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The clinch tutorial write up IS coming, but I'm really trying to think carefully about it before I type it up.
So in the mean time I thought I'd do another, briefer breakdown focussing solely on round kicks. If you haven't read the last HDG I did 'Winning Your Muay Thai Fight' then here's the link:
http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/winning-your-muay-thai-fight-a-handy-dandy-guide.3478787/
TODAY we're going to be going a bit more in depth on round kicks to the body, from both the lead and rear leg. We're not going to be talking about application, however, as that's a whole other kettle of fish... instead we're going to talk purely about the correct technique you should use to throw a body kick.
I recently started training 1 to 1 with another muay thai coach, who I've known for years but only trained once with. He asked me what I wanted to focus on and I confessed that even though I've trained Muay Thai for nearly 5 years - I've never been remotely good at kicking.
I have a complex problem, part of it isn't my fault, the rest completely is. I had a medical condition as achild that left me spending a lot of time in a wheelchair, it affected my right hip and as a result my left leg has always been considerably stronger.
This meant I have had a strong right kick, as I stand on my left leg when throwing it, but my left kick has always been lacking. Being a southpaw, this was a bit of a problem for me - as my method to getting better at throwing a kick was simply "throw that kick more and you'll get good".
Unfortunately practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. So we got hard at work fixing the technique and giving me a proper body kick.
My gym in London is a very Thai style gym. My main muay thai coach is a Thai, and prior to this session I had only trained with him, and my private coach also trained under him and a few other thai coaches back in the day. So I will be honest and say that if you don't like the muay thai style of kicking, you'll have to bare with me as it's the only way I know how to explain a kick with any depth.
The following steps detail to you what I was doing wrong, and how they were fixed, with gif examples. Some of the gifs have been taken from Jack Slack articles and Muay Thai Analyst articles - in order to illustrate how to do it.
Step One - Directing the Leg
One of the big misconceptions about muay thai is that the round kick comes round in a wide arc. This isn't really true, in fact if you watch thai's fight you'll see that their kick actually comes UP and then they'll turn their hip.
In this regard, a thai kick isn't as different from a karate style kick as some might have you believe, the main difference is that the Thai style kick does it more in one motion, as opposed to a karate kick which has a very clear chamber.
What I really want you guys reading to get into the habit of doing, is kicking upwards and THEN turning your hip as you pivot. This prevents the kick coming from a big wide arc and telegraphing your attack. Ever notice how people on sherdog always say that a Thai kick is telegraphed, yet thai's are able to bang body kick without repercussion all the time? This is why, the kick is NOT telegraphed when done correctly.
Notice how Yodsanklai's leg doesn't look like it swings round it almost rises. It's not that different from a kick from Anthony Pettis, who despite being labelled a TKD fighter because of his background, has trained years of muay thai.
Here's Saenchai demonstrating the same upwards trajectory on the pads.
What my coach got me to do, in order to correctly drive upwards, was tie a belly pad around the heavy bag and get me to try to kick inwards while shifting the bag up. I must say that exercise definitely got me cutting up at an angle, under the arm and into the ribs of my coach when we practiced light sparring after.
Step Two - The Pivot
The pivot is what we're going to do to change the trajectory of the kick, it's how you turn your hips over and how you stop your knee from twisting and hurting itself. How far you pivot depends on the person but I personally pivot until my heel is near facing the opponent, my foot hasn't turned completely 180, but far enough. Similar to the gifs provided. This allows you to turn your hips over with minimal effort, rather than thinking about it, you will simply do it.
Step Three - Be Big... But Relaxed
One of the things that really helped me get the trajectory of the kick right, was the idea of being big. He said he hates how short fighters in the UK make themselves even smaller but crouching and trying to be like little Mike Tysons. He said it's better to be big, to rise with the kick. This was the last thing we implemented and it's probably because it can be a little overwhelming to try to do everything at once straight out. My coach got me to thrust my rear hip forward and then let my leg go, and to come up high on the ball of my foot. This allowed me to get properly into the kick without leaning back, keeping my arm outstretched in order to stop potential punches from meeting me as I throw it.
While guys like Duke Roufus will often advocate leaning back, and while I'm sure it has it's merits, it's not the way I was taught. I'd recommend keeping your back straight, this allows more power in the kick as you are more relaxed. You rise into the kick, become a big powerful kicker and stay tall. You should stay relaxed until the moment your kick lands and that's when you tense for a moment.
