# shin kick



## burzin (Apr 13, 2007)

hello i have a rather amatuer question for muay thai practitioners:

when i kick, i kick with the very front of my shin where the bone is, it still hurts my shin, i hear people say that training in thailand they teach muay thai practitioners to kick hard objects using their shins to make the nerves numb or to create stronger shins, the result being that the pain disappears from that area. Is this true or just a rumour? and if true how do i achieve this in a safe way? (i have no problem kicking a heavy bag around or doing some drills as i do that right now anwyays.)


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## oddball (Apr 13, 2007)

Give it time. Lots of time - heavy bag is the safest way to achieve it, but it's also the slowest.


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## CoastalThai (Apr 13, 2007)

Hey ,

Have you ever noticed how it hurts more when your on your feet than when your shin actually hits the pads???

Who knows why, maybe its cos your prepared for the contact.

Heavy bag is the way to go, for sure. Or you could plant a banana tree in your backyard and go from there


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## burzin (Apr 13, 2007)

lol banana tree :ultracool

thanks guys i wanted to know if i was on the right path with the heavy bag. anymore feedback or advice is always welcome and greatly appreciated


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## Kieran (Apr 14, 2007)

Stick with the heavy bag and try some padwork as well if you can (pads can be harder/softer than a bag, depending on the bag and the pads...). Some Thai gyms have heavy bags filled with cement powder so they all vary in weight and ...erm hardness(?) but I wouldn't advise this as I've heard horror stories of people using these bags after it has been raining resulting in broken legs/hands etc.

I would start off on soft pads or a soft bag and work your way up to harder stuff. If you want to rid yourself of shin pain when kicking, what you are trying to do is condition the shin so that the nerves get killed off (for want of a better phrase!) so you will need to both drill your round kicks and also drill blocking as you will more often than not block a low/mid kick with the same part of your shin you will hit an opponent with in your round kick.


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## cubankenpo (Apr 14, 2007)

Hi bro 
when u get the techn. u have  to begin , first and the better way is  a havy bag, so remember ,,training is  getting the objectives step by step
Joe


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## CoastalThai (Apr 14, 2007)

Burzin,

Don't forget that your technique will also be an indicator. Remember to drive through the target and dont just hit it. 

Hitting the target makes a nice loud sound but driving through it is a whole other game.

My kru was touching me up on my kicking technique and only when he kicked me i realised the utmost importance of technique. 

He used such minimal distance yet managed to bring max force all through his technique. 

I was kicking the pads and he kept saying yeah good good, thats it excellent, all the while it felt like i was barely kicking but was driving such great force through the pads.

My point is that now ive found that having finally aced my technique, i dont get pain as such when i kick bags and pads. 

Dont focus on hitting the pads/bag but focus through the target.. put your mind through your target not into your legs and you will feel less pain and achieve maximum conditioning with minimal pain.

Good Luck.


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## thaistyle (Apr 15, 2007)

Not sure what to add.  Everyone made excellent points.  Definitely use the heavy bag and thai pads for your conditioning.  These are the things they use in Thailand, but remember they fight weekly over there so their shins condition much faster.   DON'T use bottles, sticks or rolling pins or anything like that for conditioning.  Heavy bags are the way to go.


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## burzin (Apr 15, 2007)

i agree everypoint stated was awesome :asian: and was very very helpful. i really appreciate it.

i have one more query relating to this question though, now that ive been continuing the heavy bag kicks the pain is starting to become more serious in my shin and i actually have a bump on my left shin is that normal or ****ed up? should i rest or keep going at a lower pace? also my right hand's knuckle above the middle finger seems to hurt a lot after every punch infact its hurting as i type (it kept hurting before too but i never really paid too much heed to it) im sori guys i think im going a bit over board wit the questions. :uhyeah:


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## Kieran (Apr 16, 2007)

Don't worry about asking questions, you don't learn if you don't ask anything. 

First off, if you are hurting your shins then give it a break for a while, easing back into it after a few weeks once the swelling, or whatever it is that you have on your shin, goes down. I would also go see a doctor!

As far as your hands go, if you are not using hand wraps I would recommend using them! I have a weak left hand (wrist in particular) and using wraps I can avoid swelling and bruising on my knuckles and wrist.

