The rules favor the cocky taekwondo blackbelt, and yet he still got destroyed by the Muay Thai legend. Why did this happen? In this episode, we explore when a Taekwondo blackbelt champion challenged a great Muay Thai champion, Changpuek Kiatsongrit. Yes, he's "the fighter that changed history." Free Legendary Strategies: www.lawrencekenshin.com

Imagine kicking these Thai fighters just for them to smile back at you than proceed to destroy you. 😓

My parents put me in karate as a kid. I will never forget when this kid showed up to our sparring class using pure boxing. He mopped the floor with everyone because he hit so hard. Was punching through their guards and he was *fast*. It made me take a step back and focus on practicing the basics over and over.

I always loved the simple power of muay Thai - no gimmicks or flashy moves, just unrelenting brutality. I loved learning it and every technique is completely useful in any situation

I’ll never forget watching Muay Thai in the stadium in Koh Samui. Rain pouring through the roof, the smell of Tiger Balm, young men and kids kicking and elbowing the snot out of each other. The trainers picking up knocked out fighters and slapping them, using smelling salts or pulling their hair to bring them round to fight again. Blood everywhere, the betting and shouting and the continuous wailing of the pi chawa. Crazy scenes.

I was lucky enough to meet Kiatsongrit in a gym in Thailand in 2003. I was kicking some tyres and he came over and gave me some advice. No ego, just wanted to help a Westerner kick better 😀

Early 1990s for Muay Thai in Thailand was a weird era. Back then, after Changpuek crush Rick Roufus on TV back in the 80s, there was a race going on between Japanese Kickboxing, Karate and Taekwando gym to promote their style and attract Thai potential practitioner. Because of this, there was a brief decline in Muay Thai popularity as training in those arts are "cool and awesome" especially since Hongkong and Chinese movie which starring a protagonist using those arts were dominant in Thai media. However, this exact fight would become what "kill" Taekwando in Thailand. For a while the Taekwando throughout Asia are trying to promote itself as an art that could defeat Japanese Kickboxing in the ring. So when Changpuek, the legend who defeated Rick Roufus and one of few Muay Thai fighter who could defeat a fighter using different art at the time, beat that Taekwando guy on TV again. It quickly kill people interest in Taekwando and kickstarting Muay Thai massive popularity in the country.

I trained in Muay Thai for about 3 months when I was stationed in North Thailand. The thing that cracked me up, even little kids would stand around and scoff at my kick technique. However, when we switched to punching, 180* different response. We are talking about people that even have a sport (takraw) that's all kicking so they've been doing it their whole lives. There is really no way to catch up with that. My instructor's shins were like ironwood.

Had a friend who did Taekwondo. Was out at a nightclub with him and he thought he was the hardest man in that club……..He was stone cold sober, because “he didn’t drink due to his commitment to his training.” He started a fight with some steaming drunk guy, who was half his size……The drunk guy punched him once, broke his jaw and sent him to the hospital 🤦🏻.

11 years of Taekwondo experience, and I completely agree 😂 I enjoyed practicing it for what it is, but I would never pretend to be able to hold my ground against an experienced practitioner in Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, MMA or something else with actual practical fighting capabilities.

my first muai thai class i had to hold a pad for an experienced guy. everytime he kicked it it was like being hit by a car. i was a black belt kickboxer and got humbled fast by muai thai

Lawrence Kenshin got me interested in Muay Thai, what a legend. Been doing it for the past 9 months. Best thing ever!

It's always impressive how almost any martial art can be useful when you add other martial arts to make up for its weaknesses. Aikido isn't particularly useful for self-defense on its own (and its not really meant to be), but it really taught me how to use torque and body control when I moved into karate, muay Thai, and jujitsu. Most of my partners really struggled with locks and throws.

Any so-called martial artist who adopts a "Cocky" attitude has failed to understand the most basic principles of martial arts! Self-discipline and respect for both self and for all others! Martial arts are about self-improvement both physically and mentally, this guy has not gotten passed beginner stage as far as i am concerned!

Changpuek is a machine. He was my padman in 2007 when i trained in Thailand and even though he had a drinking problem and hadn't trained seriously anymore for a long time, we would do some soft sparring sometimes and his shins would go right through everything. I can't even imagine he would kick at full power; it would have destroyed me. In a way it was quite sad that he would roll out of bed, you could smell the booze on his breath, and he had barely anything left of the era where he became a muay thai legend. He only had his old clips of fights on CDs and was allowed to hold on to his last name (which is normally the name of the gym he works at).

