Muay Thai lessons learned.....

[Jared Traveler]

I'm going to begin to catalog some lessons I learn in Muay Thai. It seems like every week I learn something. If the thread is popular, I will continue posting lessons I learn.

Last week I learned how to prevent someone from kneeing me in the clinch, while still protecting my upper body from elbow strikes.

Regardless what clinch grip, the trick is to pull down and sink their weight on their standing leg. I can maintain my collar tie, forearm lock down grip or inside bicep control. When they knee with their right knee, I pull down with my right arm.

It's amazing how much this kills their attack and throws them off balance. My son was hammering me with simulated knees in sparring, now he will not even hardly try and throw one. Because when he does he ends up off balance and vunerable.

 

[Jared Traveler]

The switch body kick is definitely one of the most difficult kicks to get down in Muay Thai. I can easily do TKD style round house kicks, but Thai body kicks are incredibly complex to pull off well.

After 2 years I much, much better at it than when I started obviously. Actually on a real opponent I have it down pretty good. The challenge at times is landing it with precision and power consistently on the mitts.

I think this is still difficult on the mitts because I was taught to step off line when throwing the kick. That's a problem because I'm orientated on the pad holder, not the pads. So when they hold the pads out for the kick, I'm already off line. When I step off line, I'm too far off line. Because the pads are not where an opponents ribs would be.

I have begun switching my feet but not stepping off and it's helping a lot.

 

[Jared Traveler]

Several lessons today! But right now it's time to dry everything out in the sun.

 

[JowGaWolf]

When I step off line, I'm too far off line. Because the pads are not where an opponents ribs would be.

I always believe that 45 degree angles are magic. Everything comes back to it. If you were to step at a 45 degree angle. would you still be too far offline. This is just a curiosity question for me. I'm curious to how reliable this is. So far I have found that 45 degree angles allows strikes and setups to land on target.

I think this works regardless of what your target is. The only variable to the 45 degree angle may be only how deep you step. Short step at 45 degrees vs long step at 45 degrees. Let me know if this works in terms of not being too far offline.

 

[Jared Traveler]

I always believe that 45 degree angles are magic. Everything comes back to it. If you were to step at a 45 degree angle. would you still be too far offline. This is just a curiosity question for me. I'm curious to how reliable this is. So far I have found that 45 degree angles allows strikes and setups to land on target.

I think this works regardless of what your target is. The only variable to the 45 degree angle may be only how deep you step. Short step at 45 degrees vs long step at 45 degrees. Let me know if this works in terms of not being too far offline.

I do step to a 45 when I'm targeting ribs or arms. It's just harder to do on the pads.

 

[Jared Traveler]

After every class I take notes and add them to Google drive where I have pages of notes I have taken. Today I had several things to write down.

One big one was tweaking how I pivot off line against an opponent charging forward. Specifically how I use my arm against his neck.

If he charges in, I pivot off line to the left, and use my left lead hand to frame on the right side of his neck. Specifically on how I first straighten my arm(like a very short karate forearm strike) then essentially move it like a short hook, to get them spinning off balance. Setting up for a big knee strike.

 

[Jared Traveler]

I worked on switch hitting for the first time in class. You do switch your stance often when pivoting to the right, but switch hitting where you stay in front of your opponent I hadn't done yet.

Basically you wait until they try to keep your front leg, then switch your feet and throw your jab like a cross, followed up with a series of punches and kicks.

I have been tagged with this a few times in sparring from my instructor.

 

[Jared Traveler]

Unexpectedly this week I will be teaching a Muay Thai class to Uganda soldiers, as a thank you for loaning me their "well loved" weapons, for a training I was conducting.

 

[Jared Traveler]

Unexpectedly this week I will be teaching a Muay Thai class to Uganda soldiers, as a thank you for loaning me their "well loved" weapons, for a training I was conducting.

Apparently they are just security not military, a private security company. They definitely wanted to look military though and even claimed they were. But they aren't.

 

[skribs]

My lesson yesterday: don't meow in Muay Thai class.

The coach was getting on my case about not breathing when I get hit. Well...I was. But at the exact same time as my partner was breathing, using the exact same noise. Coach said one of us needed a different noise.

So the next rep, when my partner punched me in the ribs, I went "MEOW". I've never known coach to be speechless, but there it happened.

 

[skribs]

Yesterday's lesson: when working on wall stuff, pick the wall touching mat, not the wall touching a 2x4.

 

[skribs]

Yesterday's lesson: gloves make your hands bigger.

If you're used to catching kicks without gloves, or with significantly smaller gloves, then you will need to make adjustments for catching kicks with gloves.

If you don't, you will punch yourself in the nuts several times.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Yesterday's lesson: gloves make your hands bigger.

If you're used to catching kicks without gloves, or with significantly smaller gloves, then you will need to make adjustments for catching kicks with gloves.

If you don't, you will punch yourself in the nuts several times.

I read your first two lines at least 3 times trying to figure out how you were catching kicks where glove size matters. Then read the last line, now it makes sense.

 

[angelariz]

I do step to a 45 when I'm targeting ribs or arms. It's just harder to do on the pads.

Body pads and thigh pads for low line kicks helps with more realistic orientation.