

Mahasanae Breakdowns

Ever watched an elite Thai fighter and felt like you were missing part of the conversation?

Mahasanae Breakdowns explores the timing, pressure, scoring, rhythm, composure, and hidden fight IQ that often goes unnoticed by spectators and competitors alike.

Subscribers get access to:

• Full fight breakdowns of elite Thai champions

• Visual frameworks that simplify complex fighting concepts

• Deep dives into scoring, pressure, ringcraft, and timing

• Cultural reflections from life inside Thai gyms

• Training ideas you can immediately apply to your own development

$10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support the next generation of fighters growing up in rural Thailand.

Subscribe now

Mahasanae Fight House

Understanding fighting is one thing.

Being able to do it under pressure is another.

At Mahasanae Fight House, we focus on building the timing, balance, composure, conditioning, and confidence that actually transfer to sparring, competition, and everyday life.

Whether you’re training for fitness, self-development, or your next fight, the goal remains the same:

Become harder to break.

📍 Epping, Victoria

MAHASANAE FIGHT HOUSE

Fightlore+

You can train Muay Thai for years and still feel like there’s something important nobody has explained.

Fightlore+ exists to bridge that gap.

Through the Jungwat Series, Thai concepts, cultural observations, real fight examples, and years spent between Thai and Western fight culture, you’ll learn to see the sport through a completely different lens.

Not just what fighters do.

But why.

FIGHTLORE SERIES

Recently, I’ve become slightly obsessed with pressure.

I’ve been studying it, experimenting with it in my own training and teaching it repeatedly to my students.

Not pressure in the way most fighters understand it.

Not marching forward behind endless combinations.

Not putting your head down and accepting one shot so you can land two.

Not pretending defence no longer matters because you have a good chin.

I wanted to understand how fighters like Rodtang, Anuwat and the great Thai pressure fighters can walk someone down without looking rushed, reckless or desperate.

The more I studied them, the more I noticed the same process repeating.

They pressure.

The opponent fires.

They release from the attack.

Then they return.

This is the relationship between DERN and Pressure and Release.

It is what allows a fighter to become a pressure demon while still living to fight another day.

What DERN Really Means

In Thai, DERN — เดิน literally means “to walk.”

Inside Muay Thai, however, walking is not simply moving forward.

Anyone can chase someone around a ring.

DERN is the art of carrying your entire fighting position forward without losing its structure.

Read more

Sawadee krup family,

Jigsaw Sitthailand does something that gets overlooked all the time.

People watch him moving backwards and assume he’s defending.

He’s not.

He’s working.

Throughout this fight, Jigsaw repeatedly uses awk ben chut (ออกเป็นชุด), a Thai phrase used when a fighter throws attacks in combinations rather than single shots.

This is something that often gets misunderstood when people study Thai fighters.

There’s a belief that Thai fighters only throw one strike at a time.

Sometimes they do.

Sometimes they don’t.

Like everything in Muay Thai, it depends on the situation.

The Opening

Jigsaw is dealing with a dangerous puncher.

The kind of opponent who becomes more dangerous the longer they are allowed to settle into range.

A lot of fighters respond to this by trying to create more distance.

Jigsaw does something different.

As the opponent starts stepping in, he immediately begins occupying their attention.

Punches.

Punches into the guard.

More punches.

The goal isn’t necessarily to land clean.

The goal is to create work.

The Hidden Advantage

This is where things get interesting.

The fighter moving forward has a problem.

They need to travel.

They need to cover distance.

They need to enter range before they can start doing damage.

The fighter moving backwards doesn’t have that problem.

The range is already coming to them.

That means they often have the first opportunity to fire.

This is one of the hidden advantages of fighting on the back foot.

You don’t need to chase.

You can let the exchange come to you.

Jigsaw understands this extremely well.

Keeping The Guard Busy

Watch what happens when the combinations start.

The opponent’s hands rise.

The guard becomes active.

The eyes become occupied.

The attention shifts from attacking to defending.

This is important.

A guard that is busy defending is a guard that is less capable of attacking.

Even when the opponent does throw back, the shots are often rushed.

Less accurate.

Less organised.

Less dangerous.

The combinations aren’t just creating offence.

They’re removing offence.

That’s what many people miss.

After The Kick

This becomes even more important after kicks.

A common mistake is landing a kick and immediately admiring the work.

The opponent recovers.

The guard settles.

The pressure starts again.

Jigsaw often continues the conversation.

Kick.

Punches.

More activity.

More decisions.

More things for the opponent to think about.

The guard stays occupied.

The pressure never gets comfortable.

Training

This week, pay attention to what happens after you land.

Don’t just focus on scoring.

Focus on what the opponent is doing immediately afterwards.

Are they free to fire back?

Are they free to step forward?

Or are they still dealing with problems you’ve created?

Experiment with short combinations as people enter range.

Notice how different the exchange feels when the opponent has to defend before they can attack.

Sparring Focus

Choose one round and focus entirely on keeping the opponent busy.

Whenever they begin stepping in, meet them with activity.

Don’t throw wildly.

Don’t rush.

Just give them something to deal with.

See how often their pressure starts slowing down.

Mistakes

Throwing combinations without purpose.

Retreating in straight lines.

Stopping after the first strike lands.

Admiring your work.

Allowing the opponent to reset comfortably.

Forgetting that combinations can be used defensively as well as offensively.

Final Lesson

A lot of people think combinations exist to land more punches.

Sometimes they do.

Sometimes they’re there to steal time.

Jigsaw is a good reminder that the fighter moving backwards doesn’t always surrender the initiative.

Sometimes they’re the one asking the questions.

And the opponent spends the entire exchange trying to answer them.

Mahasanae Personal Note

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

Continue The Journey

If this piece resonated with you, there are a few ways to go deeper.

Mahasanae Breakdowns

Ever watched an elite Thai fighter and felt like you were missing part of the conversation?

Mahasanae Breakdowns explores the timing, pressure, scoring, rhythm, composure, and hidden fight IQ that often goes unnoticed by spectators and competitors alike.

Subscribers get access to:

• Full fight breakdowns of elite Thai champions

• Visual frameworks that simplify complex fighting concepts

• Deep dives into scoring, pressure, ringcraft, and timing

• Cultural reflections from life inside Thai gyms

• Training ideas you can immediately apply to your own development

$10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support the next generation of fighters growing up in rural Thailand.

Subscribe now

Mahasanae Fight House

Understanding fighting is one thing.

Being able to do it under pressure is another.

At Mahasanae Fight House, we focus on building the timing, balance, composure, conditioning, and confidence that actually transfer to sparring, competition, and everyday life.

