DA:
There was originally going to be two - two volume sets on krabi krabong focusing on the buddhai sawan method(which was the more popular method in the west and thus a decent starting point). The first dvd set was what I call "laying the base" providing an overview, in this case, directly from the late ajarn samai and not putting myself in it or trying to toy with the footage too much or add too much. The second two were to be on the double swords in complete spectrum with me and jason going through it all. To show how I trained it and how I express it especially in the full contact realm which we have been doing and recording since 1991 and how jason truly embodies it. Our original plan would have been to use the additional footage, explainations and footage of ajarn samai to round it out which was not included in the earlier dvds as well as further archived footage from jason and our full contact footage. There is still alot of footage there but some of it is only for my direct students and people in the legacy and will never see the light of day beyond that and the other half can be used at various points to highlight the writing and further investigations in the future. I doubt at this point the second volume will be made. I would rather move on to the other systems in krabi krabong and begin presenting them and opening up that vista. But we'll see. Alot of footage for the other dvds are shot and ready to go. But I am tentative at this point about any further dvds really.
The original footage was shot over a long period of time and the original 20-30 hours of raw footage was shot analog and needed to be completely transferred to digital for archive and editing. I hadnt used or viewed the original footage since it was shot and it was deteriorating, so it was weeks of careful transfer to try to survive it all and we did lose some footage here and there. The second half of the footage another 10 hours or so was on digital and already archived and saved. Luckily, I completely kept a training log notebook while i was training and shooting when I returned home I relogged the footage, so I have every explanation and date and why we recorded in written detail to go back to which helped enormously get through the footage and create the final version.
All my projects take time because its like peeling an onion, you have to get through the layers to arrive at the core. It also involves alot of translations and interviews to get a bit closer to the teacher and their methods. Its hard and its time consuming. But mostly its all about the training, I dont write about or do anything I dont train. In essence I try to work from the inside out and training is the key, getting to a level of understanding through the training where the questions start to answer themselves and everything becomes clear.
I collected also alot of comments and reviews from many people since the dvds release from practitioners, instructors and people well versed in the systems, so I feel i gained alot in terms of what i could have done better and been clearer on. And thats another part of the growth cycle for me, working with others and expanding my own knowledge and depth.
Some people of course abused certain parts like the italians because i said ajarn thonglor, ajarn samais comtemporary, had one of the best "physical education" systems which was a true statement, since his system continued to grow and expand at once through the military and through the school system, becoming as popular in thailand as any method. It wasnt meant any personal endorsement but a simple fact on how the landscape changed and evolved.
Some people tried to validate their own training time and views but one needs to understand, a training method undergoes changes over time, the earlier students to the later might have seen things change, but the overriding philosophy, structure and methodology usually comes through the core of what each one of them learned. Understanding what the teacher in this case ajarn samai along with ajarn arimetta and others sought to originally create and how ajarn samai carried on and further developed it is important as anything. I felt i was true to his own words and I let him express it as he saw fit regardless if it was not as polished or pristine as one would like(and many complained about). I translated many interviews from as early as the 60s down to his final months since I did the last interview and training literally a few months before his death. I also interviewed many of the old to new students to round it out. I felt alot of accurate information especially about who trained ajarn samai, who developed it and what it was, was of paramount importance to the dvd since most of it was very shady and incorrect, because it allows us to understand it accurately as he saw it and expressed it.
There is alot more i want to express at some point probably in print in the books I will go into more detail.
The most important thing is to understand that there are many viable krabi krabong systems and teachers, not just one method or just one road, regardless of what has been told, written about or preached. Its my hope that that not only will the other sides especially the military/combative(especially in light of people using that krabi krabong is the father of muay thai or the military forerunner to muay thai, which right now doesnt correlate well to what is out there and expressed and left alot of people scratching their heads to the linkage) but the ancient texts as the pichai songkram and the great theories of the system will shed light on a deeply diverse system that engulfs a great deal of knowledge and skill.
