Just wondering, do we have any kyokushinkai in here or, perhaps MT students with some KK experience who can answer this question?
I’ve always wondered, as alot of people state that there aren’t that many fundamental differences between MT and KK, but if we look at a typical MT fighter, and then look at say, Andy Hug, there is a noticeable difference in the way they perform a body or head kick.
I’d say the swivel of the hips and the windup being more noticable in a Muay Thai fighter.
To follow up,drewh…it always looked to me as if KK fighters do throw their hips into body/high kicks. They just don’t “turn them over” and go through their opponent. To me this makes a lot of their body/high kicks more like a whip…whereas MT body/head kicks tend to be more baseball bat. That is probably the only difference I notice…which still exemplifies there only being a small fundamental difference,imo.
Now as for the reasons behind the difference…I really don’t know. Maybe because KK fighters are worried about exposing their ribs/midsection too much…???
I notice that alot of Muay thai fighters do not chamber or re-chamber
their kicks.
[quote]ironshaolin wrote:
I notice that alot of Muay thai fighters do not chamber or re-chamber
their kicks. [/quote]
I notice this as well…
[quote]ironshaolin wrote:
I notice that alot of Muay thai fighters do not chamber or re-chamber
their kicks. [/quote]
From what I’ve seen and been taught they don’t chamber a kick at all. It’s a power kick delivered through the opponent, much like (as stated above) a baseball bat swing. They’re fast and they bloody hurt.
Done both. The Mawashi-Geri, aka “Roundhouse-kick” in Karate (regardless of the actual style) is a snap-Kick, i.e. it’s chambered. Muay Thai kicks aren’t. They’re performed with an almost straight leg.
Kyokushinkai has a vastly different kumite tradition then MT.
As you know, hitting the head with your fist is a nischt-nischt, while pummeling the torso with anything but a baseball bat is A-Ok. Because the knockdown with a controlled finish is THE pointer, Kyokushinkai tend to
a) have a very solid, balanced and strong stance
but b) also tend to steamroll mercilessly, if there is an opening.
So the kick is a two edged sword here, moreso then in other martial arts.
You can decapitate the opponent, who tends to leave his ellbows way too south even for a boxer and who’s head is way to static for a TWD bout.
But if it leaves you too much off-balanced, the other guy will run you over, scoring points.
As a consequence, a K practitioner must have explosive, deceptive and well-balanced kicks. (they also tend to have difficulty protecting their heads against strikes)
Many kicks use a “chambering” motion because of two reasons
a)the first third of the motion is more controlled, you won’t slip so easily int the heat of the battle (which is a frequent occurence in TWD vs Muay Thai fights)
b)if you’re good, you can set up different techniques on the fly ot at least be deceptive. A bit like Bill Wallace in point-kickboxing using one posture to set up three different kicks (hook, side or roundhouse).
Same reason the “brazilian” kick is so strong with many kyokushinkai to K1 guys.
Now to the Muay Thai kicking:
it’s real bad intentions with some shinbone.
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
Now to the Muay Thai kicking:
it’s real bad intentions with some shinbone.[/quote]
Lol yeah.
dude i just watched a highlight reel of andy hug.
holy fuck that dude was awesome.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
Just wondering, do we have any kyokushinkai in here or, perhaps MT students with some KK experience who can answer this question?
I’ve always wondered, as alot of people state that there aren’t that many fundamental differences between MT and KK, but if we look at a typical MT fighter, and then look at say, Andy Hug, there is a noticeable difference in the way they perform a body or head kick.[/quote]
Kyokushin guy here.
Kyokushin kick is a whip. MT kick is a bat.
The MT kick is straight almost through out the entire movement.
Whereas kyokushin is rotating the hips with the knee bent and leg cocked and then snap at target in the last moments of the kick.
edit: Should have read the thread 
beaten.