How You Front Kick Is How You Do All Things

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Nearly all the essential lessons about striking sparring can come from front kick (teep) sparring games. It's not just about damage; it's an invaluable tool in fostering a sense of yourself and your opponent. It's like an ant's antenna. It helps answer the question: Where is my opponent in relation to me? It's one of the clearest ways to develop wayfinding. If an LMA practitioner later on stops using it as often, it's because they've trained their eyes to do the job their front kick once did.

To clarify, I am using "front kick" and "teep" interchangeably. However, more and more, I prefer "front kick" to stay consistent with our descriptive wayfinding language and the direction of attack concept. Front, side, and back are directions.

Pushing Forward

When practitioners have a grasp of the front kick movement where they are pushing through a target in front of them, I go over the importance of pushing as it relates to partner safety.

Developing practitioners tend to kick up rather than to the front. When practitioners first start front kicking, they have to be thoughtful about how they kick until the front push becomes automatic. If I were to bend over for whatever reason while a practitioner is front kicking, would the kick still land true on my stomach, or would it blast my chin and break all my teeth? That wholly depends on whether they are pushing forward or kicking up. If a practitioner pushes forward with the ball of their foot, regardless of whether I bend forward or not, it will not break my teeth. This attention to safety keeps everyone injury-free and the sparring safe, with enough room to mess up and develop. Toxic and unsafe environments allow no room and grace for messing up.

Consistently explaining how everything we do relates to safety is paramount when you spar and dynamic play as much as we do. Despite the frequency of our unchoreographed and unpredictable play, we've never had an injury. This concern for safety also improves our techniques because we're ensuring our movements stay true to their intended targets rather than moving carelessly.