The liver shot at 2:48 was devastating. If you’ve ever felt one you relived it watching

When I was practicing taekwondo many years ago there was a guy from a kickboxing guy who entered our gym as a new student. My instructor wanted to test him and sent me as a sacrificial lamb to spar with him. Good thing I wore a head gear cause when the sparring began he immediately elbowed my head and I got knocked down hard on the floor and would have passed out from the impact if I didnt wear head gear. He went through my defense and it really reinforced my thoughts on a lot of deficiencies in taekwondo. After a few weeks I left and studied under someone who knew old school karate while also being trained to be a stuntman since it wasn't a formal gym but a stuntmam troupe. It was the best experience I had and the tough guys there were very nice to me.

As someone who practices Muay Thai, I will say that everything about conditioning our bodies against damage is true. We have whole rounds dedicated to conditioning where we have to actively take damage from kicks and knees. My right side hits like a freight train and can do a lot of damage if I put all my power and weight into it, unfortunately my left side hits more like a marshmellow and I'm likely going to have to train my left side more so that I can kick just as hard with my left as I do with my right. In fact, I stopped using my shin guards whenever I train on the bags. Only opting for hand wraps and gloves that way my shins get more conditioned to kicking. I got a lot of work to do.

When I was in Karate and had a sparring session that day. We had a guy come in who was primarily known for his Jiu Jitsu experience only to find out, he had both boxing/thai boxing experience. During the Sparring Session, I saw my Sa Ba Nim (Instructor) fell on his knees from this guys hard body shots to the ribs. Of course, my Sa Ba Nim got back up and ended axe kicking the dude in the face. NOT EVEN FAZING HIM. For that first time, I lowkey felt fear when sparring against those type of fighters.

It looked like a sparring match with a regular and some guy who came to the Gym in a fancy Karate suit. Give him credit for taking all those hits and kicks and getting right back up, that in itself was impressive.

I learnt Tae Kwon do in the RAF back in the early 1970s under a very tough South Korean ex major who fought with the Americans in Vietnam. Back then it was full on contact, we trained incredibly hard and did a lot of destruction. I enjoyed it, especially sparring, it matured me and the disciplined I took on board allowed me to do well in my working career. But I agree with every point made in this video. For quite some time after leaving the RAF I was quite confident I could handle my self in a possible fight and still practised. But when about 33 years old, I stupidly got into an argument which the boyfriend of my and neighbour's wife which turned into a street fight. To my embarrassment, surprise and injury (broken knuckle) found the sparring skills I had were pointless because the speed we were at each other, grabbing like two kids in the playground I found my brain instead of thinking about what moves to make when I used to do competition sparring, instead was telling me "Your too old for this", "What will he neighbours say" and "I’m exhausted, can't breathe", we both stopped and walked away. Ten years I went to work in Bangkok and my Thai friends knowing I had doneTae Kwon Do asked to come down and watched them train, who were just standard office workers. In just a very short time, I could tell they were in a totally different league in terms of martial arts skills, speed, power, fitness, body muscle especially how they were hitting each other on purpose. I was invited to watch proper professional Muay Thai fighting at Lumpinee Stadium and again, I could not believe what I was seeing. So give credit, respect and admiration when it is due and without any doubt this video shows the absolute superiority of Muay Thai over Tae Kwon Do.

Rick Rufous got his legs absolutely wrecked in that fight 😂

I'll never forget when I was learning the shin kick, and not really understanding the physiology, until my instructor got sick of me flailing around and demonstrated on me. It changed everything I knew about fighting.

Good coverage and intelligent commentary. Well done.

Always love you analysis. Great vid

My dad put me into TKD in order to make sure I'm not "complacent and grow up fat". Hands in there were meant to generate more torque and speed as far as I practiced. After I met some good friends who practiced in Muai Thai, BJJ, and Jeet KD, and mixed that with Kyokushin, it was a fantastic experience. They showed me some ropes and we eventually went to gyms together. TKD is great for teaching me speed personally and to be light. But I needed everything else to at least have a chance of holding my own. Personally, mixed is best. I didn't break my shins tho, that would mess me up

Just by looking at the Title I already knew it wasn't going to be a good outcome for the TKD guy 🤣

I love watching these videos of Muay Thai boxers taking apart cocky Karate and Tae Kwon Do exponents piece by piece.

I would definitely love to learn Muay Thai from him. The man is an absolute legend.

