Grandmaster Pipa: Jocky Gym's Muay Thai Stance
The Bird Guard
Watch Ajarn Pipa breakdown his signature guard and stance that made so many legendary fighters defensive geniuses.
Grandmaster Pipa’s Poetry in Motion
Grandmaster Pipa has produced more Muay Thai world champions than perhaps any coach in history. Among them: Saenchai, Lerdsila, Somrak—names that need no introduction to those who know the art. What united these fighters wasn’t just their teacher, but a stance so distinctive it became their signature.
They call it the Bird Guard. At Jocky Gym, it’s simply known as the stance—the foundation from which speed, power, and agility emerge as one.
It belongs to the Muay Femur lineage—the artistic technician style—and watching it in action feels less like combat and more like watching water find its way downhill: effortless, inevitable, beautiful.
The Architecture of Flight
The stance itself appears deceptively simple, yet every detail serves a purpose. Stand slightly wider than shoulder width—the lead foot pointing forward, the rear foot angled out at nearly ninety degrees. Your knees bend just enough to give you spring, ready to move in any direction without telegraphing intent.
The hands and arms extend long toward your opponent, creating the signature long guard. This isn’t the tight boxing shell most fighters learn first. Instead, both arms reach forward, establishing frames that control distance, deflect punches, and create opportunities for counters. The position grants both reach and equilibrium—a living structure that adapts to whatever comes.
The back arches slightly, bracing against incoming force while the shoulders naturally shield vital targets. From this position, Pipa can hop in and out with startling ease—watch him demonstrate and you’ll see decades of refinement compressed into each weightless transition. This mobility defines the technician: always at the perfect distance, never where the opponent expects.
And when you move, you move to a rhythm—the ancient call of the pi java, the Muay Thai oboe that has accompanied fighters for centuries
The Paradox of Protection
Pipa teaches something counterintuitive: keeping your hands glued to your face makes you more vulnerable to being hit, not less. The tight guard that so many coaches preach actually limits options, slows reactions, creates blind spots.
The long guard solves this through space and adaptability. When punches come, those extended arms collapse inward, shutting down the boxing range entirely. The frames don’t just block—they redirect, deflect, and open your opponent up in the same motion. And once the hands are neutralized, the roundhouse kick finds its home. Saenchai has built a legendary career on exactly this sequence, repeated with such mastery it becomes hypnotic.
Finding the Middle Path
The stance demands balance in all things. Don’t stand with your feet too close together or too far apart—it should feel comfortable, natural, like you could hold this position through a conversation. Stand too wide and you sacrifice the agility that makes the style work. Stand too narrow and any solid shot will topple you.
And forget the extremes you’ve heard about footwork. You shouldn’t be up on the balls of your feet like a ballerina, but neither should you be flat-footed like a duck. Pipa believes in finding the middle ground naturally, with perhaps just enough lift to stay ready. No exaggeration, no performance.
The calf remains soft before exploding forward, tension saved for the moment of impact. Don’t tense up—tension is the enemy of what you’re trying to create. When you’re tight, you lose both speed and power.
This is the technician’s secret: relaxation as the foundation of explosive movement. While others tense and tire, the Muay Femur fighter stays loose, coiled, ready to transform stillness into sudden violence and back again.
What Grandmaster Pipa built at Jocky Gym isn’t just a fighting stance. It’s a philosophy written in the body—proof that in combat, as in art, the highest sophistication often looks simple from the outside.
If you want to learn from the Grandmaster Pipa ↓
Pipa’s GOAT Muay Thai Coaching System - The greatest coach of all time (who produced Saenchai, Lerdsila, and Somrak) reveals his complete training methodology and technical frameworks
Thank You
Most technique instruction tells you what to do. We show you why it works—and what separates the artistic technician from the common fighter.
If you found value in this breakdown of the Bird Guard, the paradox of protection, and the philosophy of relaxed power, Legendary Striking offers this level of depth every single week.
We don’t just demonstrate stances—we deconstruct the biomechanics, the tactical intelligence, and the systematic principles that Grandmaster Pipa refined over decades at Jocky Gym, producing champions like Saenchai, Lerdsila, and Somrak.
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Until next time—study the details others miss, find comfort in the middle path, and remember: power doesn’t come from tension. It comes from staying relaxed until the moment you explode.
— Lawrence Kenshin
The principles that Grandmaster Pipa teaches on the Bird Guard, the long guard, and the Muay Femur style aren’t mystical secrets reserved for champions like Saenchai or Lerdsila. They’re systematic frameworks built on biomechanics, natural movement, and technical intelligence that anyone can develop.
If you want to understand how legends make devastating striking look effortless—and apply those principles to your own training—I’ve worked directly with Grandmaster Pipa and the greatest technicians in history to preserve their methods in systematic courses:
Learn from the legends themselves:
Pipa’s GOAT Muay Thai Coaching System - The greatest coach of all time (who produced Saenchai, Lerdsila, and Somrak) reveals his complete training methodology and technical frameworks
Lerdsila’s Untouchable Striking System - The most elusive fighter in history breaks down the genius-level fight IQ behind his impossible defense and effortless dominance
Saenchai’s Fighting Giants Master Course - The best Muay Thai fighter of the last three decades teaches his complete system for defeating bigger, stronger opponents
Rodtang’s Ruthless Knockout System - Learn the fearless aggression and championship dominance of this era’s most popular Muay Thai fighter
Sagat’s Unstoppable Knockout System - The greatest knockout artist in Muay Thai history and Street Fighter icon shares his legendary techniques
Samkor’s Unstoppable Left Kick System - The most feared left kicker of all time teaches his legendary southpaw system
Learn the systems developed from these principles:
These are the same methods that helped produce world champions and achieve a 90%+ win rate:
Legendary Striking Curriculum - The most organized tactical striking course ever created, systematizing the principles you see in these breakdowns
Legendary Fundamentals Premium - Build your striking progression with sport science-backed fundamentals that work for beginners and advanced athletes
Legendary Striking Premium Bundle - Both premium courses combined with exclusive sport science bonuses and limited 1-on-1 coaching access—enrollment capped to maintain coaching quality
To read more about the journey preserving these legends’ knowledge and the feedback from champions in our space, check out lawrencekenshin.com/testimonials
If you’d like to work directly with me 1-on-1, send an email to lawrence@legendarystriking.com