tried it first time today! it was awesome, felt exposed but realized that keeping the opponent busy with your left hand and using knees and shins to attack and protect helps the exposed mid section a lot
I was also wondering about this. I would feel vulnerable to a mid kick to my right side. I'm sure if applied correctly, there's a countermeasure to this.
This is awesome Sylvie! Learned so much! I learned Dracula guard before my roundhouse. It helps defend before you kick and gets the arms in position to kick. I'm obsessed with this guard and gonna use it nonstop. Another good attack off it is the dominate arm elbow
I started training Muay Thai 1.5 year ago at a MMA gym in Australia and I recently stumbled across your channel. The way you break down techniques with your commentary is extremely helpful in my own training and highly appreciated. Keep up the great work Sylvie!
I've archived over 100 hours of commentary with legends & great krus of Thailand, you can check that out here: www.patreon.com/posts/muay-thai-uncut-7058199
Woooow, this is perfect for my style, i like to catch with my elbow but i have never try to tuck it to my chin like that.....can't wait to try it out!!!
stiff arm during the teep was cool. love the guard. ive used it before, called it the batman. nice to see other people in other arts and other corners of the world doing the same things
This is it, the missing piece that bugged me, this defense, it just makes perfect sense for Muay Thai. I will so incorporate it into my game. I've seen this in fights, surely. Yet I did not know why and exactly how to use it which is here clarified beyond any doubt. We walk forward, defend with this against punches, we anticipate kicks because we're open and it's obvious they will attack us there so we can grab them more easily. It's just... Amazing is the only word that comes to mind.
Pretty awesome that it all clicked. There is an even better video of the Dracula Guard with Daeng in the Muay Thai Library for patrons. A full hour with commentary breakdown.
I love the instruction, very tidy. My instructor used to encourage us to stay on the balls of the feet but I notice in Thailand kickboxing fights, there's a tendency towards more flat footed fighting, standing in front of an opponent and trading hits based on conditioning. Can you talk about this dynamic with how you're being taught?
There is a lot of variation in styles in Muay Thai, but one thing to keep in mind about the "flat foot" in Thai fighters is that even when the foot look flat, there is usually slight pressure on the ball, and the heel is maybe even a little off the ground. They are not "heavy" on their feet, or back on their heels. So, when trainers tell you to get up on the balls of your feet they are really over stressing a kind of weight distribution, for the purposes of learning. In the west this might produce fighters who are more obviously on the balls of their feet, while in Thailand it is much more subtle. But you do bring up a really good point about how Thais will tend to stand in much more than western Muay Thai fighters, and in this video Pi Daeng is telling me that he wants this kind of style from me, firmly connected to the ground (but not flat on my feet). Again, there are lots of different Muay Thai styles, and the one I use (Muay Khao) is very forward advancing and should be solid.
More videos on this Dracula guard please for southpaws,not many around,think good guard in close,to protect your face,like your videos you explain things good,
My trainers started to have me train this a couple months ago. Still getting the hang of it, but it's great, especially when I'm always going forward in my fights. This and the 'Toddy Turtle', 555.
Sylvie, you are so amazing.. you are so different from many other women who choose to shop in their free times and be couch potatoes when they dont shop.
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - Muay Thai is the first time I watch this guard and the strike used simultaneously... is this a variation of Dracula guard use invented by your coach?.
I've watched several of your videos and noticed each trainer has a different view on things, like throwing the arm back on a kick or keeping it up for guard. How do you reconcile the different teacher's styles? Don't they cause you to lose progress when you're switching back and forth in your training, varying for each trainers preferred methods? Would you, or could you, say any of the styles are more effective than the others in your experience? I know a lot can be subjective, but curious if you feel any variations of doing the same technique have been better than others you've been taught.
None of the techniques are wrong or even "better". It isn't hard, you just practice the technique being taught to you, feel its strengths and weaknesses, and integrate what is positive for you as a fighter, and leave out what is not. Every technique or style has something to teach you. When you are with a particular trainer you practice what they show out of respect. Out of these different inputs you create your style. Each way of doing things has pluses and minuses.