The Muay Thai fighter wasn't even using fists or elbows and still destroyed the Rex Kwon Do guy 😬

I do not fear the man who knows Thousands of Techniques, I fear the Man, who practices One single Technique a Thousand Times - Bruce Lee

My taekwondo teacher actually told me that TWO is a sport and/or tool for self-development, not an art for self-defense, though it does derive from tang soo do and hapkido which are more combat oriented. He also teaches muy thai and hapkido for defense.

The non MT fighters of this era just weren’t on par with the nakmuay as combat athletes. It derived from a hobby for them, the Thais were fighting as a full time job from an early age. Technique aside, the thai fighters had thrown and received 10s of thousands of more blows. The experience…. It was men vs boys

Tkd guy has fast reaction, but doing spinning kicks with back against your opponent, not accustomed to leg grabbing and not accustom to hurting kicks makes him disadvantaged

3:31 the guy does some flashy spinning kick chain, and Saenchai literally just applauds him, like "that was cool, xD nice job buddy. Now let's fight instead. Look at me - I decide when we dance."

thank you 🙏🏽 i love your content.❤️

Another epic breakdown of a historically significant fighter and interaction that greatly deserves recording. You have a masterful way of telling the stories of these great fighters. It is such a wonderful thing that all of these fighters are getting reported/recorded for the history books in a way that delivers the good and the bad in a respectful way, this is a must for our world. I salute you and the great work you are doing, sir.

Great video as always. This channel have the same impact on making the muay thai famous as Changphuek and Buakaw. Big thank you from Bulgaria!

That spinning front kick knockout in the cage fight clip was BOSS!

This was a very well presented and interesting video. Great stuff!

Keep it up Lawrence! Absolutely love your videos, can't wait for the next!

I love TaeKwonDo. Took it for about 8 years. But there is a world of difference when you train to score points vs training to knock out. TaeKwonDo is more like the fencing of fighting.

When I first got started into Martial arts and Self Defense, everyone in my Platoon, including my Army Drill Sergeants, recommended BJJ and Muay Thai. I have a general Knowledge of Taekwondo and “some” Karate due to my Mom being a former practitioner herself back in her day, (I wanna say she was either a Orange or a Green belt), she was really good at it too. Sadly she’s not able to do it anymore because of her age. When I got outta the Army I had started practicing with BJJ and Muay Thai in late 2021. Here I am in May 2023, currently a two-stripe (almost third) white belt in BJJ, about a year and a half experienced in Muay Thai, two months in of training in Krav Maga, and almost a Level 1 Yellow belt, (Muay Thai has DEFINITELY been helping me with that, as well as BJJ). And now I’m about to start training in Taekwondo to follow in my Mom’s footsteps. I just hope that I’ll be able to catch on as quick in this Martial Art with the knowledge and skills etc I possess, but I’m looking forward to starting this journey. Wish me luck guys 🙏🏼

I've been practicing Muay Thai for 3 years. Having played football(soccer, for those here in united states) in my early years helped me kick REALLY hard.

Another great video as always! Demonstrating just how affective & superior Muay Thai is. Thanks again Lawrence not just for all the latest uploads but all the other great videos you have on your channel. lt really is a gold mine of knowledge & educational in-depth brake downs of striking. The more I browse through your videos the more great content I keep discovering, even after rewatching videos several times I still learn more. Thank you for sharing & giving us all your wonderful insight.🙏🏼

I definitely enjoy these vids. Thanks bud.

Lovely collection and quality editing.

Can't imagine taking a full on Muay Thai kick! 💀

Loved to see him humble the tkd guy with sweeps.

As a TKD black belt and a former MT practitioner, TKD does have some powerful kicks (side kicks, turning back kicks, turning wheel kicks and axe kicks). BUT, overall, Muay Thai is a MUCH MORE devastating art than TKD.

Thanks for the video. Love it.

Yay..just subscribed...💕🇲🇾

The conditioning aspect can't be overstated. This is why when Karate came to the west all the karate masters got dropped like flies by local boxers. Perfecting your tecnique by striking the air, or even competing but for points never prepares you for getting punched in the face. The TKD guy was also clearly defenseless against things like trips and takedowns. It's a big blind spot in most traditional striking martial arts, a TDK fighter who doesn't also study something like Judo has no idea what to do when someone grabs them, Muai Thai is much more eclectic in that regard and more useful as a standalone style.

I remember Buakaw just annihilating japanese kickboxing and smiling and being humble while doing so. Muay thai is a brutal humbling martial art. You can see it reflected in its practioniers. Brutal yet humble.

