Mixed Martial Arts in DC News Blog

Nakapan Phungephorn teaches at BETA Academy of Martial Arts.

Editing provided by Dan Friedell

Nakapan Phungephorn landed in Vienna, Austria in 2001 to meet with a handful of specially selected teammates to represent the United States at the WKA World Championships in Muay Thai. The same scene was being played out by other competitors – seasoned, tough fighters headed to Central Europe for what was likely going to be the most important match of their careers.

The matches ahead were certain to be hard, that much was expected. But what was unexpected was the onset of a blazing temperature and blurred vision. Nakapan didn’t know what was wrong, and instead of seeking medical care and being advised against competing, he decided to push through the symptoms of what was later diagnosed as strep throat.  What was supposed to be the most difficult test of his competitive career became a nightmare.

But he had come to Austria to fight, and fight, he would. He won the quarter and semi-final fights against international opponents while also battling weakness and fatigue.

The final match was between Nakapan and a Muay Thai fighter from Italy.  With the final day of the tournament coming and his health deteriorating, he needed a plan.   If he fought, he could only go for 30 seconds.  That’s all he had.  “The plan was to defend most of the round and in the last 30 seconds, throw everything I had at my opponent,” said Nakapan.

Before the match started, the opponent’s trainer came over to talk.  Small talk from the Italian coach led to questions about Nakapan’s experience in the ring.  Knowing that he was trying to learn more about his fighting style, Nakapan told him that he had competed in 50 matches, which would make him overqualified for the event as an amateur.  Stunned by the amount of fights, the trainer called Nakapan a “ringer”.  The Italian fighter was shaken and worried about the fight. Ringers in amateur Muay Thai are a common problem, and can result in a knockout.

At the opening bell, Nakapan’s opponent was timid and stayed away from contact.  Nakapan could see the fear in his eyes, and his opponent was worried about getting hit.  As the fight went on, Nakapan waited patiently for the signal from his corner to start the offensive.  As he bided his time, he noticed that his opponent started to get more and more confident.  A kick here, a punch there.  The opponent began to sense that he was weak.

Then the final 30 seconds came.

Coach Mike Moses yelled out that it was time and Nakapan unleashed a savage flurry of strikes on his opponent.  A whirlwind of punches and kicks threw his opponent on his heels and back into the corner. Then Nakapan caught him with a punch that floored him in the late part of the round. When the referee was counting, Nakapan knew he had no energy left.  If his opponent got up, he would lose.  He watched as his opponent, disoriented and laying on the mat as the referee finished the count.  It was then that Nakapan knew he had won the world championship.  ”I thank Master Mike Moses and Ajarn Chai every day for giving me that experience,” he said.  Nakapan went on to finish his amateur Muay Thai career undefeated at 7-0.

THE BEGINNING

Although fighting in the ring became his way of life, his toughest battle came as a young boy. Frequent headaches and inflamed joints plagued him as a 10 year old and confined him to a wheelchair. Due to a mysterious illness, Nakapan was forced to sit many days in his room watching martial arts movies to keep himself entertained.  He watched as if in a trance while stars such as Bruce Lee darted up and down stairways, between opponents and into the dojos of rival opponents.  But while watching the same martial arts movies repeatedly and thinking about his life, he thought: “Once they find out what is wrong with me I will go out and learn kung fu.”

Eventually, Nakapan was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which he contracted while going on one of his frequent walks in the forest in Maryland with his grandfather.  Days went by, and he finally received treatment for his condition. He was confined to a wheelchair and spent six weeks unable to walk.  His grandparents helped him into bed each night. He had grown obese due to his immobility and his body felt crushed from the disease.   Finally, after weeks of recovery, his strength began to return, and he was able to get out of the wheelchair on his own.

Once he began to walk again, he planned to make good on his promise of learning kung fu.  His grandfather began setting rigorous training schedules for him and his training intensified.  He learned kung fu and did point-sparring, forms, and weapons.  He learned to use the broad sword and the spear and made road trips from Maryland to Florida and New York to compete in events.  After amassing over 130 titles and trophies, he started to feel good about himself.  He was winning titles and building the foundation of his martial arts career.

Then one day, his grandfather talked to Nakapan about the realities of fighting.  In reference to the martial arts Nakapan was learning, the 65-year-old said, “You aren’t as good as you think you are.  The stuff you are learning isn’t real.”

Nakapan, surprised at the comment, said, “It is absolutely real!”

So his grandfather presented him with a sort of challenge.  The two got ready in their fighting stances to see which technique worked the best.  When Nakapan attempted to kick him, his grandfather caught him with an elbow to the face.  Even though the old man showed restraint, Nakapan was baffled by how he could have been hit.   His grandfather then put him in the plum and began throwing knees to the body.  Although still holding back on his strikes, it was clear to Nakapan the damage that could have been done.

“That’s when I understood that I needed to go learn something else,” he said.  Looking back on his work in point-sparring, Nakapan said, “I think it lacked the real combative aspect I was looking for.  It gave me a false sense of security as a young man,” he said.