It's a wonderful guard, especially because of how niche it is and how few people know about it let alone practiced against it, HOWEVER, my one big gripe is I can't use it as a southpaw because I would be essentially presenting my liver to my opponent on a silver platter :C once I learn orthodox, I will 100% incorporate it with some nasty switch kicks, elbows and knees!
thanks for posting sylvie. I am thinking about integrating this because it feels like an effective way to eat space as a smaller fighter but am wondering if there are only leg attacks out of it. where do your hands most often come back into play after entering with the initial shot?
@Faron It's actually pretty versatile in strikes, more than you would think. I'm currently working on an exploding left hook out of it, hope to put up some video soon. What happens is that when the guard is closed it really tightens the hook, making it come right out of your rib cage, creating tremendous power. Tightening the hook is something I've been working on anyways after taking a private with Sagat, I was surprised how much the two go together. Of course though the jab is ready-made in this guard, and lead body digs and hooks. And your right elbow is poised for a very strong attack, with lots of shoulder behind it. As fighter who is closing space, this is perfect. But also look at this: th-cam.com/video/sRPjJEuOOC0/w-d-xo.html - The cross arm defense in boxing is similar in many ways. These boxers are able to punch out of it nicely. I haven't worked in this direction yet, but the two guards can be related.
Haha, it's hard to picture Nell going nuts, she's so chill. What a crazy coincidence and small world though! She's one of my favorite persons in all the world.
Your right! She is how I found you. What is even crazier is that we used to work together and she has this classic photo with you in it (the bandana one). I know that picture like the back of my hand and for it to be Sylvie Con Douglass the fighter is so crazy. I'm training hard and you help keep me going. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
The same way more common Muay Thai guards do. Attacks to the body aren't defended with the arms and elbows in Muay Thai, they are defended with knees and shins.
Haven't read other comments, but isn't the Dracula guard very vulnerable to body punches? Straight right to the body. Light jab into the guard, quick left uppercut to the body. Hell, even a jab into the body can exploit this guard, I feel. I don't think a rear knee is fast enough to counter punches to the body.
Yes, people love to bring this hypothetical up. Every guard has holes, and is used differently for different purposes. Body punches in general are not significantly used in Muay Thai, in part because elbow counters can be nasty, something boxing does not have to worry about. In the Dracula guard both elbows are readily available. Punches to the body can also be fended off pretty easily with a raised lead knee. Unlike in boxing, Muay Thai does not defend the abdomen with the arms or by crouch. Arms are kept high because of elbows. The body is defended by knees, counter threats and control of distance - its a long guard so properly used the front hand can shove and steer an opponent, and yes the rear knee is a threat to any dipping opponent. Of course, there are always openings, you should never just stay in one guard for that reason. Think about the standard "11" guard. The Dracula guard is useable in most 11 guard situations, but it's far more dynamic.
Yoooo! Sylvie! Big fan. Didn't expect you to comment, this is awesome haha. Yeah I am aware of the cross-armed guard. Been studying the old mongoose for his counter punching. What I don't get though is why don't practitioners of the cross-armed guard extend their lead hand the way muay thai fighters do when they do the the Dracula Guard. They seem to only leave it extended when they're on offence and I've never seen someone use it on defense except for Mayweather when he does a quick retreat backwards and even then he doesn't do it as the Dracula Guard.
I'm not really sure, I know a lot less about boxing history than I do about Muay Thai. But a factor may be that the stiff arm can leave the body open to body punches. This is much less of an issue in Muay Thai where knees and elbows come in to play in that range. But this is just a wild guess. Also, the stiff arm in Dracular guard is an entry into clinch, which is a main goal for some fighters. But that isn't to say that the Dracula guard could not have interesting boxing applications.
![일상 속 기분 좋음 [Proto disco meme]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DwmEIaZ7XGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Wow, I learned a ton by watching that. It felt like I was being given the private lesson! Your narration explained so much. Thanks!
tried it first time today! it was awesome, felt exposed but realized that keeping the opponent busy with your left hand and using knees and shins to attack and protect helps the exposed mid section a lot
Awesome!