In this image, Yod throws a kick on the arm, which is a useful strategy for opening up the body for kicks.
Kicking this way will allow you the maximum weight transfer and maximum power in your kick. You want to hit hard. You want to be big, if you're opponents the same size as you, you want him to feel like you're bigger, and if he's taller than you, you want to mitigate that difference for that kick. A lot of fighting, especially muay thai is about the psychological side of the fight, and how the judges weirdly try to assume what you're both thinking as you're fighting. So being big on kicks is essential.
Essentially, this is another way of saying to spring into the kick. I thought it would be better to term it as 'being big' however, as I don't want newbies to get the impression that they should literally spring and wind up jumping into kicks and hurting themselves. Which is an easy mistake to make.
Step Four - Recall
We spoke about it in 'Winning Your Muay Thai Fight' but recall is one of the most important parts to good, clean technique. There are two ways that I would personally recommend recalling a kick.
The first is to simply bring the leg back down, along the same narrow arc you threw it, and ensure that it comes back safely to the stance. This should be your default way of recalling your leg, you want to keep the recalling movement small, don't wing your leg back, just recall it the way it came, like you're doing the same kick but in reverse.
The second should be your go two if you notice that you're opponent is throwing counter body kicks a lot. It's quite common for the better guys out there (other sherdoggers of course) to know that the best counter to a body kick is to throw another one, right after checking.
This is where the floating check comes in. We talked about the floating check last time, and we're gonna go over it again now! You throw your kick, and as you recall it you bring it to a checking position before putting your foot back down. This will allow for a safe recall from that counter body kick.
Fortunately the switch kick is a little easier to explain, as when you understand a rear kick, you also understand every mechanic you need for the switch kick. This kick is fundamentally the same except it's thrown from the lead leg, which is why it requires a switch in stance. While it's true that there are some Japanese and Chinese martial arts that focus on throwing the kick straight up without a switch, it's also true that they don't hit nearly as hard, and also fundamentally miss the point of why the switch is important.
Step One - Understand Why You Switch
You are not switching just to kick with your lead leg, you're switching to eat space. The common beginner mistake is to have a big switch, where you almost jump between stances before throwing a rear body kick from your newly adopted stance. This is not what you want to do. The purpose of a switch is not just to kick with the lead leg, it's to bring you forward and into your opponent. In MMA, no one understands this better than Donald Cerrone - but in Muay Thai, ironically it's the gym full of low kickers who have, in my opinion, the best lead body kicking technique.
Step Two - The Whisper Step
In order to get this forward moving momentum you need to adopt the whisper step. When you swap your legs around all you've done is announce that you're going to throw the kick and thereby you lose the distance. Your opponent will usually have either moved out of the way, or countered you with a teep upon seeing your big wide switch.
The whisper step, as it's known at Sitmonchai gym can be broken down into three easy steps.
1) Drag your lead foot back a small amount, around 6 inches
2) Bring your front leg forward in front of your lead leg
3) Kick
You'll notice from watching Kru Dam's head during the gif, that he actually advances as he throws the kick, allowing him to chase his opponent down. This is impossible with a big, telegraphed switch. The technique feels awkward at first - but is far more effective.
Step Three - Trajectory
As I said before, the rest of the kick is the same as if you were throwing a rear body kick, you make yourself large, you pivot (although you'll often have pre-pivoted with the step) and you'll hopefully have TKO'd your opponent.
What's different is the actual trajectory of the kick. If you're an orthodox fighter then it's not much different as you're aiming for the liver. If you're a southpaw however, you really want to be using it as a shepherding tool, as there aren't any organs you can get much out of kicking on your opponents left side. So you'll want to angle the kick a little bit higher and hit him in the ribcage, or even on the arm, this will serve to take away your opponents lead arm, and lead them towards your left body kick.
And there we have it! Those are my tips for body kicking, hopefully I'll get round to doing that clinch piece now!
