Hippy Singmanee 3 - Basics of Balance, Rhythm & Footwork (75 min) (Patreon)

I love learning from Hippy. Not only is actually just being around him enjoyable - he's a wonderful story teller, he's charming, his "game face" is awesome, and he's always got an entourage around - but what he teaches is really inspiring for my own process. In this session I learned something I'd never known about him before, which is that he stole techniques from everybody. He was the "105 lb Legend of the South" and according to Karuhat, "Number One of the Golden Age," but he watched other fighters and took inspiration from them. He'd learn from his own opponents, taking their best stuff and then rematch them with bigger side bets than before. But you can't steal from anybody if you don't have solid foundation, and that is what this session is about; you can't put Dieselnoi's bouncing front foot and teep on anything if you aren't already balanced; you can't be evasive if you aren't able to move in any direction and strike on your front foot, back foot, and moving side to side, if you aren't already balanced. 

What to Look Out For:

1)  Crossing Your Feet: what? you say... I was also taken aback. But Hippy (and since he taught this I've noted it in actual fights in the Golden Age, among other fighters) teaches to cross your lead foot and back foot when moving side to side. He says it's faster. If you don't like it, don't do it. But learn it, try it, see how it goes.

2) Lifting and Squatting: Hippy lifts one foot into a block, or even just off the ground so he's on one leg, as a balance check. This is fantastic for teaching you to be able to block at any moment and within your rhythm. He also does a little squat that he literally says "check" to call for it, but again it's a balance check, to make sure you're not overly on one leg or the other.

3) "Check, Check, Check": Hippy is always "checking" his opponent's responses, their distance, their speed and power. He touches their guard, stings their legs, setting up for his power or "kill shots." Honestly, he's so fast that I reckon a lot of his most devastating strikes were just surprises to his opponents, rather than being super powerful. It's the punch you don't see, they say. He sets up this rhythm of fast, fast, fast, KILL through the same rhythms of being able to move in any direction that he's teaching with his basics.

4) Use Padwork for Power: We only do a few rounds, but Hippy wants full power on everything in pads. It's to build endurance and strength, but it's also to teach his students how to "smell blood in the water," (as Kevin and I say) and go after someone even when you're tired.

5) Timing and Skill Beats Power: Hippy tells some great stories in this session, but in the process he talks about how to beat bigger opponents with the strategy that timing and skill defeats power. And as a tiny fighter, his showiness (he was a marvel, really) has a huge impact on fans, watching him do something spectacular against a strong opponent.

Edited Stills and Photos from the Session:

*Read his story of his very first fight in Bangkok as a kid fighting Chatchai Sasakul that we had translated:

When Hippy Fought Chatchai as a Boy in His Own Words

This session is Hippy showing how to really lay those bricks down solid for your foundation. Movement, weight transfer, intuitive blocks and strikes out of the sheer importance of balance.

You can check out my technique vlog on ambient footwork, which was in part inspired by this session with Hippy, it might give you a sense of how I put this lesson into greater context for myself as a fighter:

watch and read about my technique vlog here

If you enjoyed this session, more in the Library like it:

The Basics - sessions focused on the basics from legends

#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.

#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.

#78 Kru Ali Phet Kalim - Old School Forgotten Principles (64 min) watch it here

Kru is like a time capsule. He teaches the Muay Thai of a bygone era perched on a cliff edge in his gym in Phuket. He insists that fighters and teachers of today have forgotten important principles, and he show them in this precious session. Unique blocks and clinch tactics from his generation.

#60 Sagat Petchindee Session 2 - All the Strikes Tuned and Dangerous (101 min) watch it here

One of the great, legendary names of Thailand, Sagat Petchyindee the inspiration for the Street Fighter character, goes through his entire striking philosophy with lots of technical correction and fine tuning. See the secret to his creation of smooth, efficient, explosive power, and witness the amazing man himself.

Bonus Session 5: Chatchai Sasakul Southpaw Hands | 52 min - watch it here

Chatchai's stance and striking system is not only ideal for boxing - he was  the WBC Flyweight World Champion in 1997 - it instills a basic weight transfer balance that can dramatically improve your Muay Thai. Watch it being installed on me for the first time from the Southpaw stance.

#16 Thailand Pinsinchai - Attacking Shell (62 min) watch it here

Former Lumpinee and Rajadamnern champion Thailand Pinsinchai teaches the beautiful framework for his attacking, elbowing style. Lots of minute corrections, small vital details that turn working techniques into dominance. You get the entire picture of a Muay Buek fighter out of the legendary Pinsinchai gym .

the full The Basics tag, browse the Library

Find out who Hippy thinks are the best five fighters in Thai history (in a series of interviews we are doing to preserve the legacy of the sport):

watch Hippy pick his best yodmuay here 

the full playlist of all the interviewed legends here 

Other Hippy Singmanee sessions in the Library:

#5 Hippy Singmanee - Developing Power (69 min) - watch it here

Two-time Lumpinee champion Golden Age legend Hippy Singmanee takes me though one of the most unique and valuable hours I've spent with a top trainer. He is building ground up how power and relaxation are related to each other. This session has been highly influential upon my own training. Learn how spacing+timing+relaxation produces dynamic power.

Bonus Session 4: Hippy Singmanee Ultra Violence | 30 min - watch it here

Hippy is all about building power and aggression in strikes. In this session he really tries to create a conversation of violence in our padwork, and then in our light sparring he teaches elbows with incredible fluidity and invasive power.

If you'd like to train with Hippy in Bangkok shoot me a message for a Google Map link to the  locations of his gym.