Teep Game With a Foam Pad (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

Once a practitioner feels comfortable with the balance ball, we move onto the foam pad, although alternatives like a pillow, mitt, martial arts paddle, boxing glove, or any soft cushion can also be utilized.

The rules are identical to the previous game, and the practitioner is still making real-time decisions, moving their feet, adapting, exploring, and developing their game sense. However, now their sense of distance is fully representative of sparring. The kicker gets used to pushing someone away with their foot, and the receiver gets used to receiving a kick.

As before, if the push is not true, it will become immediately apparent. How far I get pushed back doesn't rely solely on the exerted force but rather on the straightness, consistency, and depth of the push. "Guide me back" rather than a momentary push. Guide me all the way. The goal is to extend the push fully. Eventually, the practitioner will be able to do this very quickly.

Rather than technical instruction, I'm describing intentions, conditions, and feelings. Your eyes face out. You can see how your opponent is moving; you can watch how others perform their techniques, but you can't observe yourself. Then how do you know how you're executing a technique? You have to go off of how it feels. Then, it makes the most sense to describe or prompt how the technique should feel because, in reality, that's the practitioner's only guide. Even those who can go off of technical instructions, what they're really doing is translating words with their bodies and using their senses to feel if it's right.

To create better control, I'm using the prompt "Imagine I'm a small child." This automatically elicits lots of conditions for the practitioner as an unconscious byproduct, which would be overwhelming if I tried to tell them to do all those things consciously while listening to my instructions. Creating intentionality with the legs helps develop them as an additional set of arms.

In the video, I refrain from speaking, and the practitioner consistently orients themselves to me because they always have to be in a position to push me away with their foot. Without instruction or thought, they make sure I'm always in front of their teep.

What does the placement of the foam pad, or previously the ball, do? It trains the practitioner's eyes to look at the torso. A fundamental aspect of game sense involves training the eyes, a facet often overlooked by many. You look at some of the props trainers use, and they unconsciously train practitioners to look at the opponent's hands or look directly at their targets (giving their intentions away and often moving their head toward the target).

It's crucial to note that any technique practiced with safety can also be executed with force. If the practitioner only knows how to do it violently, they won't necessarily know how to do it safely and probably won't have a consistent push. It'll lose its steam right away. Range of freedom is your breadth for a technique. Can you only do it one way or as a range of movements? Practicing an extended, consistent teep broadens its range.

The practitioner should be versatile enough to train with anyone at any level. This approach maximizes training opportunities, enabling the accumulation of more rounds. If the practitioner is limited in who they can train with, they've greatly reduced the number of rounds they can accumulate, which puts a ceiling on how good they can get.

– Sam