Whether you’re training for fitness, self-development, or your next fight, the goal remains the same:

Become harder to break.

📍 Epping, Victoria

MAHASANAE FIGHT HOUSE

Fightlore+

You can train Muay Thai for years and still feel like there’s something important nobody has explained.

Fightlore+ exists to bridge that gap.

Through the Jungwat Series, Thai concepts, cultural observations, real fight examples, and years spent between Thai and Western fight culture, you’ll learn to see the sport through a completely different lens.

Not just what fighters do.

But why.

FIGHTLORE SERIES

So most fighters believe a kick lands because it is fast.

If their kick keeps getting blocked, they try to make it faster.

They sharpen the technique.

They become more explosive.

They throw longer combinations.

They add more feints.

But the more Golden Era Muay Thai I study, the less convinced I am that speed tells the whole story.

Some of the cleanest kicks thrown by fighters like Karuhat Sor. Supawan and Boonlai Sor. Thanikul don’t look impossibly fast.

The opponent can see the kick.

They know it is coming.

Yet they still cannot defend it in time.

This confused me for a long time.

How can two elite fighters—with decades of combined experience and thousands of rounds behind them—stand directly in front of each other and continue landing a weapon they both understand so deeply?

Neither man is unfamiliar with the body kick.

Neither lacks the balance to check.

Neither needs to be taught the defence.

Yet the kick still lands.

After studying their kicking exchanges, I began to realise something:

The opponent isn’t being beaten by the speed of the kick.

They are being made late before the kick has even left the floor.

The weapon is only the final part of a much deeper process.

Karuhat and Boonlai use rhythm to create an expectation.

They use relaxation to lower the urgency of the moment.

They use stillness to interrupt the opponent’s prediction.

Then they attack while the opponent is caught between recognising the change and deciding how to respond.

This is the formula I have come to call:

Rhythm → Stillness → Freeze → Attack

It sounds simple.

But inside those four stages is an entire system of timing, psychology and weight manipulation.

Once I understood it, I stopped looking at kicking as a contest between someone’s attack and someone else’s defence.

The real contest happens earlier.

It is a battle over who controls the moment in which the defence is allowed to begin.

The Difference Between Throwing and Creating a Kick

Read more

Hey family,

If you’ve noticed things have been a little quieter lately, I wanted to give you an update.

No, Mahasanae hasn’t disappeared.

And no, Mahasanae Breakdowns isn’t going anywhere.

In fact, it’s about to enter a completely new chapter.

Over the last few months, I’ve been working behind the scenes on something that has been a dream of mine for a very long time. Something incredibly close to my heart.

We’ve officially opened Mahasanae Fight House here in Melbourne, Australia.

What started as an idea on paper has slowly become a reality. Like anything worthwhile, the road hasn’t been smooth. There have been setbacks, obstacles, unexpected expenses, sleepless nights and moments where I genuinely questioned whether it would all come together.

But somehow, piece by piece, it did.

We now have a small home here in Melbourne.

A place for people to train.

A place for people to learn.

A place for people to grow.

A place built around the lessons I’ve been fortunate enough to learn through Muay Thai.

If you’re ever in Melbourne, I’d love for you to stop by and train.

But what excites me most is what this means for all of you reading this.

Because Mahasanae Breakdowns is about to be taken to a completely different level.

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do is create deeper, more practical and more immersive educational content. Not just fight breakdowns. Not just technique explanations. But a way of translating the hidden concepts I’ve learned in Thailand into something that fighters all around the world can actually apply.

For the first time, I’ll be able to build exactly that.

We’re currently building a dedicated film room upstairs in the Fight House where I’ll be studying footage, analysing fights and developing new breakdowns. I’ll also finally have my own space to film, teach and experiment with ideas in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.

The goal has never been to show techniques.

The goal has always been to teach people how to see fighting differently.

To help you understand rhythm.

Timing.

Pressure.

Scoring.

Awareness.

The hidden layers underneath the techniques.

And now I’ll have the environment to do that better than ever before.

So if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, that’s the answer.

I’ve been building.

Building a home.

Building a community.

Building a place where all of these ideas can continue to grow.

Thank you for your patience.

Thank you for supporting Mahasanae Breakdowns.

And thank you for being part of this journey.

The next chapter is going to be special.

Matt 🙏🏻

P.S. The breakdowns aren’t slowing down. If anything, they’re about to become deeper, more practical and more detailed than ever before. Stay tuned. 👀

A lot of people think moving backwards means giving up control.

Jigsaw SitThailand is a good reminder that this isn’t always true.

Some of the cleanest shots he lands happen while he’s retreating.

Not because he’s running.

Because he’s making the opponent pay for following.

Throughout Muay Thai and kickboxing, two weapons repeatedly show up in these situations.

The low kick.

And the switch kick.

Both allow you to create damage while increasing distance at the same time.

That’s a rare combination.

The Chase

Pressure works best when the person moving forward feels comfortable.

They feel safe stepping in.

Safe throwing.

Safe building momentum.

That’s when pressure starts becoming difficult to deal with.

Jigsaw constantly interrupts that feeling.

Every time his opponent begins closing distance, there is a threat waiting for them.

A low kick.

A switch kick.

A shot that lands before they fully settle into range.

Suddenly moving forward doesn’t feel so comfortable anymore.

And that changes the exchange.

Why These Weapons Work

The low kick is difficult because the opponent often walks into it.

The switch kick creates a similar problem.

The body is exposed.

The weight is moving forward.

The target arrives for you.

The interesting part is that both strikes can be thrown while you’re already moving away.

You don’t need to stand your ground.

You don’t need to win a firefight.

You can score and leave.

That’s what makes them so useful against aggressive opponents.

The Advanced Layer

The deeper skill isn’t learning how to throw the kick.

It’s learning how to disappear behind it.

Watch elite Thai fighters closely and you’ll notice something interesting.

The retreat often starts before the strike has even finished.

The kick lands.

The distance grows.

The opponent arrives late.

The exchange is over before it properly begins.

That is where a lot of the safety comes from.

Not the kick itself.

The timing around it.

Training

This week, pay attention to what happens whenever somebody starts building pressure.

Instead of immediately firing combinations, experiment with interrupting the advance.

Low kick.

Switch kick.

Create space.

Reset.

See how quickly the rhythm changes.

Final Lesson

A lot of damage comes from moving forward.

Some of the smartest damage comes from moving backwards.

Jigsaw is a good reminder that retreating and attacking are not always opposites.

Sometimes they happen at exactly the same time.

Mahasanae Personal Note

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

Continue The Journey

If this piece resonated with you, there are a few ways to go deeper.

