How to knee harder ?

[funkster3019]

I asked how to kick harder yesterday and got some decent answers, now i was wondering what i would have to do to knee harder?

 

[Varth]

I like varying my type of knees. I usually do a set of 15 knees each leg and then different types of knees on the heavy bag. Then I clinch and do that again. I used to feel awkward with knees but today they feel natural. The side to body knee is my favorite.

 

[Peep**]

You gotta whip 'em.

 

[Fire of Youth]

Shoulders back, hips up and forward, knee sharp. If you do these 3 things fast and balanced then you will be kneeing hard enough.

Just like with 'push'-punchers, people can feel as if their knees aren't hard unless they feel lots of impact on the pads/bag. The opposite is closer to being correct. If your knee is sharp and extended forward then you are stabbing the pad/bag at the apex of power. Your power is going into your target instead of bouncing back into you. You will feel as if you are only touching the pad/bag but you are actually hitting it hard.

Practice on the heavy bag. After just a couple of knees you should see a nice deep divot in the side of the bag where your knee is connecting. The faster you stab the bag with your knee, the deeper the divot will get thus the harder your knee is.

 

[ambertch]

I'm surprised nobody said the key is the hips, except Fire of Youth.

Weak knees result when people put their force into bring the knee up, which does nothing.

Strong knees result when people push their hips forward into it (thrusting like you're having sex). Those are the knees that drive through the stomach and knock the wind out of a guy.

 

[funkster3019]

thanks guys

 

[shinkyoku]

To paraphrase a japanese karate instructional with a less than ideal english sub translation "to knee harder, first you got to knee harder"

 

[AXelator]

At our gym we do 500 knees on the bag every session. 100 then some sit ups ,then another 100, until you reach 500. This is once you've got the technique down, it strengthens everything involved.

EDIT: To me the most important thing with getting power in the knees is creating the space to use them in the clinch. One of the best ways to do it is pulling the hips back in the clinch then driving them through with the knee. It's hard to describe with words really.

 

[Modern Warrior1]

1. hips forward
2. hips forward
3. ummmm.....oh yeah! hips forward

get my point?

 

[DoctorTaco]

hips forward. calf raise with your other leg to help with this

 

[HulmeHardy**]

post below - suttin messed up

 

[HulmeHardy**]

If you didnt know that then you should, if you want to get more power then you need to work on your core thats where all your power comes from.

Also dont neglect TECHNIQUE if you haven't got technique then power is useless.

And then after that you could try using ankle weights or something like the bungie cords thing, cept i dont see many of them in the gym.

 

[purger00]

I'm surprised nobody said the key is the hips, except Fire of Youth.

Weak knees result when people put their force into bring the knee up, which does nothing.

Strong knees result when people push their hips forward into it (thrusting like you're having sex). Those are the knees that drive through the stomach and knock the wind out of a guy.

what if you want to knee higher?

 

[shinkyoku]

There are several types of knee attacks.
Here is a guide to a few of the basic ones (jumping&flying knees not included)

The guy is not world champion level material, but he gets his points across.

 

[Fire of Youth]

what if you want to knee higher?

You jump into the knee. Though as a general rule, kneeing high is a bad idea. You can strike high faster and just as hard with a good elbow or punch. If you are within range to knee someone in the head, then you are in real danger of losing your balance (e.g. clinching, pushing). It is really easy for your opponent to catch a high knee, lift you off the ground and dump you however they want (e.g. onto their own knee). You can minimise this rrisk a little by good clinch work; throwing them around off balance whilst lowering their head. But in the is circumstance your not really throwing your knee that much higher, you are bringing their head down to knee strike level.

Knees are good powerful brutal weapons, but their impact power isn't their only use. A good knee to the solar plexus can wind someone quite bad. I have been put down a few times from a well timed (soft) knee. Additionally, the knee to the body or even the hips can break the strong posture of your opponent, opeing up other opportunities (e.g. spin the clinch, elbow to the head, pulling them further off balance).

Don't be seduced by the idea of a powerful knee to the head. Choose the appropriate weapon for the task. Work your levels and angles with fast savage strikes and look to unbalance them. Once they are unbalanced and not sure where the strike is coming from, then they are open for your bigger flashier moves (e.g. jumping knee)

 

[Payak]

allow room in the clinch at the moment you strike to really drive forward with your hips, the more room the more drive, when you make room be aware of his elbows.

 

[sukotsuto]

Don't knee the target - knee THROUGH the target. When hitting the heavy bag, imagine that you're going to penetrate through the heavy bag in order to hit whatever is behind it. With this in mind, your form when kneeing might improve by itself, instinctively.

This kind of applies to improving the power of all strikes in general, may it be punches, kicks, elbows or knees.

 

[CrazyMonkeyNMex]

Depends on the knee you are throwing. Curved knees tend to be more to wear down a similarly skilled fighter in the clinch...not alot of power by design. Before the rule changes, there's an old-school way of throwing knees from the clinch that involves kicking the leg in the air backward behind you, before slamming it back in to the target. This was when knees were designed solely to knock people out. The downside is that they take a bit longer to throw, so you need to make sure that when you circle-step to off-balance the opponent, you are already kicking your kneeing leg back. Then almost try to kick yourself in the butt with your foot as you drive it in. This ensures that the correct part of your knee will impact.

As for generic rules on knees, make sure you try to kick yourself in the butt before you drive in, and always use your hips to drive, particularly on a lunge knee to the gut. When I use the circle step to off-balance, I like to teach my guys to throw the knee right when he lands heavy to catch his balance. If you knee while they are still whipping around, they don't catch all the impact, and if you wait too long they will regain balance and defend. Another kind of dick move is to knee the legs after you load his weight heavy on that side. Using the clinch to bring the person into your knee, all these things have the effect of making your knee twice as powerful as it would be if thrown by itself. A head on collision is worse than just hitting a tree.