Bonus Session 4: Hippy Singmanee Ultra Violence | 30 min

Hippy Singmanee is a very unique man. He’s almost constantly smiling or laughing, and he’s got a twinkle in his eye that betrays a cleverness that I wouldn’t entirely trust. Not in a nefarious way, but in an Epic Hippy would be the trickster character. His gym is in this bizarre back-street maze of Bangkok, near the Town in Town hotel, and the official name of his gym is the same: Town in Town. It also has a subtitle, Bor. Suwan (ป. สุวรรณ), which is a more typical Thai-style gym name with the first letter being the initial of the founder or first trainer and the second word is a fancy name for gold, but also a given name. I asked Hippy once about the name of his gym and he emphasized the importance of “Town in Town,” as this was the original investor or sponsor for the gym and Hippy became serious - Hippy’s version of serious - and said, “like this for a long time.” Meaning, this relationship is a foundational, long-standing one. It was a noteworthy moment for me because Hippy’s gym is filled with the strangest types and there’s a high turnover of them, at least in the sense that I’ve been there 3 times and never run into the same people, but they all fit the types. There are older trainers, these kind of plucked-from-a-gym-in-the-middle-of-nowhere but with depths of knowledge, like a time capsule in human form. Then there are kids, like the skinny, endless-energy little sprites that are the youngest tier of any real Thai gym. And Hippy’s children will flit in and out with that same group, although I’ve never witnessed any of them training. They all love Jaidee though. Then the rest of the warehouse space is dotted by these middle-aged men from all over the world, guys who have peripheral positions in music or film. There’s hustle, is what I’m saying. And all of this revolves around Hippy’s gravitational pull, this solar system of one man who brings coherence between that whole spectrum of babies, old trainers and middle men.

When we go see Hippy, we never know what we’re going to get. But it’s always worth it to go, even if we just get 10 usable minutes on film. So, that’s how we ended up with a kind of patchwork quilt of this 30 minute video, but piecing them all together shows the range of what Hippy has to offer through his personality and just incredible technique. My favorite thing about him, aside from just his personality as a man, is his penchant for violence. He told me a very funny story one time about how he was drinking and playing Snooker all night, every night, but he had to train for a fight. His mom was all up in his business about being in shape for the fight because there was a lot of money on it (side bet), so he had to stop his playboy lifestyle for, like, 3 days before the fight. So he went into it feeling tired and out of shape and just wanted to knock his opponent out as soon as possible so he wouldn’t get too tired and could go back to his Snooker. And he did exactly that. Give Ma the fight money, get back to your playboy ways. That’s Hippy. He’s this tiny man (his titles were at 105 lbs and 108 lbs) who just packs incredible power into every single strike. Even his little stinging set-up style leg kicks have a good dose of “fuck you” in them. They’re not taps, at least not in the sense of how the opponent will experience them. So that’s what he works with me on - this incredibly beautiful technique just happens to be beautiful, but the point is to hurt somebody. The point is to end the fight as soon as possible so you can get back to your drink at the table - like a western movie.

So here’s what you’re going to see in this bonus: 

1. The ethic of power is what Hippy is literally asking for in our padwork, but the point I had to figure out on my own was the energy he wants out of padwork as well. It’s all power, all the time, but it’s not appropriate to look like you’re putting forth the kind of effort that a single super-power strike might take. You have to look like you can just make someone quit at any moment. Once I figured out that Hippy wanted Hippy energy, the padwork became more of a conversation. So that’s the progression to look for in the 3 rounds.
2. Hippy’s elbows are a thing of beauty. When he’s slicking his hair and feeling the rhythm of his shoulders and knees, you can see what those elbows feel like - internally - to him. But the link in all the chain’s of Hippy’s style is this whipping of his shoulders and hips for this incredible force. All power comes from the rotation of the shoulders and hips, but Hippy’s whip with this unreal relaxed and exaggerated movement. It’s scary as shit.
3. The heel-kick or “rooster kick” as some people called it when I put up the short clip on FB, is something Master K showed me a million years ago. I like that there’s this connection between Master K and Hippy, because they have a similar “fuck you” masculinity in their fighting style, but also because it cements for me this suspicion I have that men of the Golden Age have a much older technical knowledge than is directly visible in their fighting.
4. And some bonus videos of Hippy showing the Wai Kru to an up-and-coming action star, some Boran moves that this action star has been working hard on, and a little kid learning the “one, two, dip” with perfect rotation.

If you love Hippy as much as I do check out the full Muay Thai Library session I had with him here.

TIP BOX: if you are inspired by what you see and want to show added appreciation you can send gratuity directly to Hippy. Just message $5 or more via PayPal to the address sylvie@8limbs.us, please in the "add a note" section specify "for Hippy". I will transfer the funds.

KRU FUND: additionally, 5% of all Patreon pledges go into my Kru Fund, and is directed back to the Krus and ex-fighters who have helped make this documentary Library possible: http://8limbs.us/muay-thai-thailand/starting-the-kru-fund