For those interested:
The last minute is a kicking delight!
Enjoy
As promised, here’s my update on my Muay Thai kicks:
-did some extra stretching and foam roller work during the week and by Friday, didn’t feel any tightness in my hips/legs
-went to MT class on Saturday and after warming up and doing a few rounds on the mitts, we did some pad work and my kicks were STRONG right from the start. I was able to pivot and open the hips up without much trouble and was able to achieve the “chopping down” aspect correctly; I had a tendency to kick up in the past.
-the stretching also helped for later in the class when we did some live sparring, working on our clinch and throwing knees from the clinch. We did throw some straight ahead knees, but we tried to angle most of them, as that seems to be more powerful when you’re looking to land a knee to your opponent’s midsection. Felt fine with those.
Thanks again for the tips everyone.
-Dan
Go get em man!!!
molon labe
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
As promised, here’s my update on my Muay Thai kicks:
-did some extra stretching and foam roller work during the week and by Friday, didn’t feel any tightness in my hips/legs
-went to MT class on Saturday and after warming up and doing a few rounds on the mitts, we did some pad work and my kicks were STRONG right from the start. I was able to pivot and open the hips up without much trouble and was able to achieve the “chopping down” aspect correctly; I had a tendency to kick up in the past.
-the stretching also helped for later in the class when we did some live sparring, working on our clinch and throwing knees from the clinch. We did throw some straight ahead knees, but we tried to angle most of them, as that seems to be more powerful when you’re looking to land a knee to your opponent’s midsection. Felt fine with those.
Thanks again for the tips everyone.
-Dan[/quote]
Good stuff man.
It’s also a great idea to leave all static stretching till the end of the class.
doing sit ups on a decline bench or if you can handle it on a back extention bench except the other way around and using weight but exploding up instead of slowly doing them will greatly improve your underlying important hip flexor muscles. In Muay Thai kicking, they are very important. You have to engage the myotatic reflex when kicking and this is a great way of improving the hip drive in MT kicking.
Kettlebell swings and reverse ab roller ( ie with feet instead of hands) are great.
explosive leg raises etc
anything that activates the flexors and activates them from a stretch/semi stretch position.
Think explosive though, even if you’re fatiguing and going slow.
[quote]humble wrote:
Djwlfpack wrote:
As promised, here’s my update on my Muay Thai kicks:
-did some extra stretching and foam roller work during the week and by Friday, didn’t feel any tightness in my hips/legs
-went to MT class on Saturday and after warming up and doing a few rounds on the mitts, we did some pad work and my kicks were STRONG right from the start. I was able to pivot and open the hips up without much trouble and was able to achieve the “chopping down” aspect correctly; I had a tendency to kick up in the past.
-the stretching also helped for later in the class when we did some live sparring, working on our clinch and throwing knees from the clinch. We did throw some straight ahead knees, but we tried to angle most of them, as that seems to be more powerful when you’re looking to land a knee to your opponent’s midsection. Felt fine with those.
Thanks again for the tips everyone.
-Dan
Good stuff man.
It’s also a great idea to leave all static stretching till the end of the class.
doing sit ups on a decline bench or if you can handle it on a back extention bench except the other way around and using weight but exploding up instead of slowly doing them will greatly improve your underlying important hip flexor muscles. In Muay Thai kicking, they are very important. You have to engage the myotatic reflex when kicking and this is a great way of improving the hip drive in MT kicking.
Kettlebell swings and reverse ab roller ( ie with feet instead of hands) are great.
explosive leg raises etc
anything that activates the flexors and activates them from a stretch/semi stretch position.
Think explosive though, even if you’re fatiguing and going slow.[/quote]
Humble,
Good tips, thanks. I’ve admittedly gotten away from direct ab work recently and need to add some back; that was the first exercise I thought of.
I wish we had a kettlebell at my gym, but alas, we don’t.
Would box jumps be a suitable exercise?
Thanks,
Dan
[quote]humble wrote:
That’s true, very true, however a proper MT stylist will be able to place their kicks at will without too much worry about getting taken down. Remember leg catching is part of Muay Thai too. As someone else alluded to, thrown properly Muay Thai Kicks are fired off without much signaling at all. MT kicks are always “chopping” down and this can’t occur if the hips are not used properly. It is the kicking up aspect of improper kicking technique that allows for an easier catch and then take down. With the MT kicking technique it is hard to grab a hold of the leg since the weight of the leg and the person is acting down.
An example of this would be Bas Rutens kicking against war path or Maurice against Coleman. Watch how their kicking is almost like it is chopping downwards. If not downwards then horizontally through their target.
This shifts the other persons bodyweight somewhat, makes it harder for them to shoot and throws off their base.
The point being, kicking upwards and improper technique is still more responsible for being caught (and shin and leg damage) than MT kicking per se.
Thrown with evil intent, proper technique, speed and timing, the proper MT kick is much harder to catch than the “modified” kick although I agree, in MMA you do need to occassionally modify.
[/quote]
awesome explanation!
i started off in Karate, and eventually transitioned into Muay Thai, now am more in MMA.
my kicks always are more like Bill “Superfoot” Wallace’s…when i kick, i rotate my hips towards the target and basically do a knee kick. when my knee is inline with the target area, i extend my lower leg explosivly, with the toes pointed towards my shin and the tibialis muscle flexed.
this style works really well for me, since when i throw the knee, i can still adjust where i want the kick to go and extend the leg and “chop” down on the thigh or midsection.
one thing for me…i have freakishly strong quads (was able to leg extension 300lbs x12 in junior high without lifting), so i think that’s why im able to put so much power into my style of kicking…
hope this helps a little.