Thai warrior Sam-A Gaiyanghadao from the Evolve Fight Team is a legend in the art of Muay Thai. He’s been a dominant force in the sport for nearly two decades.
A multiple-time Lumpinee Super Flyweight World Champion, Lumpinee Bantamweight World Champion, Thailand Super Flyweight, Super Bantamweight, and Bantamweight Champion, and more, Sam-A has seen it all inside the ring.
He joined the prestigious ONE Super Series in 2018, and is today the reigning ONE Strawweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion. He is also the former ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion.
Needless to say, the level of success Sam-A has achieved in one of the most highly competitive martial arts disciplines in existence cannot be denied. In many ways, it’s unparalleled. But that success was made possible only by his extreme dedication to training and honing his skills throughout the years.
Growing up in Buriram province in northeastern Thailand and having trained in Muay Thai since the age of 9, Sam-A has spent almost his entire life perfecting his unique fighting style. Over the course of his career, he’s developed three major weapons. These distinct weapons have helped him win countless battles in the ring against some of the toughest opponents in the history of the sport.
To further understand Sam-A and what makes him such an incredible fighter, we need to study the three main weapons that keep him a class above the competition.
Today, Evolve University shares Sam-A Gaiyanghadao’s three main weapons that made him a Muay Thai legend.
1) Feints
Sam-A is a master of deception and at throwing feints. He uses feints to draw reactions from his opponents and keep them guessing. He can throw feints with his fists, elbows, and kicks. Because of his speed and power, Sam-A’s feints are incredibly effective. The effect is usually opponents constantly freezing up, being thrown off their game.
In addition to feints, Sam-A is also a master at creating angles and fighting from different ranges. His tricky striking rhythm allows him to diversify his combinations very well. Opponents can never predict when he will strike with something massive. This ability has allowed Sam-A to score a myriad of amazing highlight-reel knockouts throughout his storied career.
Combining his elusive defense and with pinpoint striking, Sam-A is a nightmare matchup for anyone he’s in the ring with.
In the video above, Sam-A’s first fight under the ONE Super Series banner, he took on Italian fighter Joseph Lasiri. Sam-A showcased his supreme fighting skills in front of a global audience. In this fight, he often feinted briefly with the left kick before unleashing a fast and powerful head kick. Furthermore, Lasiri froze every time Sam-A feinted with anything. It was a beautiful performance from the veteran.
2) Lightning Fast Left Kick
Speaking of Sam-A’s fiery left kick, it’s undoubtedly his most dangerous weapon. Sam-A’s left kick is like poetry in motion. It’s smooth, super fast, and thunderous. He throws it with so much speed and power that opponents can never anticipate when it’s coming, and when it lands, it lands with incredible force.
Sam-A doesn’t throw his left kick like other fighters do. He throws it very narrowly as opposed to being wide. He also doesn’t rotate his hips early, which usually gives away the attack. He only turns his hips into the kick at the very last second, just before the kick connects. This makes it a quicker strike and much harder to defend against.
The Thai legend relies on his left kick a lot in his fights. In fact, he believes it’s what has brought him so much success in his career. “I just have my signature left kick, and that’s brought me this far. I’d like to say that my left kick means everything in my career,” he once said.
3) Fight IQ
As fast and as powerful as his left kick truly is, and as deceiving as his feints can be, these weapons can be negated. Sam-A isn’t invincible by any means. But arguably the most significant asset in Sam-A’s repertoire is his combat intelligence. Sam-A’s fight IQ is second to none.
Sam-A has the ability to decipher an opponent’s style mid-fight, picking up on subtle cues that give away techniques, and then makes mid-fight adjustments to counter them. He knows exactly how to outsmart his opponents and is constantly two steps ahead in every fight.
With his years of experience competing in the most prestigious arenas in the Thai capital of Bangkok, Sam-A has faced a multitude of different fighters in the ring. He’s faced every kind of Muay Thai style there is and has had tremendous success against every one of them. He uses this experience to deal with any fighter’s unique strengths and neutralizes them.
If an opponent is aggressive, Sam-A can lay back and counter with precision. If an opponent is overly defensive, he can turn up the pressure, leading with his signature left kick. No matter the situation, Sam-A can make the necessary adjustments and find a way to win.
Speed And Deception: Sam-A Gaiyanghadao’s Master Course
If you’ve always wanted to learn the unique fighting style of Muay Thai legend, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, look no further with Evolve University’s Speed And Deception Master Course!
For the first time ever, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao unveils the secrets underlying his signature style, revealing how you can develop the speed, precision, and elusive defense that he is renowned for.
No detail is spared as Sam-A breaks down each technique, explains his strategies & tactics, shares mistakes borne from personal experience, and demonstrates drills from his very own training routine.
Created especially for martial artists who want to take their techniques to the next level, we’ve purposefully programmed this Master Course to incorporate all the subtle but game-changing nuances that define the multiple-time Muay Thai World Champion’s style.
Packed with over 9 hours of on-demand video content structured into 15 instructional chapters, Speed And Deception is the ultimate compilation of Sam-A’s legendary style.
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