# Thai Kicks with both legs?



## Hannya (Jun 25, 2006)

I'm curious how many of you can kick with both legs? My left leg has maybe 10% kicking power, and am wondering if its even possible to get them both about equal. I was told most people just use one leg and do well with that, figured I'd drop in and see what you guys can do/use.


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## MJS (Jun 25, 2006)

Hannya said:
			
		

> I'm curious how many of you can kick with both legs? My left leg has maybe 10% kicking power, and am wondering if its even possible to get them both about equal. I was told most people just use one leg and do well with that, figured I'd drop in and see what you guys can do/use.


 
IMO, I think its good to be able to use both legs equally.  I think that often, you'll see people with one side thats a bit stronger.  All the more reason to give more training to the weaker side.   Working combos, switches, etc. would help with that.

Mike


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## OUMoose (Jun 25, 2006)

I was always taught that if I can do it with my right leg, I should be able to do it with my left just as well.  Personally, I like that approach, since it allows some versatility in case I come up against a southpaw or something.  

just my 2 cents.


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## tradrockrat (Jun 25, 2006)

we were required to train south paw to develop skills with both sides of the body.  My left is as strong as my right - usually.


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## Carol (Jun 25, 2006)

My left kicks are as strong as my right, sometimes even more effective because I balance better on my right than I do on my left.


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## Odin (Jun 26, 2006)

Hannya said:
			
		

> I'm curious how many of you can kick with both legs? My left leg has maybe 10% kicking power, and am wondering if its even possible to get them both about equal. I was told most people just use one leg and do well with that, figured I'd drop in and see what you guys can do/use.


 
Try to make both legs as strong as each other, you'll find though that as a thai fighter you rear leg (in guard) will be more powerfull then your lead leg.this is becasue your rear leg is usally used for powerful kicks (if thats not every kick in muay thai!) your lead leg is used for fast attacks like push kick or the in side leg kick,this all of course depends on you style of fighting.
When I first started thai boxing my left leg was terriable,after a couple thousand kicks though its turned out alright,just keep kicking again and again it will get better.
Talk to you kru,he'll know the best excersies to do to make it stronger.


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## cfr (Jun 26, 2006)

I fight "strong side forward". Meaning that while I am a lefty, I fight the same way all you right handed fighters do, with my left leg forward. The logic is to have my strongest weapons closest to my opponent. This all works out because my lead (left) roundhouse, hook, uppercut, etc. are all stronger than my rear (right) roundhouse, hook, uppercut, etc. This of course takes time to get used too, but the payoff is awesome.


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## Jimi (Jun 26, 2006)

I am with Tradrockrat on this one. Train each lead, drilling both lead leg round kicks w/ & w/o a shuffle, then set it as a basic lower body combo, lead leg sets up the rear leg. I was taught to almost never throw the rear leg by itself w/o some kind of a set up. It is similar to the old 1-2 Jab-Cross but with the lead & rear round kicks. Filling in combos with hands is up to your coach and your imagination. PEACE


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## Phadrus00 (Jun 26, 2006)

Hannya said:
			
		

> I'm curious how many of you can kick with both legs? My left leg has maybe 10% kicking power, and am wondering if its even possible to get them both about equal. I was told most people just use one leg and do well with that, figured I'd drop in and see what you guys can do/use.


 
Hannya,

When I was training traditional Muay Thai we trained a couple of different Lead Kicks.  the firsy is a fast kick with the lead leg that targets the inside of the opponents leg.  this exchanged raw power for speed and delivered a sting but was not designed to be devastating.  The other lead kick was a power kick and it required a little more coordination.  to generate power you did a "stutter step" of fading your lead leg back while shuffling up your rear leg.  this positioned your hips and body to torgue up the power on the lead leg kick and deliver a real whallop!  You have to be fast to make it work (there is a telegraph aspect to the stutter step) or use it in combination with another technique like a the first lead leg kick but the results can be very effective!  

I would recommend training both of the lead kicks and kick in sets of three or four.  If you work it enough you will find that the power develops nicely!

Best of Luck!

Rob


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## tradrockrat (Jun 27, 2006)

cfr said:
			
		

> I fight "strong side forward". Meaning that while I am a lefty, I fight the same way all you right handed fighters do, with my left leg forward. The logic is to have my strongest weapons closest to my opponent. This all works out because my lead (left) roundhouse, hook, uppercut, etc. are all stronger than my rear (right) roundhouse, hook, uppercut, etc. This of course takes time to get used too, but the payoff is awesome.



I am a lefty (marginally) as well, but throughout my life I've generally chosen to do sporting activities right handed - including throwing a ball.  In fact, there is no mistaking my left roundhouse kick for my right.  My right is still much stronger but overall I have trained very hard to keep both sides as equal as possible, and that plus a little creative thinking has led to some signifigant surprises to my opponents.  I've been know to switch leads mid round, shuffle step to set my lead leg back, even enter a combo as a southpaw and come out it in a "normal" stance.

It's all about more weapons and more effectiveness.  Train both sides as equally as you can whenever you can.


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## doc@muaythaifairtex.com (Jun 27, 2006)

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This year I just started to train LEFTY and I am a RIGHT side fighter.
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## matt.m (Jun 27, 2006)

I can kick equally with both legs.