I was also wondering about this. I would feel vulnerable to a mid kick to my right side. I'm sure if applied correctly, there's a countermeasure to this.
Best muay thai channel, humble and always working with the best fighters, battle proven
Techniques by the best fighters
This is awesome Sylvie! Learned so much! I learned Dracula guard before my roundhouse. It helps defend before you kick and gets the arms in position to kick. I'm obsessed with this guard and gonna use it nonstop. Another good attack off it is the dominate arm elbow
Awesome as always, Sylvie. Thanks for sharing!
I started training Muay Thai 1.5 year ago at a MMA gym in Australia and I recently stumbled across your channel. The way you break down techniques with your commentary is extremely helpful in my own training and highly appreciated. Keep up the great work Sylvie!
Master Deng!!! Let's goo!! I got to train with him in my time at Lanna. Great gym and amazing trainers
Sylvie thank you for the commentary. It's very helpful to know what Coach was saying and your thought bubble. It's was like being ringside.
I love the commentary throughout! Thank you for this resource!
I've archived over 100 hours of commentary with legends & great krus of Thailand, you can check that out here: www.patreon.com/posts/muay-thai-uncut-7058199
Thanks for posting your videos! Keep up the good work. I don't do Muay Thai but would like to try it one day.
I really enjoy watching your videos with the commentaries! Thanks so much!
Thank you kru greatings from México
Thanks for this Sylvie, really good to see and learn from
keep up the great work sylvie, always a pleasure to watch your videos
Love the music in the background
Woooow, this is perfect for my style, i like to catch with my elbow but i have never try to tuck it to my chin like that.....can't wait to try it out!!!
Wow I found your channel just yesterday and I love it! Thank you so much Sylvie!
I love Muay Thai and your videos are helping a lot! Thanks again!!!
I feel very enriched by this, thanks for the reminders
Sylvie your commentary is so good. That dracula guard is cool as fk!
I love Muay Thai and I am at aww of all the top trainers you train with one day I would love to go to Thailand
stiff arm during the teep was cool. love the guard. ive used it before, called it the batman. nice to see other people in other arts and other corners of the world doing the same things
We never worked on that when I was there, not specifically. But the hallmarks of all the Kru's padwork is tangible in this gym. Sawadee sawa-dee-e :)
Brilliant video!
Sylvie, awesome posts, and love your commentary! Thank you!
cool insight into muay thai thanks
beautiful guard, this are some mesmerizing knees
(Pattern drills.) "Gives you the repetition, but not in a way you're going to zone out on." I like that.
Great job Sylvi, absolutely inspiring
Very nice tutorial, both the training and your explanation are very useful, thank you!
First saw this (on TH-cam) being used by Buakaw in his K1 fights around 10 years ago. It's good for countering uppercuts.
This is it, the missing piece that bugged me, this defense, it just makes perfect sense for Muay Thai. I will so incorporate it into my game. I've seen this in fights, surely. Yet I did not know why and exactly how to use it which is here clarified beyond any doubt. We walk forward, defend with this against punches, we anticipate kicks because we're open and it's obvious they will attack us there so we can grab them more easily. It's just... Amazing is the only word that comes to mind.
Pretty awesome that it all clicked. There is an even better video of the Dracula Guard with Daeng in the Muay Thai Library for patrons. A full hour with commentary breakdown.
Thanks a lot for the amazing video! Very useful!
I love the instruction, very tidy. My instructor used to encourage us to stay on the balls of the feet but I notice in Thailand kickboxing fights, there's a tendency towards more flat footed fighting, standing in front of an opponent and trading hits based on conditioning. Can you talk about this dynamic with how you're being taught?
