Surachai Sirisute ( th, สุรชัย ศิริสูตร์, born October 16, 1948), commonly known as Chai Sirisute or Ajarn Chai, is a Thai martial arts Instructor who is the founder and president of the Thai Boxing Association of the US and responsible for introducing

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

to the United States. Born in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, Sirisute was indoctrinated to Muay Thai at the age of 4.Kelly(2000). p.61

Biography

He formally studied both

as well as

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

beginning at the age of six. He earned his black belt in Shorin-ryu at the age of 12, an age at which he also started to fight in the ring in Muay Thai. Sirisute's original teacher was Ajarn Suwan out of Singpravaeh Muay Thai Gym (หัวใจเสือ). He left Thailand to teach in America in 1968. During the 1970s and early 1980s Sirisute taught at several Southern California colleges: Chaffey College, Claremont Men's College and

Cal State San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

and out of his home. His early students included Jim Vanover, Ron Ritoch (former student of Jim Vanover), Bryan Dobler, Mike Goldbach, Reggie Jackson, Glen Hernandez, Don Boyd, and the vice president Chai's Thai Boxing Association, Tony Gneck whom he brought to Thailand in 1982 as the first American team to compete in the Muay Thai World Championships. In 1978, he trained another Martial Arts teacher named

Dan Inosanto Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

. Inosanto trained as a student in Chai's backyard and eventually introduced Sirisute to his

Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee. Overview and philosophy Jeet Kune ...

teaching seminars, which greatly helped Sirisute extend awareness of Muay Thai in the US as well as internationally.Interview With Dan Inosanto
In 1983 Inosanto introduced Sirisute to

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...

of the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

who soon incorporated Muay Thai into their pre-season conditioning with Sirisute as their instructor until the time of Landry's departure in 1990.Kelly(2000). pp.133-138 Sirisute currently runs a Muay Thai camp in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

each year with more than 200 students from around the world attending. He founded the Thai Boxing Association of the US in 1968 and has expanded it to more than 18 countries around the world. He maintains a busy seminar schedule traveling around the world teaching Muay Thai today.

Notable students

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film ''The ...

American actor and stuntman, son of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

Burton Richardson Burton Merrele Richardson (born September 29, 1949, in Portland, Oregon) is an American television announcer. Career He announced ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' from 1989 to 1994, where he became known for his long-drawn-out introduction of the show's ...

American television announcer and martial artist. *

Filipino-American martial arts instructor best known as a student of

David Leitch David Leitch (born November 16, 1975) is an American filmmaker, actor, stunt performer and stunt coordinator who made his directorial debut on the 2014 action film ''John Wick'' with Chad Stahelski, though only Stahelski was credited. Leitch the ...

American stuntman, actor, director and stunt coordinator. * Diana Lee Inosanto American actress, stuntwoman, and martial artist. * Chad Stahelski American stuntman and film director *

Erik Paulson Erik Paulson (born June 28, 1966) is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first American to win the World Light-Heavy Weight Shooto Title in Japan. Biography Erik started his career in martial arts starting with Judo at age of 8. However ...

American mixed-martial artist, Senior Instructor, and MMA coach. *

Ron Balicki Ron Balicki (born September 2, 1963) is an American actor and stuntman for various films and television series. He is also a well known martial arts practitioner, teacher and author. He is a student and the son-in-law of Dan Inosanto. Biograph ...

American actor and stuntman. *

Ryan Gruhn Ryan James Gruhn (born July 22, 1982) is an American Martial Artist, MMA Coach, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt. Personal life Gruhn was born in State College, Pennsylvania and attended State College Area High School. He went to P ...

: American martial artist, Senior Instructor, MMA Coach, Dog Brother, BJJ Black Belt.

References

* Balicki, Ron. Gold, Steven (2007). ''Jeet Kune Do: The Principles of a Complete Fighter'', HNL Publishing. * Kelly, Perry (2000). ''Dan Inosanto: The Man, The Teacher, The Artist'',

Paladin Press Paladin Press was a book publishing firm founded in 1970 by Peder Lund and Robert K. Brown. The company published non-fiction books and videos covering a wide range of specialty topics, including personal and financial freedom, survivalism and p ...

. . * Sirisute, Surachai.(1987). ''Muay Thai Kickboxing'', Unique Publications. * Van Schuyver, Mark and Villalobos, Pedro (2002). ''Fighting Strategies of Muay Thai: Secrets of Thailand's Boxing Camps''.

External links

World Thai Boxing Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirisute, Chai 1948 births Chai Sirisute Living people Chai Sirisute Chai Sirisute Chai Sirisute Chai Sirisute Chai Sirisute Shōrin-ryū practitioners