Then one day, at the request of Nakapan, his grandparents allowed him to go to Thailand to train in Muay Thai.  His grandfather had been a national Muay Thai champion in the army in Thailand, however, aside from the lesson he taught to Nakapan while sparring, Muay Thai was not something that was part of his upbringing in the U.S.  He explained that in the Thai culture, there are boys that are sold to muay Thai camps and forced to fight.  ”If they don’t succeed as champions, they are destined to an impoverished life,” he said.  Since the dollar was strong in Thailand, Nakapan was able to train for six weeks and get private lessons 3-4 hours a day.  He quickly grasped the techniques and fell in love with the art.

JIU-JITSU, MUAY THAI, AND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

Upon returning home, he went out to lunch with his friends.  While at a deli, a friend came running in with a flier and said, “We’re going to learn jiu-jitsu!”  The teenager was excited because he had seen Royce Gracie and wanted to be just like him.  At the age of 15, he and his friend went to the Yamasaki-Dalla Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rockville, Md. where he met Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts Mario Yamasaki and Leo Dalla, two pioneers in the sport of BJJ on the east coast.  He went on to train extensively in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and achieved the rank of blue belt, which is the first level of belt advancement in BJJ.  A desire to compete and a promotion to purple belt eventually led to entries into advanced divisions of grappling tournaments.

The most important tournament of Nakapan’s jiu-jitsu career came during a trip to North Carolina when he faced Shawn Williams from the Renzo Gracie Academy and Sean Wilson in the purple belt division.  Nakapan fought both matches and went home without a win.  ”It had a great effect on me,” said Nakapan.  For the next year-and-a-half, he trained as much as possible. Looking for a rematch with the two, he later met Williams and Wilson in brown belt matches and earned sound victories.  His grappling career included many pro division appearances, highlighted by a win over world champion grappler Pablo Popovitch, although Popovitch earned his share of wins over Nakapan, too.

In the late 1990s, early in Nakapan’s grappling career, Mike Moses arrived from Virginia Beach.  Moses was a former marine and was brought in by Yamasaki to establish a Muay Thai program at the academy.  Thrilled by the prospect of learning Muay Thai at the school, Nakapan went on to train and pick up where he left off in Thailand.  He displayed such athleticism and promise that Moses asked him if he wanted to teach.  Having Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai at the same academy was like a dream.  “I thought I was the luckiest person on earth,” he said.

While competing in Muay Thai, Nakapan also participated in the rising sport of MMA.  Previously known as “No Holds Barred” fighting, mixed martial arts was a term just starting to be used by the fight industry.  Fighters and instructors joined together to trade training secrets and build up their teams as best they could.  Nakapan was eager to continue fighting and went 6-1 as a pro MMA fighter (four wins by submission).  His only loss was to future UFC fighter Nate Quarry, a fight that ended in a loss by split decision.  Nakapan went on to be a training partner for UFC fighters such as Brandon Vera and Phil Davis at Team Lloyd Irvin headquarters in Camp Springs, Md.

While lifting weights, Nakapan suffered a major back injury.  Compressed discs in his spine restricted him from all contact work.  He thought he would be back on the mat within a few months, however it turned out to be very serious.   Sometimes Nakapan would come to the dojo hoping to train, and Moses would have to send him home due to the seriousness of the injury.  ”He’s banned from training,” Moses would say, as he offered tough love for the fighter.  For two years, Nakapan was withheld from martial arts competition and training.  He said it was devastating to be ripped away from his favorite sport, “When you are used to being a competitive combat athlete, you get really depressed when..(you are) forced to stop doing what you love.”

After a long rehab, he would eventually return to training and split time between Lloyd Irvin Martial Arts Academy and Leo Dalla’s Premier Fight Center.  ”All I really wanted to be was a fighter,” he said.  But he ended up taking an alternate path after still suffering from the after effects of the injury.  One day while training in northern Va., Master Leo Dalla pulled him aside.  He knew that Nakapan loved the sport and asked him, “Why don’t you have your own school?”  Nakapan had his reservations, since he knew that handling politics in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is sometimes like trying to attack fan invisible opponent.  BJJ politics only gets more complex at the black belt level.  Then Master Dalla said to him, “I’ll take care of you.  If something happens, you tell me and I’ll take care of you.”  Dalla was known for having very deep connections in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world and this was all that Nakapan needed to inspire him to start his own academy.  ”I’d like to thank him for pointing me in that direction,” he said.

He decided in 2008 that he would start a martial arts academy with his wife Melanie Phungephorn in Washington, D.C.  They would be the lone academy to represent the U.S. Thai Boxing Association in the nation’s capital. Speaking of his former job as a CPA, Nakapan said, “Nobody ever says they want to sit at a desk all day.”  This was the life that he wanted to live.

His wife, a Muay Thai instructor with ring experience, provided immeasurable support when the academy first opened.   She would do the introductory classes for prospective students, which would free him to teach the class.  It was her idea to move to the city from Rockville, Md. to live and enjoy life in the capital.

Now, Nakapan and Melanie now have a business with over 600 students.  He was one of four finalists for Master Lloyd Irvin’s Marketer of the Year Award at the recent MMA Millionaire Blueprint event in Washington, D.C.

His future plans include building a world-class fight team.  In 2011, his fighters compete in Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and mixed martial arts events.  He has multiple amateur WKA Muay Thai champions and many Brazilian jiu-jitsu medalists from tournaments on the east coast.  Building a fight team is something that he and wife enjoy now that they are past the phase of just getting a school off the ground.  His sights are set on the future, building great fighters and future leaders.

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