4. Misleading the Opponent
Use feints to mislead and to tempt your opponent to leave
a protective stance. Direct your feint to a speciɹc part of
the body. As a result, your opponent will reduce
protection of another part of the body, which you can
then attack eʃectively with your subsequent technique.
Feints must be swift, and you have to keep your body in a
relaxed state. If your feint is slow, your opponent will be
able to stop your subsequent technique. A feint is often
carried out as an incomplete move, and your opponent
suʃers only a slight impact; the subsequent technique is
delivered with full power. Make your feints at a level or
to the side of the body that is diʃerent from what you
plan to attack for the follow-up technique. The goal is that
your opponent will change his or her guard, enabling you
to attack an unprotected part of the body with your
subsequent technique. To achieve this, focus on the target
of the feint and not on the actual target of the follow-up
technique.
Not all feints can be performed easily by all Thai
boxers. Test the feints and choose those that are best
suited to your fight style. Train in feints until they become
automatic moves. Only a perfect feint will be successful in
a fight, so it’s necessary to repeat time and again the feints
that you’ve already learned in order to optimize their
timing. The feints shown here can be carried out from the
front or rear side of the body. You can see the feints in
motion on the DVD Muay Thai: Training and Techniques
(2012).