Mahasanae Breakdowns

Ever watched an elite Thai fighter and felt like you were missing part of the conversation?

Mahasanae Breakdowns explores the timing, pressure, scoring, rhythm, composure, and hidden fight IQ that often goes unnoticed by spectators and competitors alike.

Subscribers get access to:

• Full fight breakdowns of elite Thai champions

• Visual frameworks that simplify complex fighting concepts

• Deep dives into scoring, pressure, ringcraft, and timing

• Cultural reflections from life inside Thai gyms

• Training ideas you can immediately apply to your own development

$10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support the next generation of fighters growing up in rural Thailand.

Subscribe now

Mahasanae Fight House

Understanding fighting is one thing.

Being able to do it under pressure is another.

At Mahasanae Fight House, we focus on building the timing, balance, composure, conditioning, and confidence that actually transfer to sparring, competition, and everyday life.

Whether you’re training for fitness, self-development, or your next fight, the goal remains the same:

Become harder to break.

📍 Epping, Victoria

MAHASANAE FIGHT HOUSE

Fightlore+

You can train Muay Thai for years and still feel like there’s something important nobody has explained.

Fightlore+ exists to bridge that gap.

Through the Jungwat Series, Thai concepts, cultural observations, real fight examples, and years spent between Thai and Western fight culture, you’ll learn to see the sport through a completely different lens.

Not just what fighters do.

But why.

FIGHTLORE SERIES

Most fighters treat shadowboxing like a warm-up.

They do a few rounds before hitting pads. They throw a few combinations before sparring. They move around the room, break a sweat and tick a box before the “real training” begins.

I used to think the same way.

Then I started noticing something.

Some of my biggest improvements weren’t happening on the pads. They weren’t happening during sparring. They weren’t even happening during fights.

They were happening when I was completely alone.

No coach.

No training partner.

No feedback.

Just me and my shadow.

The longer I spend around fighting, the more I believe shadowboxing is one of the most misunderstood training tools in combat sports. Most people use it to rehearse things they already know. The best fighters use it to discover new movement, sharpen their vision and solve problems.

Over the years, I’ve found myself returning to three methods again and again. Each one develops a different part of your game. Individually they’re powerful. Combined, they’ve completely changed how I shadowbox.

Method One: Shadowbox To Discover

One of the biggest mistakes fighters make is moving the same way every time they shadowbox.

Read more

When most people think about Muay Thai in Thailand, they picture the obvious things. The fighters. The trainers. The stadiums. The gamblers shouting from ringside. The sounds of pads cracking through the afternoon heat.

Nobody ever talks about the water bucket.

Yet when I look back on my time at Wor Watthana, it’s one of the first things that comes to mind.

The Katik Nam (กระติกน้ำ).

A simple water bucket with a cup resting on top. At first glance there’s nothing remarkable about it, which is probably why most people never notice it.

The strange thing is that the longer I spent around Thai gyms, the more often I found myself seeing the same bucket. It sat beside the ring during training sessions. It appeared in the corner between rounds. It was there after runs when fighters returned drenched in sweat. It was there while trainers sat around talking between sessions. It was there during meals. It was there during the long stretches of time between the moments people usually remember.

Eventually I realised I wasn’t really noticing the bucket anymore.

The longer I spent around Thai gyms, the more often I found myself seeing the same bucket. It sat beside the ring during training sessions. It appeared in the corner between rounds. It was there after runs when fighters returned drenched in sweat.

It was there while trainers sat around talking between sessions. It was there during meals. And eventually I realised it wasn't confined to the gym either.

The same Katik Nam often travelled with fighters to local shows, provincial stadiums, and temple fairs. The more I noticed it, the more I realised how many parts of Muay Thai life it quietly touched.

For some reason, that image has stayed with me.

The bucket was making the trip as well.

A few hours later it would be sitting quietly in another corner, in another venue, serving exactly the same purpose it had served back at the gym.

That was the moment I started looking at it differently.

The Parts We Don’t See

The more time I spent in Thailand, the more I realised how easy it is for foreigners to experience Muay Thai through a very narrow lens. We focus on the training. The techniques. The fights. The visible moments. We watch a five-round fight and think we’re seeing Muay Thai.

In reality, we’re seeing a tiny fraction of it.

Most of a fighter’s life happens away from the spotlight. It happens during the waiting, the travelling, the eating, the conversations, and the long afternoons at the gym when nothing particularly dramatic is happening.

The Katik Nam existed in all of those moments.

That’s what fascinates me about it.

Nobody at Wor Watthana ever sat me down and explained the cultural significance of the Katik Nam. Nobody treated it like a symbol. Nobody pointed at it and said, “This is an important part of Muay Thai culture.”

It was simply there.

Useful.

Ordinary.

Shared.

A Small Window Into Gym Life

Traditionally, many things in Thai gyms were shared. Equipment was shared. Transport was shared. Space was shared. Water was shared.

The Katik Nam quietly reflected that reality.

It wasn’t anybody’s bucket. It belonged to the gym. More accurately, it belonged to everyone.

For many fighters, especially those who grew up around gyms, Muay Thai wasn’t something separate from life. It was woven into everyday life itself. Training blended into meals. Meals blended into road trips. Road trips blended into fight nights. Then everybody returned to the gym and the cycle began again.

The boundaries between training, travelling, eating, and fighting often felt much thinner than what many foreigners are used to.

The Katik Nam seemed to exist in all of those spaces. Sitting beside the ring during training. Loaded into pickup trucks before a fight. Resting quietly nearby after everyone sat down to eat.

The same bucket followed fighters through countless ordinary moments that rarely make it into photographs or highlight reels.

Most people who visit Thailand will remember the fights. Others will remember the trainers, the food, or the atmosphere of a rural festival show.

I remember those things too.

But for whatever reason, I also remember the Katik Nam.

A simple water bucket that travelled hundreds of kilometres, sat in countless corners, and quietly accompanied generations of fighters through training, travel, meals, and fights.

The longer I reflect on my time in Thailand, the more I realise that some of the most interesting parts of Muay Thai aren’t always found in the ring.

Sometimes they’re hiding in plain sight, sitting quietly in the corner while everybody’s attention is somewhere else.

Mahasanae Personal Note

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

Continue The Journey

If this piece resonated with you, there are a few ways to go deeper.

Mahasanae Breakdowns

Ever watched an elite Thai fighter and felt like you were missing part of the conversation?

Mahasanae Breakdowns explores the timing, pressure, scoring, rhythm, composure, and hidden fight IQ that often goes unnoticed by spectators and competitors alike.