Good video, keep em coming.

Huh, this was a random recommendation from KZfaq that actually looked like something i would find interesting and it Was. Nice video 😄👍

"I'm going to show you how superior my marital arts is over muay thai but you cant use elbows, clinch, punches and cant hit me above the waist!"

Million dollar question for ya, Lawrence. We will never see it in our lifetimes, but do you feel that in a hundred years or so from now, that the snap roundhouse kick predominant in karate and TKD will go the way of the dino and the styles will adapt the swinging roundhouse kick that is pretty much the signature kick of Muay Thai?

Great video thank you 👍🏻

I trained in may thai. I remember I used to keep a log book of damages. Shin splints; skin tears, sore joints. It was hard to do a full week of training. But after a few years, yes, I was conditioned!

I once got devastated by a MT guy so hard, I needed to train MT for a few yeurz to become as confident as before.

You're the best Lawrence, keep up the awesome work brother x

Damn. You could just see the power in that guys kicks

Great content, thanks

The Muay Thai kicks are no joke. I trained hard and was fast with my kung fu kicks. Which could cause respectable damage. During a temporary relocation, I befriended a Muay thai kickboxer and we both were curious about each other's style and strengths. While it's true that my kicks were rapid and I could kick, plant foot and repeat kick faster than his kicks, we opted to see which of us could endure kicks to the side ribs more. Needles to say after a couple of kicks we both agreed our ribs were a stupid idea as we both felt the pain from it. We settled on shin to shin leg kicks and I ended up conceding, because as well as I hardened my shins through special training, I couldn't endure past 8 kicks. It felt like he had steel plates and he displayed no discomfort to the force of our clash. The next day my shins were bruised like when I first started my kung Fu training years before. That was over 30 years ago, and to this day I still have a strong respect for Thai boxers and their training.

The Thai conditioning is unparalleled. Going in cocky is never good either The sidekick is a good kick for countering the leg kick. Great Video

I remember being in taekwondo as a kid, and learning crescent kicks an axe kicks. The only thing that ever went through my head is how are useless this attack would be in any situation

Taekwondo guy: "Hey... I never rehearsed that move in class!"

I mainly practice full-contact Shotokan Karate but learning a bit of Muay Thai and Judo helps my style out.

Good to see someone finally touching on what actually makes muay thai so effective - the brutal conditioning It's not just jogging and kicking sandbags There are muay thai practitioners who literally kick trees and have their torso beaten by sticks to condition their shins and body The "training", if it can be called that, can be only described as brutal and inhumane But yes, it clearly works, it's the reason why muay thai fighters are so tough

Never fight if you only can do taekwondo, it become more useless every time. Lack pressure test and clinch is very risky.

Did anyone else's legs hurt after watching this? 😂 Excellent analysis, thanks for uploading this.

That roofus fight was phenomenal I still watch it like i never seen it before

Where do you get the older footage of Muay Thai fights

4:55 I think this has changed now, the most Thai talent still is around 130 but there's quite a few excellent 155lb fighters from Thailand nowadays (Sittichai, Buakaw, Pethmorakot, Superbon...), I'd imagine Thailand's average height has grown since the 90's as their economy has grown. 155lbs is the weight most men in the west would be if they were in-shape athletes given average height is ~5"8 or 9

Nice work My man. Everything on point. Well observer and explained . And yes god dammit, i enjoined it👌👌💯

Narrator is correct. The higher the kick, the lower the power. Spinning kicks are indeed a high risk technique.The reward can be high return, but they often leave you pretty much wide open. I did Tae Kwon Do in the 80s. It was frustrating to lose to people whose kicks looked pretty, but had no power. The 'black belt' guy is obviously used to 'point' fighting.

Taekwondo and traditional MA kicks do have a place in MMA though, in kickboxing the distance is much closer and there's less movement because of the ring and no takedowns, there's as many karate and tkd stylists as Muay Thai in MMA.

TKD would be a great sport if they simply made it full contact whilst maintaining their rule sets which emphasize fast kicks, kicking high and even flashy kicks. That rule is simply no kicks below the waist but you can kick and punch anywhere else as hard as you want.

some of the things i learned in mixed martial arts is - NEVER - underestimate your opponent, treat them as the bigest threat you will ever face AT THAT MOMENT and NEVER confuse arrogance with confidence.

Thanks for the video glhf

All of these fights really boil down to the low kick. He was getting destroyed by Roofus but he was tough and able to stay standing and deliver those leg kicks which eventually ended Roofus.

