To knee or not to knee?

[Seral]

Some people have said not to knee with the kneecap as it is only held on by three tendons and instead to knee with the part next to the kneecap(on the inside of the leg) which means you would knee at a slight angle(not straight in but......too hard for me to explain. I think u know what i mean tho)

what do you think

 

[TapSD]

Who told you this...When you knee you go up and in and your overall knee hits your opponent anyways..not just your knee cap.

 

[Vovchanchyn Fan]

I think whoever told you this is not an experienced fighter/trainer.

There are three different types of knees in MT, and for one of them you do hit with with your knee coming in from the side but your whole leg is also swinging from the outside in and not coming forward like the other two knees.

For the other two and specifically the most standard one, which I'm pretty sure is what you are talking about, its just your knee as a whole.

If you start trying to throw your straight knee with some angle-off, you are just going to lose power and for no reason - I don't think your knee cap is in any jeopardy since your whole knee connects, not just the 1 inch of your knee cap. I've never heard of anyone injuring their knee cap from throwing a knee, in or outside of the ring and certainly none of my MT trainers ever even mentioned this (and I'm sure they would have if they thought it was an injury risk).

 

[RizRan]

Whoever told you not must have little experience as a fighter because it is incorrect.

 

[VampireMonk]

they are right, stand up straight and lock your legs, you can move your knee cap to the side,
but this is from a medical perspective.
now bend your knee like your gonna throw a knee strike, now you cant move it around
so you got nothin to worry about.

 

[iiiiiiiiii]

i personally just grab a head and connect, i dont really try to land it on any specific spot. I would say the top of your knee would be a little more solid

 

[VampireMonk]

once you flex your knee is solid so it will be fine to hit with anywhere as long
as what your hitting is not pointy like an elbow.

 

[moodymikey]

you'll be fine and shouldnt expereince this at all. however, if you do feel a tweak in your knee for some really weird reason, just stop doing it lol. simple as that

 

[Chthon]

The patella (knee cap) is surrounded by this gelatin. For the most part when you bend your knee it will hold but there is still always a chance that you can damage the knee cap, even with your knee completely bent. And you can still fuck up your meniscus.

Some people were tought to use the inside of the knee (that bone there) when throwing round knees to your opponents side or temple. I've never done that myself but you could probably make that work. I was tought to use, for both straight and round knee angles, the bottom of the knee/top of the shin as a striking surface, this means I have to raise my knee a little higher than some people but it can be done.

Just remember that there is more than one way to throw a knee but I would go with what your coach shows you; if you decide to use something that he doesn't do, then he can't coach you on it and you could develop sloppy or dangerous habits with it.

 

[Brandinho]

When in doubt, knee.

 

[aries]

Am I missing something here?
I always knee with the end of my femur, the big knobbly bit on the inside. Its the biggest densest bone in your body. Why would you put all that impact onto a thin little kneecap when you can use your femur?

 

[Brandinho]

Am I missing something here?
I always knee with the end of my femur, the big knobbly bit on the inside. Its the biggest densest bone in your body. Why would you put all that impact onto a thin little kneecap when you can use your femur?

That is good as well, but I think they are talking about the stabbing knee. You have to use your kneecap for that one.

 

[Chthon]

That is good as well, but I think they are talking about the stabbing knee. You have to use your kneecap for that one.

No you don't. There is more than one way to throw a knee.

 

[Brandinho]

No you don't. There is more than one way to throw a knee.

I am referring to the forward stabbing knee. The one where you thrust your hips forward to drive it into opponent. It hurts much more when driving with the knee cap.

 

[Hamit Aktas]

once you flex your knee is solid so it will be fine to hit with anywhere as long
as what your hitting is not pointy like an elbow.

Agreed.

 

[Chthon]

I am referring to the forward stabbing knee. The one where you thrust your hips forward to drive it into opponent. It hurts much more when driving with the knee cap.

Not really. I've been hit with both. It hurts the same if you hit with the knee cap, the tip of the femur, or the upper part of the tibia. It really depends on how good the person can knee, not on what part they use.

 

[muerteverde]

I just snuck in here from the grappling forum because I watched Ong Bak last night (best fight scenes ever, possibly). I have never done striking before, but when I do judo I have to wear knee pads because if I fall onto my knees, they bruise, and swell up and hurt. If we are ont he ground, I ahve to be careful about bruising. Do I have really fragile knees and should not ever try Muy Thai or is this normal to happen my knees? Do you guys have problems with injuring your knees from hitting people and or pads? I would imagine hitting a person would be harder on the knees than falling onto a judo mat, but I don't know, never done it before.

 

[VampireMonk]

muerteverde,
the part of your knee your hitting on the floor in judo is NOT the same as
the striking area in MT.

your hitting the area right where the knee cap starts, where the bending occurs.
that is a weak spot. Judo and bJJ is rough on the knees period, you dont want to
fuk with that, just wear them knee pads!

 

[muerteverde]

muerteverde,
the part of your knee your hitting on the floor in judo is NOT the same as
the striking area in MT.

your hitting the area right where the knee cap starts, where the bending occurs.
that is a weak spot. Judo and bJJ is rough on the knees period, you dont want to
fuk with that, just wear them knee pads!

Cool, thanks! This is one of the issues bothering me about MT and preventing me from checking it out. The other being I don't like getting hit in the head and face (not much of a way around that if I were to give it a try though).

 

[Justin Pressley]

knee away