Thread: Any tips for fighting someone with Taekwondo experience??

Depends on how good the guy is at keepign you far apart enough for you not to be abel to box with him and him use his legs. Try to get in after he throws a kick and start workign hands. Watch out for refolded kicks though as those might cause some trouble if the guy is good.

If he throws a Side-Kick, try this...

Assuming its with his RIGHT leg deflect it away with you RIGHT forearm. Almost simultaneously you should "dip" in low and hit his fixed LEFT leg with a RIGHT low-kick. Might trip him or knock him off-balance.

One thing Ive learned about fighting against Kyokushin and Taekwondo fighters they tend to lack proper boxing skills. Not trying to generalise but i notice a lot of bad karate habits creeping into their thaiboxing strategy... also most karate styles dont punch to the face - so when they are in a situation where they are called to "box" their punches may seem a bit awkward. Even great fighters like Andy Hug and Francisco Filho struggled somewhat with boxing when they first starting fighting in K-1.

But - assuming his boxing skills are decent enough to negate the above paragraph... with his Taekwondo background expect him to use his kicks. Expect back-kicks, spinning-back-kicks , all sorts of high kicks. And lot of kicks to the mid-section.

When i spar against a "kicker" I try my best to keep it close range so that Im out of range of any high kicks he might want to throw. I'll only open the distance if im planning to throw a high kick (even then you should not allow him a moment to throw one). Keep close with knees and tight punches... push him away for leg strikes.

IF he comes in with kicks try and trap them - grab his leg - get you other hand around his neck and twist him off balance - then close the distance and kick/knee to his head.

If he's throwing high kicks - as soon as you block one move in with a flurry of punches before he's got his footing. With luck his guard should be down and he should be off balance...

Work around that... listen to you corner... DONT PANIC... stick to the combos you've drilled into your head... use your strengths... agression is important - use it if you can.

good luck.

Same as above. Is he around the black belt level TKD, expect him to chamber like he is throwing a front snap kick and switch to a hook kick or round house to the head. The point of this is to get you to try to parry a front kick and drop one of your hands.

Watch for kick combos like side kick- spinning back kick or round house kick- spinning wheel kick. These are common TKD combos. Work the angles and get inside to see how his hands are.

He will use his front leg to throw side kicks; they're like TKD's foot jab. The kick is snappy and solid and can bruise. If he uses the front leg side kick, take his supporting leg out.

Cheers fellas,

Only thing I know about my opponent is that he's a couple of inches shorter and around 5kg lighter than me (I'm 6'4" and 98kg or 216lbs).

I've been doing MT for around 7 months and he is supposed to be of similar experience. Its an amateur (class c) bout; in the UK thats 3x2 rounds with body/head/leg armour, I'd rather not wear the head/body gaurd but what can you do??

I'm confident my instructor wouldbn't put me in if didn't think I could do it, he one of the best over here, he has also told me about not giving him the range to execute TKD stuff so I'll pratice that tonight.

I'll let you know how I get on.

thanks

Start of Round 1... START FAST AND HIT HIM FIRST preferably with a stinging low-kick.

That should give you a psychological edge. If your first shot is hard with lots of agression your opponent will know you mean serious business - and might even throw him off to some extent.

If its his first fight then there's a good chance it will rattle him since he hasnt got the experience and his still full of 'first fight jitters'. So... get the psychological advantage - that will give you confidence - and that confidence will open up the way to a win.

Good luck.

Just wade in hard and fast. If his only training is Taekwondo you will find him a Paper Tiger.

same as bri mate, when the bell goes let him swing something then slam the hardest leg kick you've got at him (although not on the hip hard as i did in my last fight or it may break), sorry to put you off there but i cant help me gob sometimes as goatnipples2002 will tell you.
if he's taekwondo all i can say is if your an amateur as well is to watch out for the axe kick - i know it's a bit naff but if caught correct it can stun/confuse you if your not use to this kick.

Ah... the lovely Axe-Kick.

If you can see the Axe-kick coming - best thing to do is the X-block - cross your arms above you head and block the kick. From here if his kick gets stuck on your guard then push him backwards while following up with a HARD low kick.

Or if you want you can just 'accidentaly' trip him as you push him back. Falling from a blocked Axe-Kick will do some nice damage... and bruise his ego. If he knows you can repel the fancy stuff then he wont bother trying it.

Most axe-kicks Ive seen in amateur fights are very clumsy and rather useless. Just to get a pop out of the crowd really. Never seen anyone get knocked down or even hurt by one of those. One fighter used it excessively against a friend of mine and it seemed to be irritating him more than anything else.