Chanchai Sor. Tummarungsri - The King of Teeps (54 min) (Patreon)

Get ready. Some people love super technical breakdowns. And some people love all the details of the teep. In this session you get both, and it's a real treat. Chanchai was a super accomplished Femeu style fighter of the Golden Age, perhaps one of the greatest teep specialists of all time.  He was Lumpinee Champion at 118 lb and 126 lb, and in this session he dissects the teep in a way that I could never have imagined. There's a line in "Mean Girls," when Cady says, "I used to think there was just fat and skinny, but it turns out lots of things can be wrong with your body." That was my realization with the detail with which Chanchai moved through all the elements of the teep as a complete weapon. It's not just offense or defense, it's not just well-timed or strong... it's timing and balance and precision. There are so many details that I came to realize that it's not that you can do so many different things with a knife, like you can stab or slice.... but rather the blade is not a single entity, but more of a Swiss Army Knife of an entire toolbox that creates his whole style. This is why long-form instruction is so valuable. And my inability to do a great number of the things he's asking helps in breaking them down to the most minute detail, as well.

Things To Look Out For:

1) Plan on Missing: if your opponent is too far away or dodges you, if you don't have control over your teep you're going to get yourself into a very vulnerable position. Chanchai explains that you have to prepare for the miss, and either control the teep to return to your stance, land in such a way you can strike out of it, or have your damn guard up.

2) Raising the Heel: I struggled with this. There's a slight lift to the heel that is simultaneous with raising the leg for the teep, but then there's also a simultaneous push from the hip adn standing leg at the same moment you make contact.

3) Return on Balance: returning your teeping foot requires you to already be prepared for the next strike, so the heel should be off the ground when you return the teeping foot, but not too high. And a weight transfer for a kick or other strike should be at the same time as returning the foot to the floor.

4) Pain as Defense: this was a great point. Chanchai has a nasty little toe-stab on his teep, right under the belly button, which I've learned before and know to be very painful. But he made a point of it as being meaningful for defense. If you hurt your opponent, you can anticipate where they'll move or you can even use that pain as a "block" in and of itself to destroy their counter strike.

5) Teep Placement as Defense: if you teep someone while they're punching you can stop them in their tracks. While their kicking, while their teeping, or even on the hip while they're punching can throw their trajectory off. This sets them up for a vulnerable position for your next strike, and spoils their offense or counter.

6) Like a Pool Cue: Chanchai demonstrates the simultaneous impact/technique of the standing foot and the teeping foot (which makes contact) with his hands and it looks a lot like how two hands flow together to shovel coal, or how the end of a pool cue and the pushing hand work together. I really liked this visual with his hands, even though I never got the timing quite right for myself.

7) Teeping From a Stand Still:  Chanchai has me stand in front of a bag and use a forward hop (not a vertical hop) from a stand still to teep the bag away from me. It's tricky. It's basically like the standing foot is sliding, or hydroplaning, but it's a classic Femeu style of using the teep to juggle your opponent.

If you enjoyed this session, there are some related themes and styles in these Library sessions:

#55 Manop Manop Gym - The Art of the Teep (90 min) watch it here 

An absolutely brilliant technician, Arjan Manop who is famed as Saenchai's Yokkao padman, teaches the art of the teep in fantastic detail. Some of his corrections were so small, like the timing of the plant foot, but have made big impacts on my practice. If you love the fine details of beautiful Muay Thai technique this is a session for you. 

#47 Silapathai Jockygym - Master of Teep Distance (64 min) watch it here

One of the great femeu fighters of the Golden Age unlocks the secret of his teep oriented dominance which made him one of the most difficult fighters to face in his day. The lessons here are precious as he unfolds the details of how to use the teep and tempo to always put the fight where you want it.

#34 Samart Payakaroon - Balance, Balance, Balance! (81 min) watch it here 

Atop the tower of Muay Thai legends probably stands Samart. 3x Fighter of the Year, 4x Lumpinee Champion and WBC World Boxing Champion, no fighter more brilliantly showed what femeu fighting could do. In this session he shows the foundations of how to build true balance, the ultimate key to his fighting style.  

#27 Karuhat Sor. Supawan - Tension & Kicking Dynamics (104 min) watch it here 

Karuhat, a fighter with perhaps the slickest style of any Golden Age great, shows the importance of tension, and patiently goes through correcting the kick, making it quicker and much harder to read.

#22 Singdam Kiatmoo9 - Making the Basics Beautiful (71 min) watch it here 

Singdam provides perhaps the best progression through the basics I've yet filmed, the blueprint of his beautiful, effective style. This instruction is bottomless. Even after 5 years in Thailand there is a ton for me in this very close examination of powerful technique essentials. 

#40  Gen Hongthonglek - Muay Femeu Tactics & Mindset (70 min) watch it here 

The Muay Femeu (artful fighting) style is more than just a set of techniques, it's also a mindset and strategy of how to score, and how to score big. The warfare is not just in terms of damage, but of psychology, displaying dominance through skill and timing. Gen in this hour outlines how he likes to fight, and how he pulls off the biggest scores at the right time.

Some Stills from the Session

Remember you can browse the entire Muay Thai Library here.