Subscribers get access to:

• Full fight breakdowns of elite Thai champions

• Visual frameworks that simplify complex fighting concepts

• Deep dives into scoring, pressure, ringcraft, and timing

• Cultural reflections from life inside Thai gyms

• Training ideas you can immediately apply to your own development

$10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support the next generation of fighters growing up in rural Thailand.

Subscribe now

Mahasanae Fight House

Understanding fighting is one thing.

Being able to do it under pressure is another.

At Mahasanae Fight House, we focus on building the timing, balance, composure, conditioning, and confidence that actually transfer to sparring, competition, and everyday life.

Whether you’re training for fitness, self-development, or your next fight, the goal remains the same:

Become harder to break.

📍 Epping, Victoria

MAHASANAE FIGHT HOUSE

Fightlore+

You can train Muay Thai for years and still feel like there’s something important nobody has explained.

Fightlore+ exists to bridge that gap.

Through the Jungwat Series, Thai concepts, cultural observations, real fight examples, and years spent between Thai and Western fight culture, you’ll learn to see the sport through a completely different lens.

Not just what fighters do.

But why.

FIGHTLORE SERIES

I first heard about Tuanpay through Frances at Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym in Buriram.

Like many old school Thai fighters from Isaan, Tuanpay belongs to a generation that learned much of its craft through fighting itself. Not because it was necessarily the best way to learn, but because it was the reality of the environment they came from.

Temple fairs.

Provincial stadiums.

Village festivals.

8 man tournaments.

Long drives across Thailand.

Whatever fight was available.

While I haven’t verified the exact number, Frances estimated Tuanpay had over 600 fights.

Watching him, I could believe it.

The first thing that struck me was actually what he didn’t do.

Most traditional Thai fighters build large parts of their game around the body kick.

Tuanpay barely seemed interested in throwing them.

Instead, he pressured behind low kicks, body hooks, frames, long guard and clinch fighting.

At first it felt unusual.

Then it hit me.

I wasn’t watching a fighter express a style.

I was watching a fighter adapt to reality.

A lot of people romanticise old school Thai fighters, but the reality was often brutal.

In parts of Isaan, a side bet wasn’t just extra gambling money. Sometimes the side bet became the biggest story of the night. Entire villages would gather around the ring. People argued over who would win. Money changed hands before the fight even started.

Village pride was tied to the outcome.

Family pride was tied to the outcome.

For many of these fighters, winning mattered.

Not in an abstract sporting sense.

In a very real sense.

The pressure was real.

The consequences were real.

The lessons were real.

When a fighter spends years competing under those conditions, something interesting happens.

Techniques are constantly tested.

Ideas are constantly tested.

Beliefs are constantly tested.

What survives gets kept.

What doesn’t gets discarded.

Watching Tuanpay feels less like watching a fighter and more like watching the result of hundreds of small adjustments accumulated over time.

Whether through age, mileage, accumulated injuries or simply decades of fighting, Tuanpay doesn’t throw many body kicks.

Pressure.

Low kicks.

Frames.

Long guard.

Body hooks.

Clinch fighting.

Simple tools.

Repeated often.

The more I watched him, the more I realised that his greatest weapon wasn’t a technique or combination.

It was his decision making.

One of the most impressive things about Tuanpay isn’t what he does when things are going well.

It’s what he does when they aren’t.

Every fighter knows the feeling.

You get clipped.

The mind speeds up.

You want to win the exchange back immediately.

Not because it’s the correct decision.

Because emotion wants resolution.

Tuanpay seems to do the opposite.

Even when hurt, there is a visible calmness to him.

The Thais have a word for this.

Ning.

Stillness.

Rather than forcing exchanges, he finds the clinch.

Rather than chasing revenge, he creates time.

Rather than reacting emotionally, he starts solving the problem in front of him.

This is one of the hidden lessons that fighting can teach.

Experience doesn’t always make a fighter more aggressive.

Sometimes it makes them calmer.

The same thing appears in his pressure.

Most people think pressure (‘dern’ means to walk in Thai) means constantly moving forward.

Tuanpay’s pressure feels different.

He pressures.

Then releases.

Then pressures again.

The pressure never feels desperate.

The opponent never feels comfortable.

There is always a sense that something is being set up.

That uncertainty is what makes the pressure dangerous.

Many fighters know how to move forward.

Far fewer know how to release at the right moment.

That was another lesson hidden inside Tuanpay’s style.

The deeper I looked, the simpler his game became.

Not limited.

Refined.

There is a difference.

He repeatedly returns to the same solutions.

Long guard.

Frames.

Pressure.

Low kicks.

Clinch entries.

Again and again.

The same answers appearing to solve different problems.

That isn’t a lack of creativity.

It’s the result of experience.

After hundreds of fights, fighters often stop collecting techniques and start collecting solutions.

Like many young Thai fighters, Tuanpay learned much of his craft in the ring itself.

The opponent became the teacher.

The pressure became the lesson.

And after hundreds of fights, those lessons become visible.

Not through crazy techniques or amazing athleticism.

They become visible through composure.

Adaptation.

Decision making.

And the ability to keep finding answers when things aren’t going your way.

Tuanpay’s greatest weapon isn’t his low kick.

It isn’t his long guard.

It isn’t his elbows.

It’s his ability to adapt.

Hundreds of fights taught him that.

And when you watch closely, you can still see those lessons written all over his style.

Mahasanae Personal Note

Mahasanae

Personal note:

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

If you enjoy these reflections, the full Mahasanae Breakdowns archive goes much deeper.

Subscribers get access to:

• Detailed fight studies of elite Thai champions most people never study properly
• Mental frameworks from traditional gyms that rarely make it onto YouTube
• Visual breakdowns of overlooked tactics like ning, awk lei, and ya awk agan
• Pad and heavy bag training sessions designed to sharpen composure, timing, and stillness

Most Muay Thai content online shows techniques.

Very little explains how the sport is actually understood inside Thai gyms.

That’s what this publication explores.

Subscription is $10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support underprivileged Nak Muay growing up in rural Thailand.

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Special Thanks

To Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym.

This is where many of the lessons behind these writings were learned.

Your support helps keep their gym running and their fighters training.

www.worwatthana.com/donate

Train With Me

If you want to go beyond reading and actually sharpen your game, I also offer direct coaching.

Online Muay Thai Coaching

You can send in your training footage and I’ll break down your striking the same way I study elite Thai fighters.

This includes:

• Technical corrections on your punches, kicks, balance and timing



• Detailed video feedback so you can see exactly what to fix

• Custom pad and bag workouts designed to build real Thai rhythm

• Training structures used in traditional gyms that most fighters never learn properly

• Mental frameworks for composure, timing and ring control

Most fighters train hard.