Muay Thai is such a tyrannical art. It's practitioners move like they're blessed. I want to further incorporate it's techniques into my style.

Went from getting my second degree black belt in TKD to 12 years of Muay Thai training from a star student of the legendary Saekson Janjira that went and started her own Gym, i was even fortunate enough to knock out Saeskons star pupil at my weight who weighed 15 pounds heavier than me at a smoker event who's a national champ with very little fight experience on my books, thanks to her training, i can tell you with absolutely certainty that a muay thai round house is more devastating than anything you've ever experience in any form of combat sport in existence ... I can now throw a low kick that can break someones knee caps after 12 years of constant training after so many years of kicking thai pads and fairtex bags filled with sand that builds up at the bottom like concrete i got shins of steel, in TKD you tap with the tip of your foot but in muay Thai you follow through with your shin into it like your life depends on it, your whole body gets thrown into it ... hips and all ... Over time that creates microfragments in the bone which creates layers of bone density and muscle mass, with the jump roping and running along with squats 4-5 days a day a week, you develop thick muscular legs that when initiatiated makes the biggest dudes on the planet whimper in pain when you kick with all of your strength, the pain of throwing just dissipates after years of abuse, its an interesting development that is fascinating to watch in person, the body works in such mysterious ways and getting to that point is like gaining some kind of weird super powers i still practice to this day on my bag at home 4 days a week and you never lose it the kicks are still as devastating and crazy and i've put on weight and size these days but my technique has sharpened so much i could honestly fight professionally if i didn't have a day job at this point ...i love the sport of Muay Thai, dedicated my life to it and as much as TKD fails in comparison without it the transition would have been a lot harder and its granted me amazing footwork and nimbleness thanks to it, i still throw spinning round house kicks which helped me get the win in my last smoker and allowed me to beat a national champion who was heavier than me at the time, i almost cracked one of his ribs with it which allowed me to put some steam in my punches later on in the third round and get the knock out ... I'll never forget that day, that day i visualized and accomplished what i thought i wasn't ready for all thanks to my team and my coach who gave me the training and tools to achieve ...here's the video i'm in the red trunks kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eteCdNKQ0t3Im6c.htmlsi=dpci9I_epJ0HPZr1

Muay Thai Artists always appear to be happy to be in the ring with you. 😊 RESPECT

I’ve been a martial arts for over 30 years and I will say sparring alone with Muay thai . When they kick you it hurts like holy hell and there bodies are almost like concrete when you hit them. You actually hurt yourself more when you hit them than hurting them.

Thais have the hardest shins. Those who fought Thais will know 😅😂

The way I was anxious for him with his hands down knowing full damn well how hard that Mauy Thai round house can be.

I used to live in Thailand and I saw many Thai Fighting bouts! They are awesome fighters! Their training is unbelievable..... they use bamboo poles as punching and kicking bags and their fitness training is beyond compare! There is a reason you don't see many Thai trained Thai fighters in MMA or the UFC ....... they consider it inferior! 🦂💘 Thailand

I've always found it interesting how other martial artists only want to fight Muay Thai fighters under modified rules.

I practiced Mui Thai into my late 20’s. I became a police officer in my early 20’s I’ve actually been hit full force in my ribs with a baseball bat, I’d much rather take the bat than a kick from a pro Thai fighter.

Great , Thank You Sir

I have to say that i applaud the tykondo guys attitude . A smile always on his face and hiding away his pain

My ex coach won and lost his kickboxing fights in exactly the same way: he can kick high and fast but he defeats his opponents through superior boxing and he himself loses to people with superior boxing/ overrelies on his kicks.

I want to see these fights without limitations on either fighting style.

TKD has become a mere entertainment over the years. Board breaking, flashy kicks, insane acrobatics, etc

When watching these vids, and read the comments I am always amazed that in 2022 with internet connecting everyone, a lot of people still don't think eclectic when it comes to martial arts. At the end of the day it is all hands and feet you strike with there is no such thing as better than this etc. Respect the history and culture behind each and every style -contemplate, integrate and innovate to become the most complete version of a fighter you possibly can and want to be.

being a blackbelt in taekwondo is like being the manager of a mcdonalds : its not going to help you win a fight.

I was in a tournament once and there was this smallish fighter next to me and he looked upset. I asked him what's wrong. He said those two guys over there were saying are you sure you're in the right division and stuff. They were cocky. Well tournament started. He beat both of them. I teach my kids never underestimate anyone.

Thank you