June 2013 ~ ...Where tradition meets science...

Hello people. It is great to meet you again on our own website/blog. Do support our place, visit as often as you can. OK! As promised here’s the Croco (crocodile tail kick) article which is specially written for my all students.

The crocodile tail kick is Muay arts most unique kicking technique. Originally, no martial arts system has used this technique like the ancient Siamese warriors did. In Siamese language, we call it the Te. Today it is adapted by Kyokushin karate and its splinters as well as many modern hybrid systems such as the mixed martial arts school. The world has accepted it as one of the most damaging weapon in combat!

Ancient legend

The legend of the croco is part of the ancient southern Siam folk lore. According to my Khru, the late Ajarn Bakawali, the technique was discovered when a young warrior went fishing at a river. He caught a big fish but unfortunately dinner was eaten by a hungry crocodile. The tug of war challenge began. He was so excited because he had never caught a fish that was strong. He decided to keep fighting. After a while both parties took a rest, but refused to give up. Suddenly the weight on the line was off as if it was cut loose. The disappointed warrior started to pull his weightless line; and suddenly he saw the head of the reptile surfaced. The crocodile decided to turn his head back into the water and its lightning fast tail was whipped aiming at the head of the warrior. His martial instinct saved him as he ducked the unexpected attack. He quickly cut the line and lowered himself in the boat. He prayed to the spirit of the river to protect him. Soon the foe resurfaced again. They looked at each other in the eyes. The young warrior saluted the beast for respect and asked the crocodile to spare his life. The beast nodded, turned and slowly disappeared into the depth of the river. From that moment, the young warrior started to experiment the crocodile’s technique with his forearms and the shins. Two distinct Muay techniques were born - the swinging forearm smash and cutting shin kicks.

Of course like all the folk stories, it varies slightly from one teacher to the other, region to region. Some said it was a woman. Others noted that they became friends and met at the river everyday where the beast taught her more fighting techniques. So the Siamese round house kick was born and used until this day not only by Muay Arts and Sport Muay Thai but also in the mix martial artists, Kyokushin Karatekas and other off shoot of the style. It is without doubt the one of the most powerful kick in the world!

JOKMAS & the Croco

Our Kickboxing syllabus was rebranded by me based on the ancient fighting art of Silat Tomoi. A unique martial art a fusion between ancient Muay Arts and Malay silat which is believed to be the source of fighting arts existing at the border between Siam and the Malay Peninsula. It was one of the fighting arts of ancient kingdoms of Langkasuka, Kedah Tua and Chaiya of SriVijaya. Today it has survived and evolved in southern Thailand and northern state of West Malaysia, as well as here in Subang Jaya where the art are taught to our Phase 4 practitioners.

Silat Tomoi can be categorized as the southern region Muay Boran or ancient Muay. However, the Malay influences on the art are dominant in the weapon system. I will write about this later. The croco is one of the arsenals of Silat Tomoi and is today, taught to our members since Phase 1.

The JOKMAS croco.

Imagine your shin like a tail of the crocodile. It is not like the round house kick of American kickboxing, snapping ‘mawashigeri’ of Karate-do or the turning kick of Tae Kwon Do. The Siamese turning kick do not snap at the target, but blast through the target cutting 30-50cm beyond the point of contact. Just like a swinging base ball bat blasted through the target.

The right foot JOKMAS croco is executed from the left foot forward stance by turning the lead foot 90 degrees anti clockwise. The rather relaxed kicking foot is raised from the rear on the right side, higher than the chosen target while the left hand covers your right cheek and your right arm rest along the right side of the body. Leaning your body back and tucking your head up, your supporting foot should be slightly bent, forming the shape of capital letter Y. With one swift motion, the body is turned anticlockwise, slamming the shin diagonally downwards through the target as the supporting foot is turned another 90 degrees anticlockwise upon execution of the cutting action downwards. Exhale sharply through mouth (nose if you are wearing a mouth piece) as you kick. If the kick misses the target, turn round 360 degrees or put it back on the floor to immediately execute a side kick or back kick.

There are three main targets for the standard croco. The first is at the side of the neck of your opponent. With the shin hitting the side of the neck, the instep too is hacked through the back of the head. A perfect croco will knock out the opponent instantly. This technique is known as head hunting or we at Silat Tomoi call it cut the lights out.

The second target will be the body; preferably the floating ribs. Floating ribs are a vulnerable target. A direct blast will crack them. The third target is lower down at the thigh bone, knee joint and behind the shin to the ankles. Only the thigh bone is allowed to be croco in sport Muay Thai, the other two may considered illegal. In ancient war and modern day real street fight situations where the rules of engagement are no rules; the other two targets are most appropriate. Powerful croco in Muay Thai sports has broken many thigh bones. Croco to the knee and ankle joints will damage and dislocate them. A dislocated foot is as good as a knock out.