Very few get honest technical feedback.

That’s usually the difference between staying stuck for years and actually improving.

If you want to train seriously, send your footage and we’ll clean things up.

(Message me on Instagram)

Private Muay Thai Sessions (Melbourne)

While I’m based in Melbourne I also run private sessions for fighters and serious students of the sport.

These sessions focus on:

• striking mechanics

• balance and posture

• pad systems used in Thai gyms

• developing calm under pressure

You can book a session here:

Book Session

Follow along on Instagram: @mahasanaebreakdowns

See you in the next round.

Mahasanae

The first time I heard it, I laughed.

“Without a side bet, it’s not a real fight.”

Frances, the owner of Wor Watthana Gym, said it casually one day during a conversation about fighting in Thailand.

The way she said it made me laugh because there was no grand explanation behind it. No deep philosophical lesson. Just a simple statement that everybody around her seemed to understand.

But the more I thought about it, the more it stayed with me.

Over the years, I’ve put a lot of importance on winning and losing. Most fighters do. You replay mistakes in your head. You think about opportunities you missed. You wonder how things could have gone differently.

I’ve definitely done it myself after losses in Thailand.

Then I’d sit around the gym listening to conversations.

One of the first questions people would ask wasn’t how the fight looked.

It wasn’t whether somebody showed heart.

It wasn’t whether the technique was beautiful.

The questions were usually much simpler.

“How much was the purse?”

“Was there a side bet?”

“How big was it?”

That always humbled me.

Because suddenly the fight wasn’t being viewed as a performance.

It was being viewed as work.

For many of the fighters around me, Muay Thai wasn’t primarily about self-development, personal growth or chasing some romantic idea of being a warrior.

It was income.

The fight had a practical purpose.

The purse mattered.

The side bet mattered.

The money mattered.

The older I get, the more I realise how easy it is for foreigners to romanticise Muay Thai.

You’ll often see someone write a long post about being willing to die in the ring after fighting on a local festival show somewhere in Thailand.

And I’m not saying that to make fun of anybody.

I’ve loved fighting purely for the sake of fighting myself.

I still do.

I love the timing, the rhythm, the skill and the endless depth of the sport.

But hearing Frances say that reminded me of something I’d occasionally forget.

Many of the fighters around me weren’t fighting because they loved Muay Thai in the same way I did.

They were fighting because fighting paid.

That’s a completely different relationship with the sport.

What fascinated me most wasn’t the gambling.

It was what the gambling created.

When there was a significant side bet, you could feel the atmosphere change before the fight even started.

The corner became louder.

The instructions became intense.

The gamblers became more animated.

The crowd became more invested.

You’d see old men smoking cigarettes and drinking lao khao around the ring. Some standing on ladders trying to get a better view. Kids leaning over the edge of the ring with their chins resting on the canvas. Entire villages gathering around a temporary ring set up beside rice fields.

Then the betting would start.

And suddenly everybody was locked in.

Not so much to come study the technique.

Because they had something on the line.

Often the side bet wasn’t just one person either.

It could involve family members.

People from the village.

Supporters of the gym.

A whole group of people might have money riding on the outcome.

Naturally, that changes the emotional temperature of the fight.

And that’s where I think some of the most fascinating fight IQ in Thailand was developed.

Not from seminars.

Not from YouTube.

Not from memorising combinations.

From consequences.

When bad decisions cost money, people learn quickly.

Over time, fighters develop a relationship with risk that is difficult to teach.

They learn when to push.

When to settle.

When to protect a lead.

When to make an opponent take the risk instead.

They learn how to manage pressure because they’ve lived inside it.

Not once.

Hundreds of times.

I think this is one of the reasons older Thai fighters sometimes possess a type of fight IQ that can be difficult to explain.

People watch them and focus on the techniques.

The techniques are only part of the story.

The environment created the habits.

The environment created the decisions.

The environment created the intelligence.

A fighter who grows up competing in front of gamblers, side bets and village pride develops a very different relationship with pressure than someone fighting purely for personal fulfilment.

Because losing isn’t always theoretical.

Sometimes losing costs people money.

Sometimes losing means disappointing people who invested in you.

Sometimes losing means going home with less than you hoped for.

That pressure leaves marks.

And eventually those marks become instinct.

Looking back now, I understand why Frances laughed when she said it.

Without a side bet, it’s not a real fight.

I don’t think she meant every other fight was fake.

I think she was pointing towards a reality that shaped generations of Thai fighters.

The difference between loving Muay Thai and needing it.

And some of the deepest fight IQ ever developed came from fighters who couldn’t afford to confuse the two.

Mahasanae Personal Note

Mahasanae

Personal note:

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

If you enjoy these reflections, the full Mahasanae Breakdowns archive goes much deeper.

Subscribers get access to:

• Detailed fight studies of elite Thai champions most people never study properly
• Mental frameworks from traditional gyms that rarely make it onto YouTube
• Visual breakdowns of overlooked tactics like ning, awk lei, and ya awk agan
• Pad and heavy bag training sessions designed to sharpen composure, timing, and stillness

Most Muay Thai content online shows techniques.

Very little explains how the sport is actually understood inside Thai gyms.

That’s what this publication explores.

Subscription is $10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support underprivileged Nak Muay growing up in rural Thailand.

If this work resonates with you, you can join the circle below.

Subscribe now

Help Spread These Teachings

If this piece gave you something to think about, consider restacking it to your Substack feed.

Send it to a fighter, coach, or student of the sport who would appreciate it.

These ideas travel best through the fight community itself.

Share

Special Thanks

To Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym.

This is where many of the lessons behind these writings were learned.

Your support helps keep their gym running and their fighters training.

www.worwatthana.com/donate

Train With Me

If you want to go beyond reading and actually sharpen your game, I also offer direct coaching.

Online Muay Thai Coaching

You can send in your training footage and I’ll break down your striking the same way I study elite Thai fighters.

This includes:

• Technical corrections on your punches, kicks, balance and timing



• Detailed video feedback so you can see exactly what to fix

• Custom pad and bag workouts designed to build real Thai rhythm

• Training structures used in traditional gyms that most fighters never learn properly

• Mental frameworks for composure, timing and ring control

Most fighters train hard.

Very few get honest technical feedback.

That’s usually the difference between staying stuck for years and actually improving.

If you want to train seriously, send your footage and we’ll clean things up.

(Message me on Instagram)

Private Muay Thai Sessions (Melbourne)

While I’m based in Melbourne I also run private sessions for fighters and serious students of the sport.

