I wanna be able to murder you all!
But no, in all seriousness, I wonder how aware people are of their own style and what techniques people favour and why.
I'm a southpaw, and my game I would say is a mix up, I feel like I use all aspects of Muay Thai decently enough but on the whole I would describe myself as someone that uses punches and knees the most effectively and uses kicks for the sake of distance and setting up punches.
My go to techniques are
1) My jab, right upper cut, and left straight, and I will tend to feint between them all. I also have a southpaw left hook that I've honestly managed to land way more than you'd expect given the distance.
2) Right side teep: which I fell in love with after watching Samart Payakaroon dominate opposition with it. When I first started using it I was able to spam it with very little consequence, although my training partners have wised up to it now, I usually use it in combination with my jab. I use it to both the body and the thigh.
3) Left body kick: while I do think that my switch kick is harder than my left body kick, I became obsessed with improving my left kick because I would never throw it, I'd consistently throw switch kicks but that lack of variety always bothered me. So I went through a stage of doing my best Rafael Dos Anjos impression and throwing it as much as I possibly could. Now I throw it out there all the time.
4) Dieselnoi Knees: While I'm still working on this technique a lot, I've been getting into the habit of throwing knees more how Dieselnoi did with less lean back and more torque. I feel that they hit harder and my sparring partners have said that its stronger to them than the regular straight knees you often see people do. As I spend a lot of time in the clinch when possible I find that the lack of lean back makes me a lot more balanced and has also benefited me in my sambo training, being able to strike with knees without the fear of getting swept immediately.
I'd say the fighters that influence me the most are:
Samart Payakaroon, who I've borrowed a lot of my outside game from, especially with side kicks and left straights, I'd also say I borrow a lot from Conor McGregor love him or hate him.
Sagat, who's boxing in muay thai is something I've always envied, there is no wasted motion and I try to emulate him as much as possible
Dieselnoi, who really got me to love the clinch game and also teeping!
Sakmongkol and Ramon Dekkers, who while seemingly very different instyle both have great striking combinations and balance that have really helped me. Watching Sakmongkol tutorials with his floating block and such have done wonders for my technique.
Of course I'm not in the same stratosphere as any of the fighters that influenced me, but I just wanted to prompt discussion of what techniques we favour and why. As martial artists I think we can sometimes forget that we can be influenced in technique and form in the same way that an illustrator or musician might be, and I thought I'd prompt some discussion! Hopefully this doesn't come across as pretentious, as that's not my intention!
My fighting style revolves a lot around boxing, as it was where I started out. When I fight, my main weapon is my right cross. I look to land it any chance I get, mostly on the counter. Opponent low kicks = he eats a cross, opponent slips jab = eats a cross, opponent circles to my right = eats a cross, I slip my opponents jab = bam, cross
etc etc etc. My right kicks are powerful, though lately I also started using switch kicks more due to an injured right ankle. I use them to top off combinations, for example: jab, jab, cross, right kick/jab, cross, hook, right kick etc. I don't like using push kicks as most of my game revolves around getting in close and landing the right hand.
I'm usually tall for my weight class (77 kg, 184 cm) so I get my fair share of short brawlers who like their low kicks and overhands. In the case of overhands, I hop back and land a cross then pivot off a left hook, or I'll clinch up/knee him/elbow him as he comes in, though I'm still not very confident with those MT elements. I use the shoulder roll plenty, to the disdain of my coaches. However, I find it works very well against punchers and even against kicks sometimes, and allows me to counter with a powerful cross. I fight best against people who are about as tall as me, not shorter, not taller. They usually don't push the pace as much as the shorter guys (my cardio isn't the best and I gas easily from power crosses) and are much less of a pain to hit than tall guys (don't mind tall MT fighters, but some have a boxing background too and keep me away well, and I haven't had many training partners that were taller than me, so I'm not used to them). I've incorporated certain karate elements as well; spinning wheel kick and back kick, snap kick to the head and a wide karate stance.
As you may have noticed by now, the fighter I'm taking my ideas from is none other than Conor McGregor
I have a good rear hand, like to counter, hate taller opponents, gas easily, etc. When you think about it, we're like stylistic twins
D of course, I'm nowhere near as good yet, but I'm getting there
The reason why is I was getting frustrated with boxing. My coach wanted me to compete, but I didn't. I had just turned 18 and had started a few months earlier, but he wanted me to go in and fight someone who's 25-30 and had trained since he was 10-15... I told him I wanted more time to prepare but he didn't want to hear it. He stopped giving me advice during sparring and stopped holding pads... I got pissed. I went with a friend to an MMA gym. I had trained in kickboxing when I was younger (about 14) and I was always naturally flexible so many techniques from Muay Thai came easily, as well as BJJ. My boxing was very good compared to most of the others in the class, but I struggled to implement all these elements together. I then saw McGregor fight for the first time and saw him use many techniques that I did. I proceeded to study his style and pattern myself after him in some aspects. I've had great success with it. It allows me to use my boxing, flexibility and countering ability to the fullest. He also became an inspiration to me as a personality.
