Master Toddy

Master Toddy has been involved in Muay Thai from the age of 5 years old, on the streets of Bangkok. Although the young Thoshaphol ‘Toddy’ was born into a middleclass background where fighting Muay Thai was not generally accepted, he could not be deterred.

At a very early age he had the opportunity to teach alongside his Master where he learnt to adapt his training style to various students’ capabilities and strengths.

He trained under the legendary Grand Master Ajarn Seri Ramaruud, Grand Master Ajarn Sanong Rakwanid, and Grand Master Ajarn Pansak Ratanaprasit who are renowned Masters in their own rights each having trained many World class Muay Thai fighters.

It was an unusual, but very helpful, means of learning the art of martial arts. At the age of 20, Master Toddy wanted to do something adventurous. He was invited by a close friend to try his luck at landing a part in the James Bond Movie ‘Man with the Golden Gun’ which was filmed mostly in Thailand using the Island of Phi Phi in the Southern Phuket province and the Ancient City located in Samut Prakarn Province just outside Bangkok.

To get the part the young Master Toddy had to fight 6 Chinese champion martial arts experts from the team who starred in Bruce Lee movies having beaten 4 of them and the other two withdrawing Toddy got the part.

He headed out to England shortly after. Master Toddy opened the first ever Muay Thai School in Manchester, England. The school gained notoriety as the trainer began to produce world champions. Students come from as far as 200 miles away just to attend one of Master Toddy’s Muay Thai classes. In England, Master Toddy was known as the father of Muay Thai. His fighters were distinguished champions, his promotions superb. Even now Master Toddy is still known as the BEST Muay Thai trainer and promoter in England and the first to air a live TV promotion to Thailand.

After spending 16 years in the UK and Ireland, Master Toddy decided to make his mark in the United States. He packed up his training gear and headed out to Las Vegas, Nevada, the home of Boxing and big fights continuing his streak as a world-class trainer. In his first two years, Master Toddy trained 4 world champions by himself. Wanting to achieve the best in Muay Thai training, Master Toddy recruited top-notch fighters from Thailand to form the Champion Instructor Team.

In addition to training students, the art of Muay Thai, Master Toddy has also done stunt work for movies such as Austin Powers, etc. He has choreographed fight scenes for various TV programs, and trained famous stars. The Secret Service and Special Forces have even enlisted Master Toddy’s help in training their members.

Confident with the vast expertise and knowledge he has gained over the years and the ancient traditional techniques that have been handed down to him from his Masters, Master Toddy has created a new step –by-step method of learning Muay Thai with gradual levels of knowledge helping the student to gain confidence in each aspect of the sport and grow into mature responsible people.

The system known as Master Toddy’s Muay Thai System® which is under the coverage of the M.T.I.A. ACADEMY focuses on not only strengthening the students techniques and physical strength but is also responsible for the psychological strength unique among his students, trainers and fighters.

Master Toddy’s champions fight with tremendous heart and dignity and where Master Toddy looking for and reinforcing the various talents of each individual fighter.

Included in the list of over 40 world champions trained by Master Toddy are: Maurice Smith, Dale “Apollo” Cook, Ronnie Green, Lisa Howarth, Kash “The Flash” Gill, Kiyotaka Kato, and Howard Brown. Of the new generation of fighters in America, Melchor Menor, Ben Garcia, Kit Cope, Shannon Singleton, Gina Corano, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and Angela Rivera all rule the ring under Master Toddy’s tutelage.

Here are just some of Master Toddy’s achievements to date:

• Starred in the Movie James Bond ‘Man with the Golden Gun’
• Co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the hit reality TV show ‘FIGHT GIRLS’ as shown on Oxygen Network previously owned by Oprah Winfrey
• Is now creating his own reality TV show called ‘TUFF GIRLS’.
• Trained UFC and MMA superstars such as Hall of Famer ‘Randy the Natural Couture’, Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar, Forest Griffin, Phil Baroni, Bob Sapp, etc.
• Trained Gina Corano to become the first International Woman’s World Muay Thai Champion.
• Helped set up more than 300 Muay Thai gyms/schools worldwide
• Is the founder for the Muay Thai International Association (MTIA) Academy.