These sessions focus on:

• striking mechanics

• balance and posture

• pad systems used in Thai gyms

• developing calm under pressure

You can book a session here:

Book Session

Follow along on Instagram: @mahasanaebreakdowns

See you in the next round.

Mahasanae

I didn’t create timestamps for this breakdown.

This was originally taken as personal study notes while watching the fight, and after revisiting them I felt there was too much practical value not to share.

So rather than a traditional Mahasanae Breakdown, think of this as a collection of fighting principles that stood out while studying Israel Adesanya’s performance.

DON’T STOP FEINTING

One feint is not enough.

Read more

You can usually tell pretty quickly how someone views pad work.

A lot of people hold pads like it’s a small break before their own round starts. They catch the shots, call a few combinations, then wait for the timer so they can switch over and start hitting themselves.

I used to think this way too.

Then I spent more time around Thai trainers.

That completely changed how I looked at pad work.

Some of these trainers were holding pads all day in brutal heat for foreigners much bigger than them. Morning sessions. Afternoon privates. Group classes. Fight prep. Sometimes looking completely exhausted before the rounds even started.

But once the timer began, something changed.

The rounds suddenly became alive.

The trainer would start making the famous Thai pad sounds. Giving small instructions. Changing the rhythm of the round. Speeding things up. Slowing them down. Walking the fighter into pressure. Giving them space to breathe again.

Sometimes they would pretend to get hurt late in the round to force the fighter to finish stronger. Sometimes they would suddenly increase pressure to make the fighter panic a little. Sometimes they would start moving more defensively so the fighter had to think instead of just throwing combinations mindlessly.

The pad rounds felt more like a dance than drills.

And underneath all of it, they were teaching timing.

Not through explanations.

Through feeling.

That’s the part I think many people miss about pad work.

Holding pads properly develops your understanding of fighting in ways most people never notice.

Especially your eyes.

In Thai there’s a concept called “Sai Ta” (สายตา). Fight eyes. The ability to read what is happening before it fully happens.

Most people think reactions are just reflexes.

But high level fighters are often reacting early because they are reading patterns before the strike fully appears.

You start noticing small things.

The slight shoulder lift before a hook.

The weight shift before a kick.

The tension in someone’s posture before they explode forward.

Pad work gives you one of the safest opportunities possible to study this at full speed.

You can watch punches, kicks, knees, and elbows flying toward you repeatedly without taking damage yourself. If you actually focus while holding pads, your eyes slowly begin adapting to speed.

Over time, you stop just seeing strikes.

You start recognising intention.

That’s where pad work becomes much deeper than most people realise.

You can also mentally treat every shot like a defensive drill.

Every punch becomes an opportunity to practise seeing blocks and parries.

Every kick becomes timing practice.

You start feeling rhythm instead of just memorising combinations.

This is also why many great Thai pad holders have incredible timing themselves even if they are older or no longer active fighters.

They spend years studying exchanges from both sides.

They understand pace deeply.

When to slow things down.

When to increase pressure.

When to create calm.

When to force urgency.

The best pad holders are constantly manipulating emotional momentum during rounds without people even noticing it.

Another underrated part of holding pads is body conditioning.

Especially if you hold for people who hit hard.

Your body slowly adapts to impact over time. Your frame gets stronger. Your nervous system becomes calmer around force. You begin understanding what real power actually feels like instead of just imagining it.

A lot of old Thai trainers became incredibly durable this way.

Not through fancy strength programs.

Just years and years of holding pads.

The deeper you go into Muay Thai, the more you realise pad work is not just about combinations.

There are layers underneath it.

Cardio.

Rhythm.

Timing.

Pressure.

Balance.

Vision.

Composure.

Some trainers even wait until the very last second to present the target so the strikes feel more realistic. Both people have to react properly. Both people sharpen their timing together.

That’s why the best pad rounds almost look like controlled sparring.

The highest level I’ve ever seen is freestyle Thai pad holding.

No called combinations.

The fighter throws whatever they want.

Punches. Kicks. Elbows. Knees.

And somehow the trainer catches nearly all of it cleanly.

The first time I saw this in Thailand it genuinely shocked me.

Because at that level, the trainer is no longer reacting late.

They are reading rhythm, posture, and intention before the strike fully develops.

It almost looks like prediction.

But really it’s years of pattern recognition.

Years of feeling timing.

Years of studying movement.

That’s the hidden lesson inside pad work.

A lot of fighters spend years trying to improve their reactions through hard sparring while completely neglecting one of the safest forms of fight development available to them.

The best Thai pad holders were never just holding pads.

They were studying fighting in real time.

Mahasanae Personal Note

Mahasanae

Personal note:

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

If you enjoy these reflections, the full Mahasanae Breakdowns archive goes much deeper.

Subscribers get access to:

• Detailed fight studies of elite Thai champions most people never study properly



• Mental frameworks from traditional gyms that rarely make it onto YouTube



• Visual breakdowns of overlooked tactics like ning, awk lei, and ya awk agan



• Pad and heavy bag training sessions designed to sharpen composure, timing, and stillness

Most Muay Thai content online shows techniques.

Very little explains how the sport is actually understood inside Thai gyms.

That’s what this publication explores.

Subscription is $10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support underprivileged Nak Muay growing up in rural Thailand.

If this work resonates with you, you can join the circle below.

Help Spread These Teachings

If this piece gave you something to think about, consider restacking it to your Substack feed.

Send it to a fighter, coach, or student of the sport who would appreciate it.

These ideas travel best through the fight community itself.

Share

Special Thanks

To Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym.

This is where many of the lessons behind these writings were learned.

Your support helps keep their gym running and their fighters training.

www.worwatthana.com/donate

Train With Me

If you want to go beyond reading and actually sharpen your game, I also offer direct coaching.

Online Muay Thai Coaching

You can send in your training footage and I’ll break down your striking the same way I study elite Thai fighters.

This includes:

• Technical corrections on your punches, kicks, balance and timing

• Detailed video feedback so you can see exactly what to fix

• Custom pad and bag workouts designed to build real Thai rhythm

• Training structures used in traditional gyms that most fighters never learn properly

• Mental frameworks for composure, timing and ring control

Most fighters train hard.

Very few get honest technical feedback.

That’s usually the difference between staying stuck for years and actually improving.

If you want to train seriously, send your footage and we’ll clean things up.

(Message me on Instagram)

Subscribe now

Private Muay Thai Sessions (Melbourne)

While I’m based in Melbourne I also run private sessions for fighters and serious students of the sport.

These sessions focus on:

• striking mechanics

• balance and posture

• pad systems used in Thai gyms

• developing calm under pressure

You can book a session here:

Book Session

Follow along on Instagram: @mahasanaebreakdowns

See you in the next round.

