Over the years we've tried to find Cherry Sor Wanich, a top fighter of the Golden Age who fought many Muay Khao wars. We heard he was in Pattaya, but then he wasn't. He lives in Khon Kaen. Karuhat tells us that he's more reclusive than Karuhat himself, and he always seemed out of reach. We were struggling on the fly to find a gym to film at for the fighter Chaiyai, a friend of Karuhat's. We were in Buriram, but our filming gym fell through. Not every ex-fighter has a gym. Often we have to match a fighter with a gym location. It was getting complicated. But then we heard over dinner that Chaiyai was in Surin, and Cherry was visiting him. Why not drive to Surin. Maybe Cherry would be willing to film with us too. Cherry had never instructed anyone, and it was maybe 30 years since he was moving around in a practice ring. But there we were in Surin this next morning, the sunlight bouncing around the secluded space as it does in gyms like this. And there he was. Cherry. It was beautiful to see him come so much alive, and be full of things to show and say.

On a personal note, somehow this photo, below, brings a tear to my eye. It feels like it was more than a decade in coming now. Cherry is introverted. He does not make himself seen. Sylvie is introverted, and forces herself to make herself seen. Somehow these impossible arcs, a female fighter with more documented fights than any woman in history, and Cherry, a Snow Leopard of greats of the past, find this moment in clinch, in Surin, in the gym of the governor of Surin. The Muay Khao style, a minor style in the Art, stretches out and connects two across generations, across genders. It means a lot.

filming for the Muay Thai Library documentary project

Everything about Cherry is in the clasp. He is from the Golden Age which featured very little locking in the clinch. Locking would become much more prominent in future decades, so his penchant for locking is proto-unique. Instead fighters would constantly swim and leverage, which he of course did as well. What is special about his clasp is really much more about how he lays his weight. He leans into and onto the opponent, dropping his weight and wet-blanketing. In Muay Thai this is difficult to do because so much forward and downward weight can make you very prone to being thrown. Buried in his technique is impeccable balance and stance. He has a near aquatic closeness in his clinching style.

Much less than like taking a position for leverage. Much more like tightening a knot. The arms thread through with an affect of constriction and pressure.

In his squeeze, it is composed of a hidden choke with the shoulder. Its the secret to distorting the opponent's posture. He creates what Sylvie calls "a vacuum seal". Getting the feel for this is difficult, and takes time.

You can see his weight drop on the over-hook. His arms create an octopus like filling in of all space. They circle through. They do not so much as take positions, or gain positions, as enclose and constrict.