Everything that follows can be seen in this GIF of just a few of his knees. Keep in mind that in Dieselnoi’s day you could actually grab the ropes around someone’s body and throw knees almost exactly like how we’re doing them here. It would seem that power is a more reliable strategy than finesse against a man willing to abandon stance to track you down, but Samart had little success with this adjustment. It’s brilliant really. Muay Thai chronicler Sylvie Von Duuglas-Ittu describes the circumstances surrounding the fight: There's very little footage of Dieselnoi online, some highlight edits from scraps of video, or "show" fights against non-peak opponents. In the hour I spent with him I think I uncovered dimensions of what he was doing. If the guard is held too long, the cracks become visible, and opponents can work around it to manipulate your hand positioning. He walked Samart down and cut off the ring, forcing the smaller, more nimble man to expend energy while picking away with kicks and the occasional knee. The parallel arms create a clear center-line that can be attacked, either through thrusting an arm or shoulder between them, or crossing the arm over from outside. With his hands inside of Dieselnoi’s, Samart was in a strong position to push off and reset. When they attempt to resist his sideways pressure, he simply reverses his grip, using the opposite arm to push them in the direction of their momentum. I always laugh at that because gambling has been part of Muay Thai since it came off the battle field. I got the motion down a little better as we went on, but I couldn’t really get the kind of explosive burn that Dieselnoi can still generate out of his technique. If you are not familiar with Dieselnoi, check out Lawrence Kenshin’s tribute to him: This is part of my running video series of nakmuaynation.com private sessions film with the great instructors of Thailand, the first 10 minutes with Dieselnoi, with audio commentary is in the video above. There’s something amazing about these older greats who can pull up videos of their glory days on their phones at a moment’s notice. describes the circumstances surrounding the fight. Look at this fight of Dieselnoi’s from the past (below). (Something that perhaps the most famous and loved fighter ever – who Dieselnoi defeated – Samart Payakaroon made quite a big deal about in a videotaped interview.) With your back against the ropes, your options for moves change – a Queen becomes a Rook… you know where he’s going to go and the strikes he can choose from are far fewer. Both men were not only champions on the most prestigious stage in the sport, but had already built legacies as two of the best to ever do it. Over time, as opponents become worn out from the knees and pressure, they tend to grow gun-shy and are more likely to back up in panic, anticipating a possible knee coming with every forward march. And what’s really important about that, in my view, is that so many people like to rattle off this explanation that Muay Thai is on the decline now because of gambling. This grip also allows him to more effectively destablilize his opponent’s balance by simultaneously pushing his head off his center of gravity and pulling it down toward him. Watch the entire fight only looking at his knees, nothing else. These sequences are among the best Muay Khao work you’ll ever see. For Dieselnoi, the dracula guard is not a static tactic for closing distance, but a key component in a complete defensive system. The opponent is left out of position, off balance, and open to a follow-up strike. They have fight-mode, which is scary as shit, and then “off mode.” That’s it. His shin is nearly vertical, which is partially to do with the height of his knee. Once Dieselnoi started finding his clinch consistently, the fight snowballed out of control for Samart. Dieselnoi’s balance is so beautiful and it comes from this straight line running from his head down through his standing leg.