Mahasanae

A lot of fighters know how to attack.

Very few know how to leave safely.

Sawadee krup family

Israel Adesanya understands distance at a very high level.

Not just visually.

He can feel it.

This is something we constantly speak about in the Mahasanae framework of distance.

At the highest level, distance is not only seen.

It is felt through rhythm, pressure, positioning, and physical contact.

This is why lead hand touches, frames, and small physical connections matter so much.

They give information.

You can almost feel when the opponent wants to explode forward.

Mahasanae Framework: The 3 Distance Decisions

There are three distance decisions inside the Mahasanae framework:

• Maintain distance

• Break distance

• Suffocate distance

Elite strikers constantly switch between all three depending on the situation.

The Opening

Izzy lands knees against an opponent using a tight double forearm guard.

As he starts closing distance again, he feels the opponent wanting to throw heavy shots back.

A lot of fighters stay too long here.

They land and admire their work.

Izzy leaves before the danger fully arrives.

Fight Breakdown

Izzy closes distance to land the knee.

The opponent begins loading up to return fire.

Izzy feels this shift.

Instead of forcing another exchange, he immediately breaks distance.

He exits toward open space and uses his awareness of the ropes to guide the movement.

The opponent swings and misses.

A lot of the shots never land clean because Izzy already made the distance decision before the exchange fully developed.

Then when there is no clean exit left, Izzy changes distance again.

He suffocates distance.

He clinches.
Frames.
Smothers the offence before the opponent can fully extend power.

This is what high level striking IQ looks like.

Decision making.

Key Details

• Distance can be physically felt

• Lead hand gives information

• Do not stay after scoring unnecessarily

• Exit before the opponent fully sets their feet

• Suffocate distance when escape disappears

• Ring awareness helps exits massively

A lot of fighters only know how to fight in one range.

Elite fighters flow between all ranges.

Training

You need to train distance transitions.

Not just combinations.

Pad Work

Practice:

• entering for knees

• exiting immediately after scoring

• framing after exits close down

• clinching when pressure builds

Train all three distance decisions constantly.

Sparring Focus

Focus on:

• feeling when opponents want to enter

• breaking distance before heavy exchanges

• clinching when trapped

• using lead hand for information

Do not spar like every exchange needs to become a war.

Optional Bag Work

• Knee entries into exits

• Frame after combinations

• Rope movement

• Close range clinch transitions

• Exit footwork after scoring

Mistakes

• Staying too long after landing

• Trading emotionally

• Ignoring ring position

• Only understanding one range

• Panicking near ropes

• Waiting too long to clinch or frame

Final Lesson

A lot of defence happens before the punch is even thrown.

Mahasanae

Mahasanae Personal Note

Mahasanae

Personal note:

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

If you enjoy these reflections, the full Mahasanae Breakdowns archive goes much deeper.

Subscribers get access to:

• Detailed fight studies of elite Thai champions most people never study properly



• Mental frameworks from traditional gyms that rarely make it onto YouTube



• Visual breakdowns of overlooked tactics like ning, awk lei, and ya awk agan



• Pad and heavy bag training sessions designed to sharpen composure, timing, and stillness

Most Muay Thai content online shows techniques.

Very little explains how the sport is actually understood inside Thai gyms.

That’s what this publication explores.

Subscription is $10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support underprivileged Nak Muay growing up in rural Thailand.

If this work resonates with you, you can join the circle below.

Subscribe now

Help Spread These Teachings

If this piece gave you something to think about, consider restacking it to your Substack feed.

Send it to a fighter, coach, or student of the sport who would appreciate it.

These ideas travel best through the fight community itself.

Share

Special Thanks

To Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym.

This is where many of the lessons behind these writings were learned.

Your support helps keep their gym running and their fighters training.

www.worwatthana.com/donate

Train With Me

If you want to go beyond reading and actually sharpen your game, I also offer direct coaching.

Online Muay Thai Coaching

You can send in your training footage and I’ll break down your striking the same way I study elite Thai fighters.

This includes:

• Technical corrections on your punches, kicks, balance and timing



• Detailed video feedback so you can see exactly what to fix

• Custom pad and bag workouts designed to build real Thai rhythm

• Training structures used in traditional gyms that most fighters never learn properly

• Mental frameworks for composure, timing and ring control

Most fighters train hard.

Very few get honest technical feedback.

That’s usually the difference between staying stuck for years and actually improving.

If you want to train seriously, send your footage and we’ll clean things up.

(Message me on Instagram)

Private Muay Thai Sessions (Melbourne)

While I’m based in Melbourne I also run private sessions for fighters and serious students of the sport.

These sessions focus on:

• striking mechanics

• balance and posture

• pad systems used in Thai gyms

• developing calm under pressure

You can book a session here:

Book Session

Follow along on Instagram: @mahasanaebreakdowns

See you in the next round.

Mahasanae

Imagine trying to drive a car blindfolded.

You might survive for a few seconds.

Maybe even a minute if you’re lucky.

But eventually you’re going to crash.

The strange thing is that’s exactly how many fighters spar.

They have techniques.

They have conditioning.

They have toughness.

But they haven’t developed the ability to see.

In Thai, the word is สายตา (Sai Ta).

Vision.

Sight.

Awareness.

The ability to recognise things before they become obvious.

The longer I spend around fighting, the more convinced I become that many elite fighters don’t possess superhuman reflexes.

They simply see things earlier.

And when you see things earlier, everything becomes easier.

You don’t need to panic as much.

You don’t need to be as explosive.

You don’t need to rely on speed to save you.

You make better decisions because you’re working with better information.

Over the years, I’ve come to believe that Sai Ta can be broken into four separate layers. Each one builds on the next. Most fighters train the first layer without realising it. Very few deliberately train all four.

Layer One: Physical Vision

This is the most obvious layer.

Your actual eyes.

It sounds simple, but think about how much time fighters spend strengthening their body compared to how much time they spend strengthening the thing that controls it.

Their eyes.

I’ve heard stories about legendary martial artists performing eye exercises, visual tracking drills and reaction work. Not because they believed there was something mystical about eyesight, but because they understood a simple truth.

Better eyes gather better information.

Better information creates better decisions.

Most fighters spend their sparring rounds staring at gloves.

Read more

A lot of people think sweeps are only about timing.

But the best sweeps are usually set up mentally first.

Sawadee krup family

We already studied Saenchai’s dash on Instagram.

But this goes deeper than movement itself.

This is the Mahasanae framework of feints and traps.

At the highest level, feints are not random fake attacks.

They become information overload.

The opponent starts trying to read too many possibilities at once.

That hesitation is where openings start appearing.

