"pang" or "tang"?

[Trident]

What's up Bryan!!! Long time no speak brother! This is In Chun from waaaay back (well not too long ago). So how's everything been? Anyway, I just got around to browsing the TBA web site and noticed this forum and lo and behold there's this guy Bryan Popejoy on it! Hit me back sometime when you get a chance. My email's on the Trident Academy site (webmaster link).

Take care!


Related to topic:

BTW - I think that "ash" is not really a word but rather a way to teach someone to breath out when you throw a kick or punch. I could be wrong though.

[Brian]

Bryan,

Sorry about the "sir" stuff. Looking back I'm sure it can be irritating and even worse, pretentious. Yes, a lot of it has to do with the TBA and Ajarn Surachai, but a lot of it also has to do with the respect I feel for anyone or your experience.

I mean, guys like you and Mr. Tippie, Mr. Dobbler, and Mr. Michalowski blow me away. The level of commitment you guys have to the arts and to the sharpening of your skills is an inspiriation to me. You have seen and done things that I don't know if I'll ever achieve. In fact, I'd consider myself a success if I could realize even a fraction of it.

I look at things like Khuen Khru Tippie's last post about the elbows

My experience with throwing elbows is that I generally hit the target and, to my surprise, usually broke the bones (cheek, temple) I was aiming for with no damage to my elbow

And I sit back in awe and imagine the guts and discipline and determination needed to do things like that. Then I realize how very small my understanding of things really is.

I read your post a while back about the "Kang" and I just felt like I needed to convey the level of respect I felt for you and others at your level. I feel bad that I didn't do it sooner and that I hadn't refered to Khru Tippie or others in a manner befiting them. But I understand what you are saying and will honor your request.

Formal or informal, I hope you will know the level of respect I have for you and those like you that have paved the way for such a high quality of the arts in general and Muay Thai in particular. And I hope that this will not be forgotten with the informal tone I take in the future.

I notice also how none of you sign your name with your branch designation. This too I feel bad about. I know it also looks presumtuous and pretentious. I never meant for it to be this way. In fact I never planned on writing to these posts much in the first place. I was originally going to just announce Ajarn Surachai's Utah seminars here in the posts and thought that listing the branch designation would lend credibility to the announcement.

But then, I started getting responses and interaction from guys like you and Khru Tippie, Dobbler, so on and so forth and I got so excited that I just kept writing and the next thing I knew I was hooked.

I've since removed the signature and hope to fade back into obscurity and shed some of the negative connotations that I may have picked up over the last couple months.

Any how, it's been a great pleasure conversing with you.

Sincerely,
Brian

[Brian]

O.K. Bryan,

Now I've got that other stuff of my chest... down to the good stuff. I love watching Sackmongkol. He's one of my favorite fighters. I love the simplicity of his method. His ability to dictate range. The power of his kicks. Awesome!


I also enjoy watching the livelyness of Ryan Simpson. His footwork and his ability to combine foot and hand techniques.

But I don't get to watch too much as I don't have cable or satelite and thus, I have to order most of the fights I watch on video. Do you have anyone else to recommend watching? Any personal favorites?

I also like watching Dee Muhammad Thopearak. He's a little obscure, but was able to capture the Lumpinee title a couple of times. It's kind of personal because he helped me train for my last two fights but it's still cool to watch your teachers apply their craft. By the way, do you know if Ajarn Chai has any of his fights caught on video? I'd love to watch some of those fights.

Finally, I'm in the process of trying to obtain some of Sakasem Kanthawong's fights. He dropped by and yelled encouragement when I was training and then again at my last fight. I've seen pieces of his fights and loved how strong he finished.

Believe it or not I still haven't seen Diesel Noi on video. But I'm working on that.

Sincerely,
Brian