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## Shaolinwind (Jun 28, 2006)

Hannya said:
			
		

> I'm curious how many of you can kick with both legs? My left leg has maybe 10% kicking power, and am wondering if its even possible to get them both about equal. I was told most people just use one leg and do well with that, figured I'd drop in and see what you guys can do/use.


 
I reccomend more practice with your left leg.  I vaguely remember starting or participating in a thread similar to this about a year ago when I first started KF.  Back then, which leg was better depended on which leg I was using.. Spear kicks were fine with my right, side kicks were better with my left.  Now, I believe my legs both kick equally poor.


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## wee_blondie (Jul 27, 2006)

I train both legs and try to go south-paw when on the bag to keep that sharp.  I've been taught to train both sides but with the added mentality: its good to train your weak side, but if your strong side is good enough - you won't need to use it.

Still not made up my mind how I feel about that but it seems to work!


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## Andrew Green (Jul 27, 2006)

I hit harder with my right, but can and do kick with both.


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## Zaii (Jul 29, 2006)

I personally think it's important to be able to strike with both limbs at a level that's as close as you can get to equal in terms of speed and power, but, that is easier said than done.


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## Thunder Foot (Jul 30, 2006)

I say its important to practice with both sides. Why handicap yourself? Besides, the more tools you have, the more problems you'll be able to correct.:asian:


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## Odin (Jul 31, 2006)

The thing is in muay thai your rear leg will always be stonger then yout front leg..its just science....you can always switch guard but then you'll always have a favourite out of the two and as such will have a stronger leg since you'll practice more with one leg.........so i dont know what all this 'both legs are strong' business'.lol

I think there are people from other arts posting though so no offence ment by them comments.


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## MJS (Jul 31, 2006)

Odin said:
			
		

> The thing is in muay thai your rear leg will always be stonger then yout front leg..its just science....you can always switch guard but then you'll always have a favourite out of the two and as such will have a stronger leg since you'll practice more with one leg.........so i dont know what all this 'both legs are strong' business'.lol


 
I think its pretty much a given that the rear leg is stronger.  Speaking for myself, I took the original posters question as making sure both legs are equal.  There are times when it may be to your advantage to change stance, so that being said, why not work both legs equally?



> I think there are people from other arts posting though so no offence ment by them comments.


 
No offense taken. 

Mike


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## cfr (Jul 31, 2006)

Odin said:
			
		

> The thing is in muay thai your rear leg will always be stonger then yout front leg..its just science....you can always switch guard but then you'll always have a favourite out of the two and as such will have a stronger leg since you'll practice more with one leg.........so i dont know what all this 'both legs are strong' business'.lol
> 
> I think there are people from other arts posting though so no offence ment by them comments.


 
That is true if you stand "weak side forward", which most Thai fighters probably do. But if you learn to stand "strong side forward", your front leg will be stronger.


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## Drag'n (Aug 2, 2006)

Odin said:
			
		

> The thing is in muay thai your rear leg will always be stonger then yout front leg..its just science....you can always switch guard but then you'll always have a favourite out of the two and as such will have a stronger leg since you'll practice more with one leg.........so i dont know what all this 'both legs are strong' business'.lol
> 
> I think there are people from other arts posting though so no offence ment by them comments.



I disagree. The switch step allows you to open up your hips and get just as much power from the left as the right. Thats the beauty of the MT switch step. It gives you a power kick from the front leg without having to change to a southpaw stance. Something you dont find in other arts.
 Generally its only novices that have trouble with getting power from the lead leg.
I'm a right hander but I can kick with just as much, if not more, power from my lead left, by use of the switch step. Especially after I injured my right shin and had to practise with just the left for a month.
You'll see alot of Thais will use their lead leg extensively in fights with devastating power.
No offense meant. But I've never trained in a MT gym that didnt train you to kick with devastating power from both rear and lead legs.


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## cfr (Aug 2, 2006)

Being one of those "people from other arts" (no offense taken) I thought I'd clarify. I started off in a school that was a mix of JKD, Muay Thai, and FMA, and now do primarily JKD. Both JKD and FMA are "strong side forward" styles. Meaning that if you are a righty, you stand like a lefty, with your right leg forward. The logic being that your strongest weapon will then be closest to the opponent. In this case it means that my lead round kick (dont think left or right, but lead) will be stronger than my rear. I will be the first to admit this is easier said than done, and takes a while to get used too.


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## Thunder Foot (Aug 2, 2006)

Drag'n said:
			
		

> I disagree. The switch step allows you to open up your hips and get just as much power from the left as the right. Thats the beauty of the MT switch step. It gives you a power kick from the front leg without having to change to a southpaw stance. Something you dont find in other arts.
> Generally its only novices that have trouble with getting power from the lead leg.
> I'm a right hander but I can kick with just as much, if not more, power from my lead left, by use of the switch step. Especially after I injured my right shin and had to practise with just the left for a month.
> You'll see alot of Thais will use their lead leg extensively in fights with devastating power.
> No offense meant. But I've never trained in a MT gym that didnt train you to kick with devastating power from both rear and lead legs.


 
I agree with this statement. I've watched a fair amount of Thai fights, and they equally use both legs. From my observation, its more advantageous to be proficient with both legs. More over, I find you will probably generate slightly more power in the lead using the switch step, do to the explosive nature of that step.


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## MMAfighter (Aug 6, 2006)

i can kick with both legs...only if i switch form  orthodox to southpaw though...i'm still having some problems with my switching feet to throw my left kick.


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