Muay Thai High Kicks?

[KumaSan]

Arnisador -
Yeah, those rules are only for the local amateur governing body. They often change from state to state, county to county. These are mostly a guideline, I've yet to see a fighter penalized for landing a kick to the neck, and if they did, they would probably say it was unintentional. As far as the IFA goes, my understanding is that these guys come from a western Kickboxing background, so even the Muay Thai rules are a little bit skewed from the norm. But right now they're the only game in town, so that's how we play.

 

[Damian Mavis]

I might be wrong but ....no I'm pretty sure there aren't any illegal kicking techniques, however.... this is from an amateur Thai fighting point of view. Maybe in Thailand in professional Thai fights they actually tell the fighters "ok, NO side kicks" but I don't think so. I've seen plenty of Thai fighters use all kinds of dynamic Tae Kwon Do kicks in their arsenal to throw off their opponent, but mainly stick to the Thai basics: round kick and front kick.

Damian Mavis

 

[ShiN]

hey guys,
do you rate taekwondo kicks effective or not in muay thai?
It seems really effective to me...

 

[KumaSan]

I've not witnessed much in the way of Tae Kwon Do kicks, to be honest. Most of what I have seen is the demonstration jumping spinning kicking board breaking stuff. The other stuff looks okay, but there's a point I think I need to make...

:soapbox:

Here goes. There actually is a difference between Muay Thai and kickboxing with Muay Thai rules. Arnisador mentioned earlier that the rules I pointed him to stated that Muay Thai "flavor" is part of the scoring criteria. It is very apparent to someone who is experienced whether or not you are doing Muay Thai, or if you are just kickboxing with leg kicks and a clinch. There are some really good articles over at stickgrappler's that discuss this in detail, written by a Canadian who moved to Thailand to train. I highly suggest reading this to everyone interested in Muay Thai.
:soapbox:

Okay, off the soapbox. The point is, if you just want to fight effectively (a very good goal, I'm on the JKD track myself) then there's nothing wrong with taking kicks from TKD and trying them in a Muay Thai match. As I've stated before, the side kick in particular can be pretty effective when set up right. There are no rules that say you can't use it, or an axe kick, or any other kick you want. However, if you want to do Muay Thai, then do Muay Thai. There's probably more to say on this, but I have to get back to work I'll be back later.

 

[KumaSan]

Wow, this forum sure died. I hope that little rant didn't scare everyone away. I wasn't having the *best* day at work and it just kind of came out.

 

[thaiboxer]

kumasan
thanks for that link, it was a great read.

 

[KumaSan]

Glad you liked it. I read it every so often to put things into perspective. There's lots of other good stuff on stickgrappler's site, like drills and such. Those posts are my favorite. That guy who posted that (samboboy) has his own site up now also here. The camp where he stayed has a website here.

 

[ThuNder_FoOt]

Hi, I'm new to the site and i figured I would throw my 2 cents into this thread.

My training is the product of both Taekwondo and Muay Thai. I actually learned TKD first, so it was pretty much my foundation for everything else. My experience has taught me that the 2 arts are very similar, give or take a few things. Some TKD kicks seems to be faster, and are chambered differently presenting a little confusion in what technique is about to be launched.

Just a note, TKD doesn't emphasize high kicking, it focuses on mid-kicking. The trunk is the most frequently attacked, as it is the furthest target from your opponent.

As far as using TKD kicks in MT fights, I highly recommend it. Most Thai boxers are accustomed to the everyday roundhouse kick and front kick. I always surprise people with a kick that is out of the normal... remember we don't wish to fight like mechanical robots! A good axe kick, hook kick, or side kick will ALWAYS get the attention of the fighter. For the most part, all TKD kicks are legal in MT, and also will score, if you can pull them off.

Basically... yes, I think TKD kicks in MT are a very good idea... (not talking about jump spinning kicks, or demo kicks obviously.).:boxing:

[edit] A good example of a TKD person gone Muay Thai is Ernie Reyes Jr. He always throws in some of his TKD techniques, and most of the Thai fighters don't know how to defend against them.