There is a lot of variation in styles in Muay Thai, but one thing to keep in mind about the "flat foot" in Thai fighters is that even when the foot look flat, there is usually slight pressure on the ball, and the heel is maybe even a little off the ground. They are not "heavy" on their feet, or back on their heels. So, when trainers tell you to get up on the balls of your feet they are really over stressing a kind of weight distribution, for the purposes of learning. In the west this might produce fighters who are more obviously on the balls of their feet, while in Thailand it is much more subtle. But you do bring up a really good point about how Thais will tend to stand in much more than western Muay Thai fighters, and in this video Pi Daeng is telling me that he wants this kind of style from me, firmly connected to the ground (but not flat on my feet). Again, there are lots of different Muay Thai styles, and the one I use (Muay Khao) is very forward advancing and should be solid.
thank you for the quality of your videos
Just found u and ur website, ur are an inspiration to me, keep it going!
More videos on this Dracula guard please for southpaws,not many around,think good guard in close,to protect your face,like your videos you explain things good,
My trainers started to have me train this a couple months ago. Still getting the hang of it, but it's great, especially when I'm always going forward in my fights. This and the 'Toddy Turtle', 555.
Sylvie, you are so amazing.. you are so different from many other women who choose to shop in their free times and be couch potatoes when they dont shop.
Hi Sylvie (or anyone kind to share), besides when Jabbing, can the active guard also be used when throwing Cross?
Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu - Muay Thai is the first time I watch this guard and the strike used simultaneously... is this a variation of Dracula guard use invented by your coach?.
Excellent teacher !!!!
This is absolutely great. Thanks for sharing, you have a new subscriber for sure.
That was awesome, thank you for sharing.
Great video thanks. Amazing coach and athlete.
thanks for posting. I'd love it if there was a authenic muay thai gym where I live.
I love this guard
Excellent vidéo
You have become so strong and more confident since ur first videos. Is there anyway I can watch your fights?
thanks SYLVIE
Very good. That's great coaching
GREAT PAD HOLDING
When you say "Block, and eat the space", is that a general rule that applies to every blocking situation?
Hey i love your channel and your honesty, I'm the same with my switch kicks haha
Hi. What are those gloves and where are they from? Thanks . Great video
you deserve more subs
Awesome technique. Thank you.
Thank you very much for this video. I love your stuff!
The Long Guard is kind of my favorite "move", so this helps with it. :D
Great commentary - thanks for info
12:30 So she had a fight the night before & was still training like this? Wow. She looks good & has great cardio. She's tough!
Nice videos, very nice technique, keep trainning!
are you a full time fighter? or do you have a job? i am asking because i would love to train in thailand but am tied down to a job
Thank you your video, i learn it a lot
What gloves do you use for pad and bag work?
Worldclass! Thank you!
Keep up the good work ahchwath
Great video
LOL, I have taught this sort of elbow guard in another art, and referred to Bella Lagosi (Dracula).
excellent video
that guard is class
Great stuff. Thank you.
I've watched several of your videos and noticed each trainer has a different view on things, like throwing the arm back on a kick or keeping it up for guard. How do you reconcile the different teacher's styles? Don't they cause you to lose progress when you're switching back and forth in your training, varying for each trainers preferred methods? Would you, or could you, say any of the styles are more effective than the others in your experience? I know a lot can be subjective, but curious if you feel any variations of doing the same technique have been better than others you've been taught.
None of the techniques are wrong or even "better". It isn't hard, you just practice the technique being taught to you, feel its strengths and weaknesses, and integrate what is positive for you as a fighter, and leave out what is not. Every technique or style has something to teach you. When you are with a particular trainer you practice what they show out of respect. Out of these different inputs you create your style. Each way of doing things has pluses and minuses.
great work! !
It's a wonderful guard, especially because of how niche it is and how few people know about it let alone practiced against it, HOWEVER, my one big gripe is I can't use it as a southpaw because I would be essentially presenting my liver to my opponent on a silver platter :C once I learn orthodox, I will 100% incorporate it with some nasty switch kicks, elbows and knees!
There is an entire hour in the Muay Thai Library on using the Dracula Guard in mixed stance (southpaw): www.patreon.com/posts/16213931
thanks for posting sylvie. I am thinking about integrating this because it feels like an effective way to eat space as a smaller fighter but am wondering if there are only leg attacks out of it. where do
your hands most often come back into play after entering with the initial shot?
