Kru Manop Yuangyai 2 - The Art of the Sweep (57 min) (Patreon)

Kru Manop is incredible. If you've watched his previous session in the Muay Thai Library, you know that he can dive into the minute details of a technique and is incredibly patient in working through each of the minutiae through high repetition. It's brilliant for learning technique remotely (meaning via video) and it's perfect for our "long form" format. That is especially so in this session, where Kru Manop works through some brilliant and impressive sweeps off of caught kicks. 

It just so happens that this kind of technique and style is not my strong point at all, which actually works out really well for all of you: the long form format of my training sessions allows you to see me not understanding, or more importantly, feeling the technique, which then allows Kru Manop to explain all the different elements of it, emphasizing and working around how it's done quickly, effortlessly, without using too much power, using "jangwah" or rhythm/timing, and most definitely the detailed differences between how you execute something in training (so as not to hurt your partner), versus how it's done in a fight (so as to hurt your opponent).

It's really wonderful to have a single full session detailing the art of the sweep and related trips and counters.

What to Look Out For:

1) Ropes as Safety Harnesses: Kru Manop advises using the ropes of a ring as a kind of "safety net" for practicing sweeps and trips, so you're not hurling your partner onto the ground at full impact all the time. It's the best of both worlds. They don't have to get thrown down so hard and tripped to the point of fear, and you can go a little faster and more realistic because you're not hurling them onto the ground and causing pain or fear.

2) Training vs Fighting: Use the bottom of your foot for training, the part where you foot meets your shin in a real fight. Slide over on catching a kick in training to take some impact out, but if you don't manage that in the fight, you're in company of almost every other fighter also... no worries.

3) The Saenchai Banana Peel Slip: when Saenchai catches a kick, moves it across his opponent's body, and then sweeps them up by their butt, it looks like they're getting the "cartoon" treatment of slipping on a banana peel. Here's how he does that.

4) "Yoke": the importance of lifting the leg on a caught kick to help off-balance your opponent for your sweep is really expressed here. But his see-saw timing on it is just gorgeous.

5) "It's in the Hand": Kru Manop emphasizes the importance of where the trip is actually taking place. It's usually in the hand, or the forearm going across the chest of your opponent. It's similar to lifting the caught kick in that it helps to off-balance them enough that your sweep or kick out requires much less effort or power to get them to go down.

6) How to Be A Great Kicker: I asked Kru Manop at the end of this session how kicks from the Golden Age, and indeed, the Golden Kick, differ from kicks in contemporary Muay Thai. He goes off, and it's amazing. Especially because he gets to showcase his kicking technique, how he's so fast and accurate, how he can kick from everywhere, as well as a few points on aesthetics in Thai scoring and how important "non scoring" elements are in setting up for the biggest scoring elements. You really get to see his brilliance here. Kru Manop and Karuhat trained together as very young men at the Sor. Supawan camp back in the day... you can see the similarity in their kicks in this last part. 

Some Stills from the Session 

Kevin edited this little walk through of Manop's Gym if you want to see what it feels like, it's a great recommendation for highly technical training in Chiang Mai.

watch it here on YouTube 

If you enjoyed this session you might also like these with similar themes:

#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. 
Chanchai Sor. Tummarungsri - The King of Teeps (54 min) - The art of the teep really broken down in full, by one of the great teep fighters of the Golden Age, watch it here 

#80  Namkabuan Rachapreukkafe (Hapalang) - Femeu Fluidity (55 min) watch it here 

For those that love femeu, artful Muay Thai this Golden Age champion has just that kind of style. The plays with timing, misdirection and stinging attack are all part of this former Rajadamnern champ's game. Developing fluidity, and a kind of invisibility to movement and attack is key in this session.

#73  Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn 2 - Overcoming Distance (61 min) watch it here 

The incredible Namsaknoi was one of the rare fighters who melded sheer physical power with femeu touch. In this session you learn how he exploited and explored angles, owned the edge, in a way that left him the king of Lumpinee at his weight in his day. 

#65 Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn - Sharking The Angles (67 min) watch it here 

The Emperor. Fighter of the Year in 1996 and 6 years undefeated as Lumpinee Champion, one of the greatest fighters ever teaches his incredible edge-attacking style. He shows how he is always one step ahead of his opponent, setting them up in a constantly evolving attack.

#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.

#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.

#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.  

#25 Luktum Sityodtong - Positioning and Trips (62 min) watch it here 

Tum is an active international Thai fighter raised out of the famed Sityodtong gym. He shows the importance of positioning and timing in this session with a fantastic lower body system of tripping attacks towards the end. His muay is both physically close, but also evasive and tactical.

#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. 

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