 

[ShiN]

hey thanks for your great reply, I hope I can share your experience on this, for I have studied Tang Soo Do first and have just started MT.

 

[ThuNder_FoOt]

Sure no problem. I'm eager to hear how your experience will turn out. AS long as you remember how to maintain your TSD as TSD, and keep your MT as MT, then I believe you should have no problem mixing up the techniques. Good luck on your training!

 

[KumaSan]

Hey could either of you two (ShiN or ThuNder_FoOt) post on this thread comparing the MT round kick and the roundhouse style kicks of your other arts? I would be interested in hearing about this.

Thanks!

 

[arnisador]

I think that the Filipino art Yaw Yan also has a distinctive and powerful roundhouse kick, the "Mountain Storm Kick".

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Mound/6717/index.html
http://users.netropolis.net/yawyan/

 

[thaiboxer]

arnisador your a legend.
yep ive seen that yaw yan site. the good old mountain storm kick sounds extremely similar to the muay thai kick, infact identical really. the thai kick can do this also chop down. well it does to the neck and leg anyway.
good stuff

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by thaiboxer

arnisador your a legend

I hope that means the same thing down under that it does here!

I believe that Yaw Yan practitioners consider their kick different from though similar to the Muay Thai version.

 

[thaiboxer]

"

Originally posted by arnisador



I hope that means the same thing down under that it does here!

I believe that Yaw Yan practitioners consider their kick different from though similar to the Muay Thai version.

"

legend - good bloke, top fella

yeah i know they do.
read pop praditbatuga's home page "the belt is in the ring", geez he goes off about everyone stealing thai techniques etc

 

[arnisador]

Originally posted by thaiboxer

read pop praditbatuga's home page "the belt is in the ring", geez he goes off about everyone stealing thai techniques etc

I have wondered about this myself. I know there is some dispute between the Cambodians and Thais about who originated it from your post in this thread and I have now heard it both ways with the savate-Muay Thai connection, but the Muay Thai round kick especially seems often stolen bya ny number of arts or practitioners. (I am learning it in JKD.) They're right to be a bit frustrated by it I think!

 

[ThuNder_FoOt]

Don't worry Kumasan, already taken care of.

I would pretty much agree that alot of people are taking technique's from MT because its so darn effective. ALot of hybrid styles that people are creating today, have some form of MT technique in it. I know alot of MA's share techniques, but Im talking about things unique to MT. me personally, i don't see anything wrong with it, it will only make MT more popular than it already is. i need to check out that Yaw yan though, I've never heard about that style... nor did I know it had MT characteristics.:asian:

 

[thaiboxer]

Originally posted by arnisador



I have wondered about this myself. I know there is some dispute between the Cambodians and Thais about who originated it from your post in this thread and I have now heard it both ways with the savate-Muay Thai connection, but the Muay Thai round kick especially seems often stolen bya ny number of arts or practitioners. (I am learning it in JKD.) They're right to be a bit frustrated by it I think!

yeah i suppose arnisador. JKD is a little different though isnt it? I mean its basically taking from all the arts and creating a what seems to be an effective self defence system for each individual hey or something like that? Although it appears to me that there are wide and varied opinions of what Bruce Lee's direction for JKD actually was.
Compared to a seperate art that doesnt have this philosophy, and then they use it and call it their own technique, i guess they have a right to fired then, but JKD doesnt promote that does it?

 

[arnisador]

I'll say this--in JKD they seem to be very good about giving credit where credit is due. We discuss Muay Thai kicks, savate kicks, kali drills--it's clear that the JKD idea is to take what is useful from other arts and mold that into a useful fighting system.

 

[Damian Mavis]

Yes giving credit is important... alot of instructors take stuff from other arts but never give credit...leaving students to think that there instructor is all knowing. I run a Tae Kwon Do school but I train in Muay Thai/JKD/Silat/Philipino arts and I always give credit to my instructor and the art when showing new stuff to my students.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD