Master Toddy

From Bangkok to a James Bond Film to the First Muay Thai Gym in England

Master Toddy was born Thohsaphol Sitiwatjana on May 4, 1953 in Bangkok, Thailand. His father was a police chief. He began martial arts at age four, earned a Taekwondo black belt by thirteen, and trained Muay Thai under three Grand Masters: Ajarn Seri Ramaruud, Ajarn Sanong Rakwanid, and Ajarn Pansak Ratanaprasit.

By sixteen, he was already teaching. When his own instructor fell ill, Toddy took over the class and never stopped coaching.

In 1974, he appeared in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun alongside Roger Moore, providing special Muay Thai training for the production. That experience led him to England, where he enrolled at Salford University in Manchester to study engineering in 1975.

But Manchester had no Muay Thai. So he built it.

The Father of English Muay Thai

Toddy opened “Toddy’s Academy of Martial Arts” in Manchester — one of the first authentic Muay Thai gyms in England. He brought Thai coaches (Masters Ae, Chana, and Paisari) to teach the clinch, round kicks, elbows, and knees the way they were taught in Bangkok. He hosted 11 live TV shows from England that were broadcast back to Thailand.

A Vice/Fightland article later described Manchester during this era as “one of the best places in the world to learn Muay Thai outside of Thailand and Holland,” largely because of Toddy’s academy.

His first major champion from the UK was Ronnie Green, who went on to win five Muay Thai world titles. Other champions from the Manchester era include Kash “The Flash” Gill, Lisa Howarth, Dale “Apollo” Cook, and Melchor Menor. The gym still operates today, run by his brother Master A.

He is formally recognized as “The Father of English Muay Thai” for introducing the sport to the United Kingdom.

Las Vegas: Training UFC Champions

In 1993, Toddy moved to Las Vegas and opened Master Toddy’s U.S. Muay Thai Center. The gym grew to roughly 480 students at its peak and earned him a Key to the City from Las Vegas.

The American era expanded his roster beyond Muay Thai. Fighters who trained under Toddy in Las Vegas include:

• Maurice Smith — Kickboxing world champion and UFC Heavyweight Champion
• Randy Couture — Three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
• Tito Ortiz — UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
• Gina Carano — Strikeforce and Bellator pioneer of women’s MMA
• Kevin Ross — Lion Fight Super Middleweight World Champion (began training with Toddy in 2003)
• Stephen Bonnar, Phil Baroni, Bob Sapp — UFC and K-1 veterans

Over his career, Toddy has trained more than 40 world champions across Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA.

The Teaching System: Cobra Punch and Graphic Memory

Toddy’s system covers the full eight weapons of Muay Thai — punches, kicks, knees, elbows — plus clinch work and the psychological dimension of fighting.

His signature concept is the Cobra Punch, a deceptive strike delivered without telegraphing. It exploits human reaction psychology: the opponent cannot defend what they cannot see coming. Combinations built off the Cobra Punch target both visual expectation and timing patterns.

His broader teaching philosophy centers on what he calls “Graphic Memory” — drilling techniques until they execute intuitively, without conscious thought. The goal is not to remember what to do. The goal is to have your body already doing it before your mind catches up.

His methodology integrates deception, timing disruption, angle-based attacks, and psychological misdirection. He does not just teach students how to hit. He teaches them how to make opponents unable to predict what comes next.

Fight Girls: Taking Muay Thai to Television

In 2006, Toddy created and produced Fight Girls for the Oxygen Network. Seven female fighters trained under him in Las Vegas for six weeks, then traveled to Thailand to compete. Gina Carano appeared as a mentor. The show introduced Muay Thai to a mainstream American audience years before women’s MMA entered the UFC.

Return to Thailand

In 2009, after 16 years in the United States, Toddy returned to Thailand and opened Master Toddy’s Muay Thai Academy in the Samut Prakan district south of Bangkok. The gym is recognized and accredited by the Thai government. He continues to coach and develop fighters there today, over five decades after he started teaching.

What You Get in Master Toddy’s FightScience Course

The Master Toddy Muay Thai Training Series is four volumes covering his complete system:

• Volume 1: Punch & Defense — Stance, guard, punching mechanics, and defensive fundamentals
• Volume 2: Leg Techniques — Round kicks, teeps, sweeps, and kick defense
• Volume 3: Advanced Combinations — Multi-weapon combinations built on deception and timing
• Volume 4: Clinch & Deception — Clinch control, knees, elbows, and the psychological game

Available in the Muay Thai Masters Collection bundle for $397.