So in the mean time I thought I'd do another, briefer breakdown focussing solely on round kicks. If you haven't read the last HDG I did 'Winning Your Muay Thai Fight' then here's the link:
http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/winning-your-muay-thai-fight-a-handy-dandy-guide.3478787/
TODAY we're going to be going a bit more in depth on round kicks to the body, from both the lead and rear leg. We're not going to be talking about application, however, as that's a whole other kettle of fish... instead we're going to talk purely about the correct technique you should use to throw a body kick.
Rear Body Kick
I recently started training 1 to 1 with another muay thai coach, who I've known for years but only trained once with. He asked me what I wanted to focus on and I confessed that even though I've trained Muay Thai for nearly 5 years - I've never been remotely good at kicking.
I have a complex problem, part of it isn't my fault, the rest completely is. I had a medical condition as achild that left me spending a lot of time in a wheelchair, it affected my right hip and as a result my left leg has always been considerably stronger.
This meant I have had a strong right kick, as I stand on my left leg when throwing it, but my left kick has always been lacking. Being a southpaw, this was a bit of a problem for me - as my method to getting better at throwing a kick was simply "throw that kick more and you'll get good".
Unfortunately practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. So we got hard at work fixing the technique and giving me a proper body kick.
My gym in London is a very Thai style gym. My main muay thai coach is a Thai, and prior to this session I had only trained with him, and my private coach also trained under him and a few other thai coaches back in the day. So I will be honest and say that if you don't like the muay thai style of kicking, you'll have to bare with me as it's the only way I know how to explain a kick with any depth.
The following steps detail to you what I was doing wrong, and how they were fixed, with gif examples. Some of the gifs have been taken from Jack Slack articles and Muay Thai Analyst articles - in order to illustrate how to do it.
Step One - Directing the Leg
One of the big misconceptions about muay thai is that the round kick comes round in a wide arc. This isn't really true, in fact if you watch thai's fight you'll see that their kick actually comes UP and then they'll turn their hip.
In this regard, a thai kick isn't as different from a karate style kick as some might have you believe, the main difference is that the Thai style kick does it more in one motion, as opposed to a karate kick which has a very clear chamber.
What I really want you guys reading to get into the habit of doing, is kicking upwards and THEN turning your hip as you pivot. This prevents the kick coming from a big wide arc and telegraphing your attack. Ever notice how people on sherdog always say that a Thai kick is telegraphed, yet thai's are able to bang body kick without repercussion all the time? This is why, the kick is NOT telegraphed when done correctly.
Notice how Yodsanklai's leg doesn't look like it swings round it almost rises. It's not that different from a kick from Anthony Pettis, who despite being labelled a TKD fighter because of his background, has trained years of muay thai.
Here's Saenchai demonstrating the same upwards trajectory on the pads.
What my coach got me to do, in order to correctly drive upwards, was tie a belly pad around the heavy bag and get me to try to kick inwards while shifting the bag up. I must say that exercise definitely got me cutting up at an angle, under the arm and into the ribs of my coach when we practiced light sparring after.
Step Two - The Pivot
The pivot is what we're going to do to change the trajectory of the kick, it's how you turn your hips over and how you stop your knee from twisting and hurting itself. How far you pivot depends on the person but I personally pivot until my heel is near facing the opponent, my foot hasn't turned completely 180, but far enough. Similar to the gifs provided. This allows you to turn your hips over with minimal effort, rather than thinking about it, you will simply do it.
Step Three - Be Big... But Relaxed
One of the things that really helped me get the trajectory of the kick right, was the idea of being big. He said he hates how short fighters in the UK make themselves even smaller but crouching and trying to be like little Mike Tysons. He said it's better to be big, to rise with the kick. This was the last thing we implemented and it's probably because it can be a little overwhelming to try to do everything at once straight out. My coach got me to thrust my rear hip forward and then let my leg go, and to come up high on the ball of my foot. This allowed me to get properly into the kick without leaning back, keeping my arm outstretched in order to stop potential punches from meeting me as I throw it.
While guys like Duke Roufus will often advocate leaning back, and while I'm sure it has it's merits, it's not the way I was taught. I'd recommend keeping your back straight, this allows more power in the kick as you are more relaxed. You rise into the kick, become a big powerful kicker and stay tall. You should stay relaxed until the moment your kick lands and that's when you tense for a moment.
In this image, Yod throws a kick on the arm, which is a useful strategy for opening up the body for kicks.