Another croco is shot from the ground diagonally upwards. Instead of raising it high before slamming it diagonally down, it is driven from the ground diagonally into the abdomen, ribs, kidneys, back bones and sometime the groin. The mechanism of the kick is the same as the first version.

Mastering the croco

There are three basic methods of forge your croco until it becomes a weapon of destruction; the heavy bag, the pads and application. The first rule is you must kick at least 5,000 times before it becomes your flesh and blood. So keep kicking guys. Remember, use the shin as the surface of impact and drive it through the target when you kick. The first method is to kick the heavy bag. First, find your combat distant between the bag and you before you start unleashing those bombs.

Kick at the thigh levels 30 times, at the ribs 30 x and finally work to the head level 40 times. Repeat the same format for your left foot. Next are combos using hands and feet. You can start with jab, cross and 2x low croco 10 times ,next repeat with mid croco 10 xs and last 10 xs to the head. Once you got that start working on your left croco with 2x jab and low croco 10 times, 2x jab and mid croco 10x , finally 2x jab and high croco 10x. Once you master these combos your instructor will teach you more croco combos’ application.

The Pao or Thai pads are effective for conditioning those shins, working on speed and power and last but not least, accuracy. I love the Pao because in the hands of an expert trainer he or she can make the fighter spar at full speed and power for 5 x 3 minutes round with 2 minutes rest in between. For the croco the Pao offers real targets at the head, ribs and thigh level, so that the fighter can kick full blast without having the fear of hurting the holder. At the same time, the holder will attack the fighter and move like an opponent in the fight. You will be taught the combos application in phase 2 and 3.

Once you have mastered all the combos, it is time to spar. Learning to spar is like learning to drive a car. First go at 30 km/hr as you begin to learn to art of driving, the do’s and don’ts; the rules on the open road. After awhile as you gain confidence and experience, you will drive at a faster speed. In order to do so, first you must learn to defend yourself against all attacks and counters. You must learn how to take the hits and still fight back. In time you will master distant and choose the techniques and combos to be executed at the right time and scenarios. The more time you spend sparring, the more at home you will fell at doing it.

Tips for applying the croco

In any combat situation, it is best for you to know who your opponent is. His back ground, his martial arts experience or is he one punch lucky brawler? Of course the best of fighting is not fighting. Let’s take a look at the possibilities that you may come across. There are two types of situations. The first, a real street fight and the other, is just a guy who want to spar or have a go at you to boost his macho ego. I will discuss both scenarios as we go through the cases of study.

When you meet an opponent who prefer to punch, then the croco will rule the engagement. A puncher longest reach is a snapping back fist, where the opponent will lean forward to snap it. All punches will rely on the lead foot where most weight is transferred to it upon execution of the punch. You could just attack his lead knee or ankle joints whenever he is in range. When he attacks, lean back and just croco his lead foot. Don’t waste time on the thigh, just go for the lower joints. This will stop the fight instantly. However, if he is your buddy want a sparring session do kick those thighs, but don’t him take for granted he may take the pain and move in and pound you. Kick him hard enough to send him a message that I could break your thigh bone if I have too.

If this guy prefers to grapple, you do want to stay a distant away from him. Don’t waste time kicking the thighs, just slammed those lower joints and move out diagonally sideways as you pound your jabs and hooks from the side. If it is a street fight, punch those fingers that he will use to grapple with you, jab the nose or finger jabs the eyes before slamming your croco on the lower leg joints or the neck if he is low enough.

Remember, these guys attack like a fencer, straight line in or retreat by stepping back out.

If this guy prefers to kick then the best bet is to punish his front foot, which he will use to kick or support the other foot to execute a kick. Every time he come in range, nail his knee or ankle joints with your lead croco. Immediately blast another at the same spot, follow through with cross or jab and nail him again with either lead or rear croco on the same spot. I’ll bet you by then he is injured.

JOKMAS croco II

If you think the croco is cool. Wait until you see Coco II. Just like the finger jabs, the toes can also be use as thrusting weapon. Instead of the shin and in step, the toes of the feet are used in extended a croco kick aiming mostly at targets on the head of the opponent. The big toe can be used to jab the eyes, jaw joint, main artery of the neck, Adam’s apple and tearing the cheek and mouth. This is where the ancient silat principle comes into play. The thrusting Keris, badek, belati, kerambit and sundang principles of destruction are applied. Just like these blades techniques the well condition big toe is press tight together with the rest and stab into the targets noted earlier.