Teep, Front Kick, Side Kick and Others (diary entry)

15.12.15 This lesson began the first of my client’s second course on Muay Thai for martial arts cross training. I use the term “Muay Thai” loosely. Although I teach everything my dead Kru, Tony Hayes of Warwick Warriors taught me during the intensive period I trained under him and gained a “training instructor” certificate, coupled with extra knowledge I have gleaned from cross-training in various other Thai Boxing schools, this isn’t pure Muay Thai. I see a lot of different arguments flying around as to what is pure Muay Thai and my belief is that it is an illusion, but that is another discussion. What I am teaching in my kickboxing section is probably best described as Mixed Martial Arts stand-up fighting with a small amount of clinch. Our warm-up consisted at looking at Thai footwork. Muay Thai is a more patient game than western boxing and kickboxing styles that aren’t indigenous to Southeast Asia. The stance is more square-on, shorter, higher and with a pronounced raised back heel. Fighters rock backwards and forwards on their balls of their feet. This lends to a different tempo, which is often lost outside of this particular sport. The teep led tonight’s theme. When we think of this kick, we classify it as the Thai Boxing version of the front kick and usually delivered off the leading leg. Unlike versions typically taught in most strike-based martial arts outside of south-east Asia, the kick is not typically delivered with a snap and never in an upward fashion. It is a straight kick with an almost horizontal trajectory and is most commonly delivered as a push-kick rather than an impact kick. The teep is most often utilised as a kicking version of the jab punch. Here we might find a distinctive east/west divide. Modern western boxing developed the jab as fast and sharp impacting tool whereas Muay Thai only really started making western boxing-type hand shapes once they donned the gloves. Thai boxers, although have adopted the western jab still push with their lead hand to set up other strikes. It’s an interesting characteristic that is retained in the teep despite Muay Thai’s drastic evolution since the 1930s. We worked the basic teep principle and classic version of the kick up and across the body, as we warmed up. We kicked to the legs and to the mid-section before going higher. Then we started to vary the kick. The foot can be turned out at an angle for more of a stomping application that is particularly effective when thrown at the leg. When the kick is turned over inwards it almost becomes a lead leg side-kick of sorts. After using it in conjunction with a jab and to set up a round kick, we looked at ways to develop more power. This included using the Newton’s cradle forward momentum and kicking off the back leg. We also explored the lead-leg side kick, which is rarely seen in Muay Thai due to the risk it presents to the backs of the legs. Nevertheless, it fitted in well with the earlier variation of the teep. The session was finished with dumbbells squat/teep, incline barbell press and barbell front squat for strength conditioning. All three focused on keeping a strong posture for stand-up fighting and developing the core muscles involved. This is a great article by “The Bloody Elbow” on the teep.