Question About Kicking

[Gold Eagle]

I was wondering if MT guys ever aim their kicks to the knees of opponents? Seems like it could potentially deop a guy even faster than kicks to the thigh. Im a novice to MT so I could be totally off though.

[Khun Kao]

Knees are bony and you can just as likely injure yourself kicking someone there. Kicking right above the knee is a great way to destroy an opponents mobility.

[Gold Eagle]

Thanks. Ive heard that some MT Guys kick the back of the kness though.

[Khun Kao]

Oh yeah, back of the knee is a good target.... IF you can get to it. Its not an easy target to hit.

[pittbulldog]

Knees are not a good idea. Friday I was doing some training with new recruits, and they have to do the "fight for life", which equates to 3 minutes of protecting their gun and trying to control the suspect (me or another instructor). I left kicked one of the guys, and out of just instinct, he raised his leg and turned his knee in. I've torn a ligament or something. Here are the results:

[gabbah]

Ouch, doesn't look good... sorry to hear that man.

[JkD187]

[QUOTE=pittbulldog]Knees are not a good idea. Friday I was doing some training with new recruits, and they have to do the "fight for life", which equates to 3 minutes of protecting their gun and trying to control the suspect (me or another instructor). I left kicked one of the guys, and out of just instinct, he raised his leg and turned his knee in. I've torn a ligament or something. Here are the results:
Damn so Sensei Kawaguchi's vital strikes dvd was all bs then noo say it aint so......

[chalambok]

Some things which are legal in muay Thai are rarely seen. This includes kicks to the knee, and many times elbows. Usually 'no elbows' is part of a pre-arranged agreement between the fighters themselves or their respective camps. Traditionally if a fighter blew another's knee out it would happen to him within a few fights. Sort of an unwritten law, I think, so careers aren't ruined by cheap shots. Often if the fight has degenerated into head-butting or an elbow-elbow bloodfest it is because of bad blood between the fighters. Sometimes in big fights they may have met 15 or 16 times before. Also, few fighters remain in one camp their entire career. It is possible the contestants trained together, and learned dislike in the camp.

[ciscodog]

knees are fine to kick but you should use a modified side kick or a stomp with the bottom of your foot to hit the knee directly and from the side if possible.

[Ryukyu Damashi]

You will be hard pressed to find any org that will allow stomps to the knee.

[ciscodog]

I was talking about if you were to kick a knee what techniques work well without hurting the attacker as the photo above shows....thats all.

[OctaviousBP]

Chalambok is correct about the "gentlemen's agreements" that occur and the bad-blood. I began to equate the Thai fighters in Thailand to hockey players here in Canada... specifically the junior leagues. A lot of people don't realize that the huge majority of Thai fighters are "kids" with all the emotions and logical ability that goes with it. I've seen guys bump into each other during the ram muay, hurl insults at each other during the match, and get up from what should be an elbow knockout simply cause there was a specific girl in the crowd.

On the other hand, there is the understanding that this is their job and it isn't a paper-route. If you get cut from an elbow, you can't fight as soon as you would like to, which means no cash. This translates in sparring as well, leg kicks were frowned upon at my camp, especially when farangs were involved... ie: a farang kicking a thai in the leg = bad news...

[Gunza Kicka]

octaviousBP what camp did you go to??? i`m leaving here december 18th to go to chaing mai till jan 12th.. was gonna train at lanna or another camp... so you cant kick them hard in legS???

[OctaviousBP]

I trained at a couple, but stayed at Lanna for 6 months. I wouldn't recommend kicking their legs, no. The trainers will kick your legs, but they will do it with shinguards on (except Nook) and in a more controlled environment, so you still get the benefit of properly defending leg kicks. In sparring, bring your kicks up to the body, and they will likely do the same. This makes you have to work your shield up high, and if you can shield/block a body kick effectively, than you should have no problem translating the motion down to a leg kick. The same cannot be said in reverse.

Also don't use straight knees and elbows (hopefully this is obvious) or head teeps while sparring. Lastly, I would recommend not leaving your gloves on the ground in between rounds and such. The ground is dirty, therefore your gloves get dirty, and then you put them in someone's face during sparring = a bit disrespectful.

[Gunza Kicka]

cheers for the info!! usefull stuff i would probably just forget about doing- putting gloves on the ground-

hopefully will be an awsome trip!!