The Muay Thai shuffle is a simple and common form of feinting used by fighters looking to create an opening in their opponent’s guard, often to land a scoring kick. In the past few decades, this form of footwork has become synonymous with legendary Muay Femur, Saenchai, who has used it with such regularity and success that it is often referred to as “The Saenchai Shuffle.”

In this article we are going to break down the Muay Thai shuffle, explaining what it is and how it can be used in the ring. While this form of feinting is most often used to create the opportunity for a scoring kick to land, we’ll also give you some pointers on how you can use it to land a number of other scoring strikes.

What Is The Shuffle?

The above video shows you the reason why this movement is commonly referred to as the “Saenchai Shuffle” and within the thirty-second clip, you can see the star practicing this movement and following up with body kicks as well as several other strikes.

As you can see, the feint is fairly simple. What you are essentially doing in this movement is switching stances to goad your opponent into defending a switch kick. Then, whilst they are off balance, you rapidly switch back to land a kick on your dominant leg side.

You will notice in the video, that Saenchai doesn’t always kick on his first switch. Sometimes he will feint a number of times before throwing a strike. In a live sparring or fight situation he would be performing the shuffle whilst also reading his opponent’s reaction to see what strikes are available to him before he commits.

Points Of Performance

The shuffle, like any feint, only works if you successfully “sell it” to your opponent. That is, you need them to worry about being hit so that they respond defensively and give you the opportunity to score. If your opponent is striking you instead of defending whenever you attempt a shuffle there are a few points of performance that you may need to focus on, including the common ones listed below:

• Confidence: Successful fighters have a talent for reading their opponent’s body language. If you half-heartedly attempt a shuffle, without speed or vigor, many fighters will smell weakness and go on the attack. Remember; you are pretending to throw a switch kick, so shuffle your feet as if you intend to throw one with power.

• Keep Your Back Heel Up: Whenever you shuffle, make sure the foot in the rear position stays loaded and ready to bounce into a kick. Switching with your foot flat slows you down and saps your power, so keep your heel up if you want to get the most out of your kick.

• It’s Not Just Your Feet: Shuffling primarily involves moving your feet but you need to sell it with the rest of your body. Notice in the video above that Saenchai also moves his hands in the way he would if he was about to switch kick. To really sell this movement, you should do the same.

What Should You Throw After Shuffling?

As we’ve mentioned, it is most common to throw a kick-off of the shuffle, but depending on the IQ of your opponent and their reaction a whole number of opportunities are available to you. All you need to do is use your eyes to spot them. Below we have listed some of the common strikes that you may use following a shuffle and given some pointers on what openings you will need to see on your opponent for you to trigger these strikes.

• The Rear Body Kick: This is the most common strike to throw after performing a shuffle. If, upon switching your stance, your opponent lifts their leg to defend the feinted switch-kick, simply switch back to your original foot position and throw a roundhouse kick whilst they are unbalanced on one leg.

• The Switch Kick: If you have successfully landed your rear body kick from the shuffle on a few occasions your opponent may clue on and forgo their initial block and, predicting the shuffle back, block the incoming kick. If they do this, simply shuffle a second time and kick them with your switch kick.

• Punching To The Face: If you’ve landed a few strikes off of the shuffle, your opponent may forgo blocking altogether, and naturally, their eyes will be drawn down to your rapidly switching feet as they try and spot an incoming kick. If this happens, then landing a kick will be difficult on its own. Luckily, with their eyes drawn low they won’t notice your hands and you can flick out a light, fast straight punch to lift their vision and hands, creating the opening needed to follow up with a scoring strike to the body.

• The Teep: The rear leg teep is unexpected off of a shuffle and, if your opponent is blocking well away from the ropes, it provides the opportunity to knock them over for a tremendous impression on the scorecards. Simply shuffle back and forth between stances until your opponent blocks and then send whichever foot is currently in the rear position straight to your opponent’s body.

Conclusion

The Muay Thai shuffle is, in essence, a movement where you feint a switch kick. By confidently, switching stances back and forth you can trick your opponent into prematurely blocking, giving you the opportunity to kick their exposed side whilst they are still on one leg. While the shuffle is usually performed before a kick, you can repeat the feint rapidly several times, looking for other opportunities to score if it doesn’t work on the first attempt.

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