@Faron It's actually pretty versatile in strikes, more than you would think. I'm currently working on an exploding left hook out of it, hope to put up some video soon. What happens is that when the guard is closed it really tightens the hook, making it come right out of your rib cage, creating tremendous power. Tightening the hook is something I've been working on anyways after taking a private with Sagat, I was surprised how much the two go together. Of course though the jab is ready-made in this guard, and lead body digs and hooks. And your right elbow is poised for a very strong attack, with lots of shoulder behind it. As fighter who is closing space, this is perfect.
But also look at this: th-cam.com/video/sRPjJEuOOC0/w-d-xo.html - The cross arm defense in boxing is similar in many ways. These boxers are able to punch out of it nicely. I haven't worked in this direction yet, but the two guards can be related.
Thanks! BTW I am a close friend of Nell who I just told about your response. She went nuts!
Haha, it's hard to picture Nell going nuts, she's so chill. What a crazy coincidence and small world though! She's one of my favorite persons in all the world.
Your right! She is how I found you. What is even crazier is that we used to work together and she has this classic photo with you in it (the bandana one). I know that picture like the back of my hand and for it to be Sylvie Con Douglass the fighter is so crazy. I'm training hard and you help keep me going. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
you look pretty built, an tough for a girl sylvie von , you have some really nice tone an nice strikes
Why would thumb down great tips and knowledge being shared bunch of haters
Ty
52 Blocks calls this "Rob the Bank"
i love your videos..
but trie to put your right eal out and your right knee inside when you do the cross
How does this deal with body kicks and punches?
The same way more common Muay Thai guards do. Attacks to the body aren't defended with the arms and elbows in Muay Thai, they are defended with knees and shins.
Great video, I watched the whole thing.. keep it up amigo
Haven't read other comments, but isn't the Dracula guard very vulnerable to body punches? Straight right to the body. Light jab into the guard, quick left uppercut to the body. Hell, even a jab into the body can exploit this guard, I feel. I don't think a rear knee is fast enough to counter punches to the body.
Yes, people love to bring this hypothetical up. Every guard has holes, and is used differently for different purposes. Body punches in general are not significantly used in Muay Thai, in part because elbow counters can be nasty, something boxing does not have to worry about. In the Dracula guard both elbows are readily available. Punches to the body can also be fended off pretty easily with a raised lead knee. Unlike in boxing, Muay Thai does not defend the abdomen with the arms or by crouch. Arms are kept high because of elbows. The body is defended by knees, counter threats and control of distance - its a long guard so properly used the front hand can shove and steer an opponent, and yes the rear knee is a threat to any dipping opponent. Of course, there are always openings, you should never just stay in one guard for that reason. Think about the standard "11" guard. The Dracula guard is useable in most 11 guard situations, but it's far more dynamic.
Good
AWESOME!!!!
Awesome!
very nice....usshh!!!
Thank you :-)
I wonder why they don't use the Dracula Guard in boxing? Seems like there would be a lot of good opportunities to use it imo.
Historically a cross-armed defense has been used, at times looking very much like the Dracula Guard th-cam.com/video/sRPjJEuOOC0/w-d-xo.html
Yoooo! Sylvie! Big fan. Didn't expect you to comment, this is awesome haha. Yeah I am aware of the cross-armed guard. Been studying the old mongoose for his counter punching. What I don't get though is why don't practitioners of the cross-armed guard extend their lead hand the way muay thai fighters do when they do the the Dracula Guard. They seem to only leave it extended when they're on offence and I've never seen someone use it on defense except for Mayweather when he does a quick retreat backwards and even then he doesn't do it as the Dracula Guard.
I'm not really sure, I know a lot less about boxing history than I do about Muay Thai. But a factor may be that the stiff arm can leave the body open to body punches. This is much less of an issue in Muay Thai where knees and elbows come in to play in that range. But this is just a wild guess. Also, the stiff arm in Dracular guard is an entry into clinch, which is a main goal for some fighters. But that isn't to say that the Dracula guard could not have interesting boxing applications.
Buakaw comes to mind
Amazin
intence
aka the Dab Guard
hahahah great explanation ,,,,respect ,,,
😀
well.. better than the "dab" I guess lol