Muay Thai Techniques

Independent Knee

LEO — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 13:31:04 +0000

One of my favorite knees to teach students is the independent knee (IK) and is the foundation for the other knees. An IK is a knee without the use of a clinch or leaping off the ground (AKA Flying Knee). You can grab the shoulder, the top of the head or nothing at all. Like most “advanced” techniques the IK should be set up with some other technique, i.e.; punch, kick, etc. The time that you may not have to set up the IK with another technique is if you’re fighting someone that pushes their way forward with their head down, i.e.; an unskilled boxer turned Muay Thai Kickboxer.

Here’s how to do the basic Independent Knee:
1. Punch or kick your opponent and when you see they have ducked or covered.
2. Reach out with your right hand and grab their right shoulder or top of their head.
3. Tuck your chin and have your left arm come across your face covering your right temple.
4. Push your right knee out (not up – VERY IMPORTANT)
5. Lean your torso back
6. Pull the shoulder/head with you
7. Drive your knee with your hips
8. Raise up on the balls of your feet on your support leg
9. Keep your right knee completely bent, pointing the toes back

You can do this without grabbing anything. Just drive your knee out towards your opponent.

Some of the problems that I’ve seen with this technique are:
1. Not setting up the Independent Knee and just throwing it out there.
2. Not throwing it like you mean it – If you’re going to use the IK, use it forcefully.
3. Not leaning far enough back to get the hips into the motion.
4. Not protecting your melon.

Here are two videos that use the Independent Knee. See if you can determine who uses the technique more effectively. Why is one technique better than the other? What did they do right? What did they do wrong? What could they do to improve their technique?

Buakaw vs. Kalakoda, K-1 Max Elimination, 05Apr06

Zambidis vs. Drago, K-1 World Max, 26Jun07

Here’s some photos of Duke Roufus doing the techniques:

Catching a kick, grabbing the head and delivering the knee.

Throwing the hook, grabbing the hand, then grabbing the head.

Elbow – Nerve Damage, How Not to Do it!

LEO — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:32:28 +0000

I run a drill with my wife where we “pretend” she’s being attacked by a rapist, crazy guy, whatever and she attempts to distract/knock out the individual with an elbow. (I know, I’m nuts, I need help!) Anyhow, I pin her against a wall and I make her fight to keep her hands in the ready position (hands to the face). She then attempts to throw elbows to the temple, chin or orbit (hole where the eyeball sits). I use focus mitts for the drill and I make an attempt to keep her arms down.

Well, we were practicing this drill a while back and instead of striking the focus mitt, she decided to hit me in the temple. Now, I couldn’t get mad because he did what she was training to do, but lucky for me she didn’t strike me with the tip of her elbow, but with the side of her elbow. She winced in pain, said her fingers fell asleep and she needed a few minutes to recover. This typically doesn’t happen when you strike Thai Pads or Focus Mitts, but will happen if you hit something solid like a wall, table or your husbands temple (Ever hit your “funny bone”?). God forbid this happens in a fight in a cage or a fight for you life.

What you’ll notice as you train people is that their form deteriorates as they get tired. In the case of the horizontal elbow, the hand should travel across the face towards the opposite ear. When folks start getting tired, you’ll notice the hand will drop towards the hip and the elbow will strike on the side. The reason you don’t want to strike in this fashion is you’ll hit your “Funny Bone” or what is better known as the Ulnar Nerve (UN).

The Ulnar Nerve (UN) runs the length of the arm from the shoulder to the hand. You can locate your UN by feeling the tip of your elbow and then moving towards the bend in your arm. If you flex/bend your arm back and forth, you’ll feel the “rubbery” tendon. When you hit the Ulnar Nerve, your pinky and ring finger will fall asleep and it hurts like crazy. If you hit your Ulnar Nerve hard enough you can actually cause damage to it.

Here are some pictures of my wife and her girlfriend showing a proper elbow and an elbow that will strike the Ulnar Nerve.

Good elbow strike with the tip of the elbow making contact. The hand is relaxed and comes across the face.

A “not so good elbow” where the side of the elbow is used to strike horizontally. This would be a good elbow if it were used to strike down, kind of like an overhand punch, but since it’s used as horizontal strike, the Ulnar Nerve would strike the target, not the elbow

National Geographic Fight Science

LEO — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:26:34 +0000

The video on the post ”Knee – Scientific Proof” is a portion of this whole video. It’s called fight science, but it’s more fight entertainment. I’m not sure how much science was invovled in making this program.

