This installment of the Teep This Podcast is packed w muay thai history and personal stories about the legends of the sport and pioneers of introducing thai boxing to the United States.
The personal accounts of muay thai photographers Jeff Dojillo and Erica De León (Vivar Photography) are inspiring stories about how muay thai basically saved their lives and continues to enhance their life journeys every single day! We honor them in this month’s podcast for enriching our lives through the images that they shoot and share of the valiant spirits who practice, teach and live the ancient Art of 8 Limbs. Sawadee krap.
Contents
Duration 1:34:11
- 00:39 Episode Introduction
- 02:41 Local Muay Thai News
- 03:52 Episode Introduction
- 05:30 Meet Jeff Dojillo
- 06:01 My Muay Thai Story
- 11:26 West Coast Muay Thai
- 18:23 Shooting Kevin Ross & David Huerta
- 23:11 Going Deeper With David Huerta
- 30:52 A Bikini-clad Tiffany Van Soest
- 36:22 Natalie Killface and Muay Ying
- 39:04 Hip Hop & Paying The Bills
- 40:11 Dialogue – Jeff’s Next Big Thing
- 45:04 Follow Jeff Dojillo Online
- 46:24 Intermission
Jeff Dojillo is a commercial and fine art photographer; and the Creative Director for West Coast Muay Thai. Jeff has been shooting and documenting muay thai fighters since 2009. Jeff lives in Los Angeles.
Since I first began moving through the Los Angeles muay thai community Jeff Dojillo has been a present force. Our discussion here delves into the origins of muay thai’s presence here on the west coast, and features a detailed account of Jeff’s journey through muay thai gyms, trainers and experiences. Including his time at The Boxing Club (San Diego) training with Melchor Menor, Caine Gayle and Artem Sheroshkin before turning pro. The legendary Fairtex Gym in San Francisco (now closed) alongside Luis Bio and Ganyao Arunleung. Other key elements in our discussion reach as far as Rajadamnern Stadium in Thailand and we get inside of Galen Okazaki’s West Coast Muay Thai brand and collaborating with photographers Marty Rockatansky and Ahren Nunag. Jeff shares very personal and enriching stories about his journey through muay thai via taking us behind the scenes of portraits that he’s shot of our favorite muay thai fighters in North America including Kevin Ross, David Huerta and Tiffany Van Soest (pictured below). I hope that you enjoy our conversation as much as I did and please share the articles and spread the word. Muay Thai is here to stay! Here are a few other links that we touched on in the interview which may be of interest to you. | Robot Fight & Fitness | Tetsuya Yamato | USA vs Thailand | Inside The Fight | Mark Beecher | East Los Angeles Youth Center | Adam Rothweiler | Coach Jorge Zerate | Zarate Muay Thai | Dialogue (video teaser) | And here’s another interview on Jeff Dojillo at a respected muay thai source My Muay Thai
The best links to keep up with Jeff Dojillo are his website and facebook.com/westcoastmuaythai
Episode Part Two
Contents
- 46:53 Meet Erica De Leon
- 48:58 How I Got Into Muay Thai
- 51:57 Muay Thai Saved My Life
- 52:29 Photography, Pink Lady & Big Troy
- 1:01:37 Learning The Ropes With Marty Rockatasnky
- 1:06:34 Selina Flores’ Rise To Popularity
- 1:10:11 On Being A Lady-Photographer
- 1:11:45 No More Underdog
- 1:15:11 The Flying Knee
- 1:19:28 Shooting Selina Flores for WCK
- 1:23;43 Finally Feeling Accepted
- 1:25:32 What’s Next & Where To Find My Work
- 1:28:29 Episode Wrap Up
- 1:29:22 Next Month’s Episode
- 1:30:26 Talkin’ Crap — by The Surge and Sam I Am The MC
Erica De León is a muay thai photographer with an emphasis on action photography. She is a mother of 3 and practices muay thai regularly at least 3 days per week.
In this second half of the podcast I caught up with photographer and muay thai fanatic Erica De León of Vivar Photography. She’s a super passionate individual a devoted mother, committed photographer and she trains hard alongside champion muay thai fighters like Ariana ‘Pink Lady’ Gomez and Selina Flores. In our conversation Erica takes us inside training at Muay Thai Academy of America in North Hollywood, CA. She shares intimate stories of how she found muay thai, photography and became friends with the likes of Ariana Gomez and Troy Fisher (Big Troy of Cali Muay Thai Series). Erica has shot some beautiful images and we discussed a few including one of my favorites in her repertoire entitled The Flying Knee fearturing 11 year old Isaiah “Izzy” Ramirez. Erica is hilarious, honest and inspired. She was truly a joy to speak with and I know there’s nothing but more to come as we’ve just scratched the surface of what lies ahead! I’ll look forward to seeing her this month out at the fights ringside capturing the magic that is muay thai in action and ultimately training with her and breaking an honest sweat. Please enjoy the interviews and the music and above all enjoy this and every moment. Sawaddee krap.
“TALKIN’ CRAP” | The Surge feat. Sam I Am The MC
is available for free download right here right now!
This month’s podcast episode comes laced with a fun musical offering from Chicago true-school hip-hop artists The Surge and Sam I Am The MC. Sam I Am is an incredible artist, incredible human being and a die-hard-hip-hop-head! He’s an authentic songwriter and producer who prides himself on practicing and preserving the art of freestyle rapping. He and his friends like The Surge produce and host one-off and repeat hip-hop nights around Chicago advocating for and advancing hip-hop; the music and the accompanying culture that they love and respect so dearly. Check out their Soundcloud pages and enjoy and share their music. They’ll love you back for sure!
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