Kicking this way will allow you the maximum weight transfer and maximum power in your kick. You want to hit hard. You want to be big, if you're opponents the same size as you, you want him to feel like you're bigger, and if he's taller than you, you want to mitigate that difference for that kick. A lot of fighting, especially muay thai is about the psychological side of the fight, and how the judges weirdly try to assume what you're both thinking as you're fighting. So being big on kicks is essential.
Essentially, this is another way of saying to spring into the kick. I thought it would be better to term it as 'being big' however, as I don't want newbies to get the impression that they should literally spring and wind up jumping into kicks and hurting themselves. Which is an easy mistake to make.
Step Four - Recall
We spoke about it in 'Winning Your Muay Thai Fight' but recall is one of the most important parts to good, clean technique. There are two ways that I would personally recommend recalling a kick.
The first is to simply bring the leg back down, along the same narrow arc you threw it, and ensure that it comes back safely to the stance. This should be your default way of recalling your leg, you want to keep the recalling movement small, don't wing your leg back, just recall it the way it came, like you're doing the same kick but in reverse.
The second should be your go two if you notice that you're opponent is throwing counter body kicks a lot. It's quite common for the better guys out there (other sherdoggers of course) to know that the best counter to a body kick is to throw another one, right after checking.
This is where the floating check comes in. We talked about the floating check last time, and we're gonna go over it again now! You throw your kick, and as you recall it you bring it to a checking position before putting your foot back down. This will allow for a safe recall from that counter body kick.
Lead Body Kick
You'll have no doubt noticed that all of the rear body kick's you saw earlier came from southpaws, or orthodox fighters against southpaws. The reason for that is because a banging rear kick to the body is really more of a southpaw move. It's not that orthodox fighter's don't do it, so much as it is that an orthodox fighter's rear kick is more usually going to be targeting the opponents leg or head. Orthodox fighters tend to hunt body kicks with their lead leg.
Fortunately the switch kick is a little easier to explain, as when you understand a rear kick, you also understand every mechanic you need for the switch kick. This kick is fundamentally the same except it's thrown from the lead leg, which is why it requires a switch in stance. While it's true that there are some Japanese and Chinese martial arts that focus on throwing the kick straight up without a switch, it's also true that they don't hit nearly as hard, and also fundamentally miss the point of why the switch is important.
Step One - Understand Why You Switch
You are not switching just to kick with your lead leg, you're switching to eat space. The common beginner mistake is to have a big switch, where you almost jump between stances before throwing a rear body kick from your newly adopted stance. This is not what you want to do. The purpose of a switch is not just to kick with the lead leg, it's to bring you forward and into your opponent. In MMA, no one understands this better than Donald Cerrone - but in Muay Thai, ironically it's the gym full of low kickers who have, in my opinion, the best lead body kicking technique.
Step Two - The Whisper Step
In order to get this forward moving momentum you need to adopt the whisper step. When you swap your legs around all you've done is announce that you're going to throw the kick and thereby you lose the distance. Your opponent will usually have either moved out of the way, or countered you with a teep upon seeing your big wide switch.
The whisper step, as it's known at Sitmonchai gym can be broken down into three easy steps.
1) Drag your lead foot back a small amount, around 6 inches
2) Bring your front leg forward in front of your lead leg
3) Kick
You'll notice from watching Kru Dam's head during the gif, that he actually advances as he throws the kick, allowing him to chase his opponent down. This is impossible with a big, telegraphed switch. The technique feels awkward at first - but is far more effective.
Step Three - Trajectory
As I said before, the rest of the kick is the same as if you were throwing a rear body kick, you make yourself large, you pivot (although you'll often have pre-pivoted with the step) and you'll hopefully have TKO'd your opponent.
What's different is the actual trajectory of the kick. If you're an orthodox fighter then it's not much different as you're aiming for the liver. If you're a southpaw however, you really want to be using it as a shepherding tool, as there aren't any organs you can get much out of kicking on your opponents left side. So you'll want to angle the kick a little bit higher and hit him in the ribcage, or even on the arm, this will serve to take away your opponents lead arm, and lead them towards your left body kick.
And there we have it! Those are my tips for body kicking, hopefully I'll get round to doing that clinch piece now!
I'm not opposed to leaning back on a kick, but where I was never taught it I prefer to rely on what I know. That being said, side teeps I have a bit of a lean on.