Kicking – Developing Power and Speed

LEO — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 02:11:32 +0000

Kicking is one of the most used techniques in Thai Boxing and is used to set up other attacks. In this video, you’ll notice the first drill is the multiple alternating kicks. This is a good drill to run the last 5-15 seconds of a round, it’ll help develops your kicking speed and form.

The second drill is the single kick. This is the time to develop the power of your kick. Watch Yodsaenglai Fairtex’s form; the arm on the kicking leg side, slices through the air to his side, helping to generate power. When he kicks, he raises on the ball of his foot and pivots his body to his opponent. The only thing I teach differently is to have the non-slicing arm (opposite arm of the kicking leg), come across the face and temple in order to protect your melon.

Knee – Scientific Proof

LEO — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:53:14 +0000

My favorite technique and the one I’ve caused the most damage with is the straight knee. I dedicate hours of bag/pad training to develop the power and strength in my knee. The knee is the most powerful weapon in the fighter’s arsenal; it’s one of the hardest areas and can deliver the most amount of force. When a proper knee is delivered you should be using your whole body to drive the knee through your opponent.

The best way to deliver the knee is by getting your opponent in a head/neck clinch, simultaneously driving their head towards your knee, while bringing your knee to either their face or solar plexus. You should be using your whole muscle structure; abs, lats, shoulders, hamstrings, glutes, etc to drive your opponent down, while driving your knee up.

Proper Location for the Hands for a Head/Neck clinch

I just mentioned the Solar Plexus and a lot of people know where it’s located, but not why it’s a favorite target for fighters. If you’ve ever been hit hard in the Solar Plexus, you know it’ll drop you fast. The solar plexus are also known as the celiac plexus or plexus c liacus. It’s basically a cluster of nerves behind the stomach and below the diaphragm. When this cluster of nerves get struck, it causes a sympathetic response in the body, which usually consists of loss of breath, cramps, and falling to the floor like a sack of pototoes. The response is just like that of leg kicks and striking the Common Peroneal Nerve (See Leg Kicks).

Solar Plexus

Working Thai Pads

LEO — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:22:57 +0000

Having someone drill you on Thai pads is probably one of the more important training tools in the fighters preparation for battle and holding Thai Pads requires a great amount of skill and practice. I’m sure some of you have had a beginner hold pads for you and it felt very akward.

Don’t watch the fighters technique, but watch the Thai Pad holders technique. Notice he gives pressure back when the opponent strikes the pads. There’s nothing worse than striking a pad that has no back pressure, it’s like shaking hands with someone that doesn’t squeeze your hand. It just don’t feel right. Also, you can work defense drills while holding pads, throw kicks, throw punches, throw knees, make the fighter work.

Kick Defense

LEO — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:25:05 +0000

Here is the basic defense for a kick. Pay attention to the arm that is on the same side as the leg that is blocking. It should stay close to the body protecting the temple and ribs. As always, keep your chin tucked. Variations to the technique include, raising onto the the balls of the feet (on the off leg) and reaching out with the off side arm.

Notice the “skip step” or “shuffle” when the opponent kicks the lead leg. There are arguments that say you shouldn’t “shuffle” because it telegraphs the kick, but do what is most comfortable to you. I’m a shuffler and quite content.

Bag Training Knees

LEO — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:44:48 +0000

There is nothing I hate more than training on the Heavy Bag. The benefits definetly out weight the negatives, but it’s not as fun as kicking Thai Pads or working the focus mitts. The heavy bag helps you work on your power and endurance. One of the ways I ”fool” myself into working the bag is by:
1. Using a Timer
2. Isolating Techniques: Knees for a round, Leg Kicks for a Round, Jab/Hooks for a Round.
3. Working a Circuit: 1 Round Heavy Bag, 1 Round Sit-Ups/Push-Ups/Pull-Ups

If you have any tips or tricks feel free to post a comment.

Clinch and Knees

LEO — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:27:08 +0000

I had the opportunity to train alongside these guys while at Fairtex Pattaya and they are awesome. This is considered the “cool-down” for the Thai fighters, they do it for 3-5 rounds after 2 hours of training. You’ll notice the emphasis is on technique, not kneeing the crap out of your partner.

Here’s another video of some kids training the same type of clinch with knees. Watch closely as the kids swim for the clinch position, get underhooks, keep the hips close to each other and spin their opponent to get them off balance.

Elbows From the Clinch

LEO — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:09:48 +0000

Here’s a great example of utilizing elbows from the clinch. Even though Jongsanan Fairtex had his bell rung, he was able to keep his composure and throw the elbows. Elbows are the easiest technique to throw and you don’t have to worry about breaking anything (with the exception of your opponents face).