Muay Thai Master, Shin Nopadetsorn

Shin Nopadetsorn

Born:1979, January, 29th.

Nationality: Thai

134 fights, 108 wins, 25 Kos.

Weapon of choice: Right leg rounds house, Knees




I first met "Nop" at the very end of 2003 at Ihara dojo in Tokyo, Japan. I was in Tokyo on a training vacation checking out various kickboxing and MMA clubs and was going to catch the new years eve PRIDE FC show at Saitama super arena. Originally my focus had been on the "Takada Dojo" home of the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba as I was doing MMA in California.
As it turned out, Takada dojo was not too impressive and I told a Japanese friend this after training. I think she took this as an attack on the integrity of Japan as a nation state or something, because through a friend she arranged for me to have some serious training at Ihara dojo the next day. This was when I met NOP.

At that time, Fuji Chalmsak was also a coach/trainer at Ihara dojo and although I didnt know much about kickboxing at the time, it was clear to me that both of these guys knew their shit big time.
Below is a photo of me on my first day at Ihara dojo, Nop is to my left in the photo, Yuk, or Fuji Chalmsak is to my right.


Training with Nop is amazing yet horrid. He is SO good, his technique is SO sublime, tha at times it can crushing when you re-alize "I am never ever going to be able to do that." This as particularly true in regards to his kicks and knees. with very little run way he could generate an amazing amount of force with his knee strikes. His balance is superb, allowing him the ability to kick, punch and knee at any time with maximum power.

Generally Nop didnt care about KO's. He said "A win is a Win." Trying to Knock people out leaves you open to get knocked out alot of the time so he kept it all inside and tight. His kicks are devastating and would soften people up for knees inside.

I once saw him break a guys arm in the 2nd round with a round kick because he said "My cell phone bill is fucking crazy this month, I need the KO bonus badly." Jesus....

The other most impressive things about NOP are that he remains largely unknown despite an amazing record and wins over great opponents and multiple champion belts in Thailand and abroad. Also, he is the most relaxed, laid back and low key guy you will ever meet. One would be more likely to take him for a dancer of some sort with his soft voice and upright posture than for a wrecking machine.

The point of all this- if ever you have a chance to train with this man or see him in action, which wont happen many more times as he is getting older and has been at it for far too long, you should take advantage and do it. You will be impressed.