#31 Kru Daeng Kiatbusaba - Southpaw Dracula Guard (64 min)

In many of these Muay Thai Library sessions I’m filming with a legend or kru who I really do not know personally. It’s a fresh look at their muay for both me and you, but this Library is devoted to all of the technique of Thailand I can possibly archive, and this will include trainers I do know, and that know me as a fighter. This is one of those. I’ve known Kru Daeng for more than 5 years now and was lucky enough to come into his focus as a trainer in my final year at Lanna Muay Thai (“Kiatbusaba” for Thais). What I love so much about his teaching style is that it’s 100% fight oriented. He doesn’t rely on fancy moves or impressive tricks to make it seem like he’s some kind of guru, he just actually really knows his shit and keeps it simple and effective. A fighter’s trainer, really. 

I fight up in Chiang Mai regularly and it’s Daeng who comes and corners for me. When I have time, I like to work with him and pick up some really good foundational skills as well. It was Kru Daeng who taught me HIIT drill style blocks for kicks and turned me from a fighter who couldn’t check a kick if my life depended on it, to a fighter who checks every single kick in round 5. It’s Kru Daeng who really worked with me the “Dracula Guard”, which was an elaboration on something he told me years earlier, about ducking your chin down upon entry to the clinch so that any elbows will cut your scalp and not your face. These are elemental to a fighter who fights frequently and against bigger opposition, as I do, because they allow you to stay close and be protected, turning your defense into a part of your offense.

So for this Library entry I asked Daeng to work with me on the Dracula Guard again, but this time from Southpaw stance. I’ve been moving into Southpaw stance slowly, ever since Karuhat switched me (you can see that Karuhat session here). Because it is my less familiar stance you really get to see, ground up, how to install a Dracula Guard based attack. What I love so much about his process is that he kept it simple enough that I could get lots of repetition and become comfortable enough that this program could be applied immediately - like, in tomorrow’s fight - but he also put real pressure on me all throughout, forcing me to mould each skill to my own abilities, my sense of balance, and adapt myself as well. We are shaped by pressure, so Daeng provides it steadily and at small increases throughout in order to allow me the possibility to keep finding my balance, keep finding my confidence, through failure and mistakes, rather than by trying to do everything perfectly. This is a really valuable lesson not only for students, but also for instructors. He shows how the right amount of stead pressure can help shape technique, if you allow the student to find the stable points, on their own, instead of just stopping and correcting. The is a Master Class in technique development, in only and hour. And these are precious qualities in a trainer and teacher, and some of the things that makes Daeng so valuable as a Kru.

What to look out for:

1. Daeng uses my natural stance to kind of calibrate the Southpaw guard. You check how you do it naturally, then try to imitate that on the other side. If you’re starting out in your natural stance, pay close attention to how he bases himself with a somewhat squared stance (I keep turning sideways and he has to literally turn my hips back) and tuck your chin down below your “cape” arm. 
2. Several times Daeng reminds me to pull my shoulders up in the guard. I noted that you can feel your extended arm on your cheekbone and temple, and can wrap your other shoulder up by your ear for maximum protection. He also emphasizes keeping the shoulder up on the kick as an additional protection to punches that might be trying to beat the length of that kick.
3. The Dracula Guard is intended to keep you protected at close range against a puncher, so don’t fall backwards or try to take space in order to soften up those punches. Duck in against the puncher and wait out their set combination, then blast them with a knee or elbow. It feels so good. I stumble backwards and try to take space for a long time throughout this video, so mark my difficulty with that tendency and keep watching Daeng’s example; even when he’s punching and not using the block, he’s showing me the body language of being able to stand in and not lose space.
4. The Frankenstein Guard - A natural compliment to the Dracula Guard is what I'm calling the Frankenstein Guard, extending both arms out, a bit like Frankenstein's monster. Daeng emphasizes that this is very effective vs fighters who like to elbow. The key is to maintain soft hands, keep the strength in your shoulders (which hunch to protect your jaw), and to move between some flexibility at the elbows, and outright "Frankensteining". The action of both arms is doing what the single arm is doing in the Dracula Guard, so you can move between them easily. 
5. The Orthodox vs Southpaw matchup allows you to block on your open side and then a split second later deliver a front-side elbow. If you’re Orthodox/Southpaw matched up your front sides will be very close together - lead foot to lead foot - so that front elbow is very nasty. 
6. Keep your standing foot flat on teeps for more power and better balance. He also emphasizes keeping your swinging arm more or less up, just allowing a small swing for power but not bringing it down all the way as many do on a middle kick.
7. The way we kind of half-spar, half-padwork our way through this session is very similar to the importance of just spending time in clinch to learn how to clinch. You have to move through the mistakes instead of starting over. My hand goes under my arm at times, I get tired and stressed and do an “11” block that results in me eating a lot of hooks, but because we just keep going I’m able to make adjustments and remember the block in the pressure, which is how you make corrections in fights. It’s so, so good. And near the end, under all that fatigue, I actually stand in much better and get the chon energy of kind of clashing. This is a skill unto itself and one that you can only hone in this kind of training. So, pay attention to the “endless round” method.

Obviously, because this is Southpaw instruction it also works for Orthodox fighters when facing lefties. Many of these principles can be applied to Orthodox vs Orthodox fighting, etc. The main concern in the Southpaw attack is that your lead hand will tend to be jammed, so jabs may be less effective, and your open sides are facing each other. What makes the Dracula guard interesting from Southpaw is that the elbow side is protecting your open side forming solid head defense just where you need it, and your left leg is loaded for high scoring knees and kicks. The drawback is that you have to be quick on checks to that yourself. Also lead-arm hand fighting, or becoming effective with that long arm, can make the difference in your attack.