Mahasanae Framework: Feint & Trap

Show the opponent the same movement repeatedly.

Then layer different attacks and reactions off that same trigger.

Over time the opponent stops reacting cleanly because they no longer know what is coming next.

This is where traps begin.

The Opening

Saenchai’s dash acts almost like a fake frame.

The opponent freezes for a moment because they have already seen attacks come from this movement before.

Kick.
Punch.
Sweep.
Clinch.

Now they must think before reacting.

That tiny delay creates the opening.

Fight Breakdown

Saenchai dashes in.

The movement immediately puts pressure on the opponent.

Then he layers another fake on top of it.

Now the opponent becomes unsure.

While the opponent pauses mentally, Saenchai sweeps.

Simple movement.

But very high level understanding.

This is why repetitive movements become dangerous when they are layered properly.

The opponent no longer reacts to the movement itself.

They react to all the possibilities attached to it.

Key Details

• The dash works like a fake frame

• Repetition creates hesitation

• Traps are built before the attack happens

• Layering creates uncertainty

• Small pauses create openings

• Use the arms and hands to help break posture during sweeps

A lot of fighters try to surprise opponents with random attacks.

Elite fighters slowly condition reactions first.

Mahasanae Framework: Ning

Another important detail here is Ning.

Stillness before attack.

Saenchai is one of the greatest examples of this.

He stays very calm before exploding into movement. Nothing looks rushed or emotionally forced. Then suddenly he moves.

This is why his attacks feel difficult to read.

Bruce Lee described this idea as frictionless action.

The movement flows naturally without visible forcing or emotional tension beforehand.

Training

Do not only train the sweep itself.

Train the reactions before the sweep.

Pad Work

Practice:

• dash entries

• fake frames

• layered attacks from the same movement

• sweep entries using arm control

Sparring Focus

Focus on:

• freezing reactions

• repeating the same trigger

• slowly building traps

• staying calm before exploding

Do not rush the trap.

Let the opponent slowly become unsure.

Optional Bag Work

• Dash into pauses

• Fake frame entries

• Sweep footwork

• Relaxed rhythm into explosive movement

Mistakes

• Faking too hard

• Moving with obvious tension

• Rushing the sweep

• Showing the attack too early

• Forgetting to break posture during sweeps

• Using random feints without purpose

Final Lesson

The best traps make opponents hesitate before they even understand why.

Mahasanae

Mahasanae Personal Note

Mahasanae

Personal note:

These reflections come from time spent in gyms, watching fighters train and trying to understand the culture around the sport.

I’m still learning every day.

If you enjoy these reflections, the full Mahasanae Breakdowns archive goes much deeper.

Subscribers get access to:

• Detailed fight studies of elite Thai champions most people never study properly
• Mental frameworks from traditional gyms that rarely make it onto YouTube
• Visual breakdowns of overlooked tactics like ning, awk lei, and ya awk agan
• Pad and heavy bag training sessions designed to sharpen composure, timing, and stillness

Most Muay Thai content online shows techniques.

Very little explains how the sport is actually understood inside Thai gyms.

That’s what this publication explores.

Subscription is $10 AUD per month. Cancel anytime.

$3 from every membership goes directly to Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym, helping support underprivileged Nak Muay growing up in rural Thailand.

If this work resonates with you, you can join the circle below.

Subscribe now

Help Spread These Teachings

If this piece gave you something to think about, consider restacking it to your Substack feed.

Send it to a fighter, coach, or student of the sport who would appreciate it.

These ideas travel best through the fight community itself.

Share

Special Thanks

To Wor Watthana Muay Thai Gym.

This is where many of the lessons behind these writings were learned.

Your support helps keep their gym running and their fighters training.

www.worwatthana.com/donate

Train With Me

If you want to go beyond reading and actually sharpen your game, I also offer direct coaching.

Online Muay Thai Coaching

You can send in your training footage and I’ll break down your striking the same way I study elite Thai fighters.

This includes:

• Technical corrections on your punches, kicks, balance and timing



• Detailed video feedback so you can see exactly what to fix

• Custom pad and bag workouts designed to build real Thai rhythm

• Training structures used in traditional gyms that most fighters never learn properly

• Mental frameworks for composure, timing and ring control

Most fighters train hard.

Very few get honest technical feedback.

That’s usually the difference between staying stuck for years and actually improving.

If you want to train seriously, send your footage and we’ll clean things up.

(Message me on Instagram)

Private Muay Thai Sessions (Melbourne)

While I’m based in Melbourne I also run private sessions for fighters and serious students of the sport.

These sessions focus on:

• striking mechanics

• balance and posture

• pad systems used in Thai gyms

• developing calm under pressure

You can book a session here:

Book Session

Follow along on Instagram: @mahasanaebreakdowns

See you in the next round.

Mahasanae

A lot of people assume fight IQ comes from experience.

On the surface, that makes sense. The more fights you have, the more situations you’ve seen. The more pressure you’ve felt. The more mistakes you’ve made. Eventually, if you stay in the sport long enough, you begin recognising patterns that younger fighters can’t see.

But after spending years around traditional Muay Thai, I’ve become convinced that experience itself isn’t the real teacher.

Consequence is.

When people talk about old Thai fighters having incredible fight IQ, they often point to the number of fights. Two hundred fights. Three hundred fights. Sometimes more. What gets overlooked is the environment those fights took place in.

These weren’t always carefully managed amateur bouts with months between competitions. These were often fights tied to purses, side bets, gym reputation and family income. The consequence wasn’t theoretical.

The consequence was immediate.

That’s why I think many old Thai fighters developed a type of awareness that is difficult to teach through pad work alone. They weren’t simply accumulating experience. They were learning what happened when mistakes actually cost something.

Most readers will never have that environment.

Neither will most of the fighters you train with.

So the question becomes:

How do you train the awareness that consequence created?

Over the years, I’ve found myself returning to five lessons again and again.

Not techniques.

Not combinations.

Ways of seeing.

Lesson 1: YA MUA — Remove Randomness

One of the most common phrases I heard in Thailand was “YA MUA.”

The translation isn’t perfect, but the meaning is simple.

Don’t be random.

At first, I thought trainers were just telling fighters to clean up their technique. Then I realised they were pointing towards something much deeper. They weren’t criticising a fighter for throwing too much.

They were criticising a fighter for throwing without purpose.

A lot of inexperienced fighters mistake activity for effectiveness. They throw combinations because they feel they should be busy. They pepper low kicks because they want to look active. They touch the body, touch the guard, touch the leg and convince themselves they’re building momentum.

Yet when the exchange finishes, nothing has actually changed.

Read more