Using Quads in MT Kick

When I looked at the slow motions of his mid-level and high kicks, it looked like he was bending his leg. He was so fast though, it is hard to say. Would you say he kicks like he swings a baseball bat?

If you're talking about Samkor he doesn't swing a baseball bat. thats the whole problem with this debate it's a flawed statement which doesn't describe accurately how to throw a good MT roundhouse. Samkor was a beautiful kicker one of my fav to watch. But he will throw many different varitions of his "Muay Thai roundhouse".

For e.g one might look like its coming straight at you with a knee and only slightly turn over at the end like a half knee/kick. Another might swing up under your ribs still bent but very direct like a late twist on a leg raise. And another might chamber up then chop down on your ribs they are all MT kicks but nothing to do with baseball. It depends on your opponents defence, the range, and what you are trying to achieve with the kick.

Muay Thai kicks are difficult to explain to someone trying to break it down into step by step diagrams and mini muscle movements. It has a rhythm and feel to it and is much easier to teach hands-on.

The baseball bat probably came from Americans trying to compare it to something they know.
 
This was kind of the answer I was expecting the whole time, and what my own thought for explaining that descriptor was.
 
There's alot of overlap between the kicks used in Kyokushin and the kicks used in Muay Thai,

at the competitive level the mechanics are very very similar. Kyokushin guys start by learning the 'chambered' karate kick, but then they start competing and kicking bags etc. then all of a sudden they are putting their hips into their kicks for more like the Muay Thai guys, slowly but surely the technique changes from the traditional karate kick.

Very similar i tell you.
 
I know. Personally, the more time I spent with both kicks, the more I realized that any argument about the mechanics of MT kicks vs. karate kicks is pointless. Once you master either version of the kick, the end result is going to be almost exactly the same.

this too..
 
If you're talking about Samkor he doesn't swing a baseball bat. thats the whole problem with this debate it's a flawed statement which doesn't describe accurately how to throw a good MT roundhouse. Samkor was a beautiful kicker one of my fav to watch. But he will throw many different varitions of his "Muay Thai roundhouse".

For e.g one might look like its coming straight at you with a knee and only slightly turn over at the end like a half knee/kick. Another might swing up under your ribs still bent but very direct like a late twist on a leg raise. And another might chamber up then chop down on your ribs they are all MT kicks but nothing to do with baseball. It depends on your opponents defence, the range, and what you are trying to achieve with the kick.

Muay Thai kicks are difficult to explain to someone trying to break it down into step by step diagrams and mini muscle movements. It has a rhythm and feel to it and is much easier to teach hands-on.

The baseball bat probably came from Americans trying to compare it to something they know.
It's not a great analogy, but it's a decent analogy. The problem is that pretty much everyone assumes the WHOLE leg is the baseball bat, when really its below the knee that is the bat. That short range round kick you are describing could be comparable to a bunt with the baseball bat, obviously with more force to it but similar use of adjusting position.
 
It's not a great analogy, but it's a decent analogy. The problem is that pretty much everyone assumes the WHOLE leg is the baseball bat, when really its below the knee that is the bat. That short range round kick you are describing could be comparable to a bunt with the baseball bat, obviously with more force to it but similar use of adjusting position.

Since most Thais don't chamber, the baseball bat analogy is best. Although the striking surface is the the shin (and sometimes instep by accident) the leg is nearly straight with the major joint of flexion being the hip flexor.
 
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