If you are already using wraps then I would get someone more experienced (even a boxer) to check your punching technique as it may be that you are damaging your hand through improper technique, as i have also done previously.

Good luck.


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## thaistyle (Apr 22, 2007)

Also, remember to try to kick through the target/heavy bag.  Most people forget this important part of the muay thai round kick.  When you stop the kick too soon, you tend to focus on the feeling of the shins impact and lose power in the kick.  Don't get discouraged.


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## Distinction (Apr 25, 2007)

This might sound like a stupid question, but does anyone recommend wrapping their shins with anything while doing shin kicks? Does it defeat the purpose of conditioning or does it just make it take longer?


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## burzin (Apr 25, 2007)

good question i want in on that too


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## Kieran (Apr 26, 2007)

I have just pruchased Fairtex shin guards for sparring. I would heavily advise in getting these.

In Thailand, fighters train everyday as fighting is their main source of income, it is their career. They know that if they get a silly injury in training they won't be able to make their next fight and thus not get any money for that month/quarter (or how often they fight) so when they spar they use the full pad system, gum sheild, head guard, shin and belly guards etc.

I think the same should apply to us. I don;t think anyone here is a professional fighter, we all have day jobs and some of you will have families to support. Your not much use if you can't walk or if you have to take a few days off work because you got knocked out in training, or beause you can't physically walk to work! My friend is a postman and he can testify to this!

There is no quick way to condition your shins. Everyone is different but personally I would say the longer the better. That way you have a better chance of reducing the damage done later in life. If you rush into things like that you have a much higher chance of irreversably damaging yourself either now or in the future.

Just to finish I'd like to sa that Thaistyle made a brilliant point. Kick _through_ the pad! I've only just learned this so I can confidently say that this advice (from my Kru) helped me no end. My kicks feel a lot more powerful now.


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## thaistyle (Apr 26, 2007)

I've seen some use shin guards of various kinds, but if my shins got too sore I rubbed them down with thai liniment and rest them for a few days or even a week.  It just depends on how badly bruised they got.  There is no problem training with shin guards, however if you wear them too often you won't get much of the conditioning.  Rest them shins if you need to!!


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## King (Apr 27, 2007)

Cool tips already, I only want to touch on something I didn't see. When you kick, what part of your shin makes contact? From experience most shin bumps are mid-high (closer to knee) range which is a good indicator that you're kicking too close. If that's the case then you're not getting the proper hip twist in there and the proper leg alignment to drive the kick through. I also noticed most bumps are caused if your shins are slightly tilted up during contact -- instead of parallel to the ground. The idea is to kick lower on your shins but not too close to the top of your foot. 

Don't get me wrong, there are times when you use the higher part of your shins to kick but you're going to want a softer/more brittle target (i.e. lower ribs, close range behind the thigh kick, etc). Well with everything more time and practice will improve technique, power and speed. Don't rush too much and pointlessly injure yourself because that's counter productive. Good luck with training eh.


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## thaistyle (Apr 29, 2007)

Excellent point King.  I couldn't agree more!


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## Zero (Jun 29, 2007)

Burzin

The standard hard kickboxing bag or heavy bag is a good place to start.  Another option which is good for shin strength and also for working on power is to rest the bag - even just standard boxing bag - against the end of a cupboard or wall (with a partner preferably holding bag in place) and execute your kicks so you're getting the bag and the wall behind soaking up your impact - also means no bag swing so you can repeatedly attack without interuption (always hit hte bag - not the wall!!!!).

I have for many years also practiced on trees - starting with cabbage trees (more forgiving bark) and moving up to hardwoods.  We are not talking full on power swings here but more low level repetitive kicks along the entire length of shin region (the idea is to condition and strengthen bone and skin and to a degree deaden nerves - but not to do any large scale nerve/bone etc damage which can often happen and be long-term!).

I have found through this training my legs seem to stand up well in fights, I have had quite a few opponents go down on either leg attacks or blocks.

I firmly believe this is a trieed and true method - if not a bit severe to some - but to avoid injury it does take time and patience and perhaps a bit more time on the bag first if you are a beginner would be good/safest.


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