Teep to face.

R

rnag

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New to these forums - Have really enjoyed reading posts but thought I would post a question to see what people thought of a recent incident I had . After a good few years of traditional MA (i.e.. semi contact) I have taken up MT - and ABSOLUTELY loving it!!!! However recently in a sparring session a guy threw a roundhouse then turned it into a teep to the FACE ...... didn't expect it and it bust my nose up and pretty much so I couldn't breath through my nose for a week. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining about getting messed up - I enjoy getting hit in a strange way - its the complete opposite of what i have been used to and very refreshing. Anyway my question is am I being a bit wet here thinking this is out of line - I always thought the bottom of the foot was a bit disrespectful in MT?
 
The bottom of the foot is disrespectful in Thai culture generally. You wouldn't point to something with your feet.

But i guess ina Muay Thai context, the Thai fighters get used to taking teeps so they wouldn't be so offended.

I use this move all the time in England, fake a round kick, and teep to the chest, if you have a strong teep you will probably floor them.
 
You're going to get kicked in the face, a lot. It's MT. From what I gather it is considered somewhat disrespectful to teep the face in Thailand. However, I'm guessing you aren't in Thailand, and you sure as hell better train to defend it. Wether you choose to teep your sparring partners face is up to you. Personally, I try not to do it hard, but I train it because I'm absolutely going to teep the shit out of my opponents nose in a fight.
 
I think just hitting someone in the face is considered disrespectful. MT fighters don't like getting teeped in the face, it is a bit of a fuck you.
 
It's not the act of hitting someone in the face that's disrespectful... as most posters have said, it's because of the way Thai culture views the foot, particularly the bottom of the foot (and the head). Since you're (probably) not Thai, I guess it boils down to whether or not you personally find it disrespectful. If you do, I'd suggest either finding another martial art or getting over it, as it were. I wouldn't say it's common, but it's probably going to happen.

Is it disrespectful to spar with face kicks? I dunno... you are punching each other in the face, right? Seeing as how people wear shoes and socks all day, feet are probably a bit cleaner than gloves. Who knows. I try not to kick people in the face while sparring unless it's very light. Probably more of a tap than anything. Nothing wrong with a little face mush here and there.
 
I think teeping to the face in sparring is kind of a dick move but for safety reasons, not because of Thai culture.

You can argue "what's the difference between teeps and roundhouse kicks to the face". Well, in sparring, you're wearing shinguards (hopefully). There's nothing softening the blow from the ball of the foot, as our unfortunate TS found out. Additionally, it's not that easy to throw a soft teep. With a roundhouse you can toss it up there and let it glance off the guy without following through hard. But for most guys, if you teep the same way, it'll just miss or get caught. It's quite difficult to throw a good teep that lands without the power to hurt the guy.

Also, if you're skilled enough to consistently teep someone in the face, you can just teep them in the sternum which is a hell of a lot safer.
 
A teep to the face in training would require retaliation. It is disrespectful
 
DaGenius said:
A teep to the face in training would require retaliation. It is disrespectful
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thats how ive always felt about it...i know i can physically do it but have never done it in sparring because i dont want it done to me in sparring.

in a fight, though...
 
DaGenius said:
A teep to the face in training would require retaliation. It is disrespectful
Click to expand...

If it's disrespectful in your culture, then yes, it can be. However, not every fighter takes everything from Thai culture so seriously. I've been teeped in the face by my training partners, and I've also teeped them in the face. It's not disrespectful because we don't intend it that way, nor do we take it that way.

If a Thai teeped me in the face, then I'd know it's probably them disrespecting me, but honestly, for a lot of fighters it's just another kick in the head.
 
I probably wouldn't do it just for fear of hurting my partner. Kicks to head are often more powerful than we realize, and most people don't have enough control and dexterity to head kick gently. When I throw teeps/front kicks at head level, I usually deliberately shorten it.
 
if you're gonna throw them and get them thrown at you in a fight, you damn well better train them

remember the first time i got caught with a teep to the face, was real light but it shocked the hell out of me since i had become so accustomed to lowering my elbows to protect the body that my face was wide open

for further illustration see what happened to Vitor when Anderson went high with a front kick he assumed was going low. if you never train it you'll never see it coming

just follow the same principle as elbows and knees to the body without body protectors and you'll be fine. focus on form + control and throw the strike as lightly as possible since the risk of damage is so high
 
In my gym guys don't throw it during sparring. Obviously it's good to get used to it, but the move is just so likely to mess up your nose if it lands. I'd never throw it in sparring unless my partner is training for a fight and/or asks me to do it. If someone would attempt teeping me in the face i'd tell them they better not break my nose.
 
The point of sparring is to improve and improve your team mates. In our club if you bust someone open, you clean up and sit out with the victim. Control before power. Sayin that, I toe whipped my partner in the nuts last night, a perfect lead roundhouse to the funbags. My control was lacking. Took the fight right outta him!
 
I teep my sparring partners all the time in the face. I'm known for doing it and no one has a problem with it. I don't take their head off and most times I only use it if they are coming forward and they just walk into it so it's more like a stiff leg than a kick. I can control my teeps pretty easily and 'place' them where I want. By contrast I never throw roundhouse head kicks at sparring partners heads as I can't control them as easily.

I throw punches to the face and really don't see any difference between them.
 
Why do we see so few teeps to the face in fights? Im thinking of establishing the teep to the thigh/body in the first round and then teep him in the face. Do people ever get knocked by face teeps?
 
aries said:
I teep my sparring partners all the time in the face. I'm known for doing it and no one has a problem with it. I don't take their head off and most times I only use it if they are coming forward and they just walk into it so it's more like a stiff leg than a kick. I can control my teeps pretty easily and 'place' them where I want. By contrast I never throw roundhouse head kicks at sparring partners heads as I can't control them as easily.

I throw punches to the face and really don't see any difference between them.
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you sound nice. people go for my head all the time with varying levels of shitty control and karate/tap-out shin guards. kind of annoying really because i feel people just take my short height to mean its open season, despite being like 3 weight classes above me. ears ringing, worried about getting dropped - not nice!
 
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