Previously for Muay Thai, we posted an article explaining What To Do If Your Push Kick Gets Caught In Muay Thai. At the end of the article, we suggested that if your opponent has the skill and timing to capture your teeping foot, then you should consider feinting your lead push kick. This versatile technique is a great option to use if you have an effective teep and are looking to create openings for scoring strikes once your opponent reacts to it.
So in this article, we are going to dissect the lead-leg push kick feint. Firstly, we are going to explain how to effectively feint this weapon to draw a defensive response from your opponent. Once we have armed you with this knowledge, we are going to describe five simple and effective techniques that you can use to capitalize on the openings it creates.
How To Feint The Lead-Leg Teep
The lead-leg teep is a simple, effective, and often underappreciated weapon that, when used correctly, can control the distance and keep an aggressive fighter well out of their effective striking range. It is the bane of fighters who specialize in the Muay Sok, Muay Mat, and Muay Khao styles of fighting and as a result, those who favor these styles often perfect the art of capturing or countering this weapon.
If you are facing such a fighter, this is not necessarily a bad thing. To successfully feint a push kick, your opponent needs to be aware of the strike and actively looking to counter it because these defensive tactics create the openings you will exploit following a successful feint.
So, you would usually only feint this weapon after your opponent has successfully countered it, or you notice that they are attempting to defend against it. Once you have noted that your opponent is feinting range entries or dropping their hands in preparation to capture your teeping foot, it’s time to unleash your feints. This is done in 3 simple steps:
- Lift Your Lead Foot: The first step in making your opponent believe you are about to throw the lead-leg teep is to lift your front foot. You want to lift it high so that your opponent sees it move. Make sure to point the ball of your foot towards them, so they believe that your leg is wound up and ready to spring into their guts.
- Push Your Hips Forward: Now that your foot is high enough to convince your opponent that they are in danger of being teeped, you need to sell the movement. A real teep is driven from your hips and so, to draw a response from your opponent, shoot your hips towards them without extending your leg.
- Lean Your Shoulders Back: When you drive your hips forward, you are going to need to counter-balance by shooting your shoulders backward, otherwise, you may end up falling forward after the feint. Leaning back also keeps you safely out of range if your frustrated opponent is committed to punching and fails to respond to your feint at all.
5 Effective Follow-Up Techniques
There are many powerful, scoring techniques that you can throw following this feint, and our list below includes some of the most simple and effective.
Many beginners will often make the mistake of hopping towards their opponent or lunging forward with their lead leg following this feint but, given that the lead-leg push kick is usually used as your aggressive opponent is moving into range, this will crowd the techniques that follow. So, if you want these techniques to have maximum effect, return to your stance following a feint unless it is otherwise specified.
1) Rear Knee
A stabbing knee to the guts can hurt even the most durable opponent and throwing this technique after the feint increases its already devastating power.
To maximize the power of your rear knee, imagine that the canvas is a springboard and drive your feinting foot into it as it returns to the ring floor. This coupled with the feint’s anterior lean increases the spring in your hips, driving the knee forward with even more force.
Just make sure to use proper knee technique by leaning back and keeping your guard up so that you don’t accidentally throw yourself into a counterpunch.
2) Switch Kick
The switch kick is an excellent technique to throw following this feint because it’s so versatile. You can throw it to the head, arms, or body depending on how your opponent adjusts their hands to catch your faked teep.
Throwing a switch kick from the feint is a lot like throwing one directly after blocking. You need to shuffle your stance when your lead knee reaches the height of the feint. Just make sure that your kicking-side heel does not connect with the canvas as you drop your foot so that you can bounce straight into the kick with maximum speed and power.
3) Elbows
This is a great option to use if your opponent pushes their hips back to avoid your feinted teep because in doing so, they both lower their head and bring it closer to you, making it easy to slash your elbow.
To close the distance for this elbow, think of bouncing your lead hip up and forward as your lead foot lands back on the canvas. As you drive your hip, raise your elbow by combing your ear with the palm of your glove and push your shoulder as far forward as possible. If you time this perfectly, your elbow will slice your opponent’s defense, which may even end the match. Watch the video demonstration by Muay Thai World Champion Chanalaert Meenayothin, focusing on combinations 1 and 2.
4) The Scissor Teep
The scissor teep is a long-range and jaw-shattering option you can use to seriously damage your opponent following this feint.
At the height of your feint, jump off of your standing leg and bicycle your hips to drive your rear leg forward. If you lean your upper body back as you extend your scissors teep, it will change the angle of the kick, driving it up into your opponent’s chest or jaw with serious power.
Muay Thai legend, Saenchai, demonstrates an aggressive form of the scissor teep in the reel above.
5) Pivot (And Kick)
In our final feinting technique, our priority is to cut an angle, escaping an advancing opponent’s centreline rather than delivering a powerful strike. Therefore, this technique is best utilized when you feel crowded onto the ropes or in a corner and need a safe route of escape.
To cut the angle after a feinted teep, simply lunge forward as you drop your leg so that your foot lands closely outside of your charging opponent’s stance. Then, put your glove on the outside of theirs and redirect it across their body as you turn your rear leg ninety degrees so that you end up facing across the top of both of their shoulders.
From here you can just move off behind them to take the centre-ring position or, if you want to land a scoring shot, step past your opponent with your lead foot and rear roundhouse kick them across the breadbasket for a devastating strike.
Conclusion
Mastering the front-leg teep feint opens up a world of offensive opportunities in Muay Thai. By drawing reactions from your opponent, you can set up powerful strikes, control the pace, and create strategic openings. Whether you follow up with a knee, kick, or elbow, refining your feinting skills will make your attacks more deceptive and effective. Train smart, experiment with these techniques, and add another layer of unpredictability to your game!
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