MUAY THAI BOXING /

KICKBOXING
 The strikes in Kickboxing or Muay Thai are very similar to Boxing except instead
of hitting with just your fist you will also hit with your elbows and knees as well as
your feet.

STANCE
Just as in Boxing, Muay Thai or Kickboxing begins with your Stance. (See boxing
stance section) the differences are whether you’re in orthodox stance, which is
right-handed, or southpaw stance, which is left-handed, your lead toe or foot will
face forward or a 12 o’clock position instead of 11 o’clock or 1 o’clock as in
boxing. However your back foot will remain in the same position and on its tiptoe,
for right hand stance 5 o’clock, for left hand stance 7 o’clock. Also instead of
leaning forward to get your leverage going through the upper body you will lean
backwards or at the very least stand up straighter so that the leverage of your torso
or upper body will go through your legs. Your punches and footwork will remain
the same as in boxing.

KICKS

The two most common or basic kicks in Muay Thai or Kickboxing are the push
kick, and the roundhouse or round kick. Followed closely by the front snap kick
and the sidekick.

FRONT LEG PUSH KICK

Now with a Front Leg Push Kick it will be almost identical to a back leg pushed
except you want to bring your back leg closer to your front leg almost standing
straight up so that you don’t over extend your body when you kick. Again whether
you’re left-handed or right-handed, you want to keep your hands up protecting
your face as in boxing, then with your torso leaning slightly backward you want to
lift your back knee straight up towards your stomach while flexing your foot
(pulling your toe towards your body) making your foot completely flat so that you
don’t hit with your tiptoe. Then you want to extend your whole leg outward and
completely straight towards your target while moving your hips forward.

Repeat these movements very slowly and increase the speed as you gain more
coordination and confidence!

 BACK LEG PUSH KICK

The push kick as it is called in Muay Thai is a kick that everyone knows if you
watched any police show, it is the police officer kicking in the door of the suspect.

First you’re going to start off with your Stance. Whether you’re left-handed or
right-handed, you want to keep your hands up protecting your face as in boxing
then with your torso leaning slightly backward you want to lift your back knee
straight up towards your stomach while flexing your foot (pulling your toe towards
your body) making your foot completely flat so that you don’t hit with your tiptoe.
Then you want to extend your whole leg outward and completely straight towards
your target while moving your hips forward.

This means that you will be kicking with the force of your butt and hips rather
than kicking upward with your shin as in a front snap kick, which we will show
later.

Repeat these movements very slowly and increase the speed as you gain more
coordination and confidence!
 BACK LEG ROUNDHOUSE/ROUND KICK

With the roundhouse or round kick you will have the same Stance as with the push
kick. To throw a back leg round kick you’re going to begin by whipping your hips
as fast as you can towards your target followed closely by bending and pointing the
knee towards the target (as the knee is like a Laser scope for your foot),

while pivoting or spinning on the ball of your front foot so as not to sprain or
break your front knee. As your hips and knee turn towards your target you want
to snap your shin (extend it quickly) at the target while pointing your toe. The
main part you want to hit with or connect with on a round kick is the instep,
which is the point between the knuckles of your foot to the bottom part of your
shin. If you connect beyond these points you can break your toe or break your
shin.

After impact you want to pull the shin and hips back so that the body falls back to
its original fighting position. Repeat these movements very slowly and increase the
speed as you gain more coordination and confidence!

 KNEES

Throwing a Knee Strike is actually very simple. It begins with the same Stance as
with the Push kick! As you throw the knee your upper body should be leaning
backwards as you quickly twist your hips and push off the back foot and toe while
bending the knee very sharply towards your target! While throwing the knee strike
you want to point your toes downward as it directs your knee very sharply towards
the target!

Repeat these movements very slowly and increase the speed as you gain more
coordination and confidence!

 
 ELBOWS

In Muay Thai there are many types of elbows thrown! For this lesson we will deal
with the basic three elbows, which are the straight elbow, the over-the-top elbow
and the upper-cut elbow.

FRONT LEG STRAIGHT ELBOW

To throw a Front Leg Straight Elbow you’re going to start off in your natural
boxing Stance, with your chin down and elbows relaxed at your side. As you begin
to throw the elbow you’re going to drop your hands slightly from your chin down
to the chest and press the hand against the chest very tightly while lifting the elbow
up to shoulder height. At the same time you’re going to torque or twisted the hips
very quickly towards your target to deliver the blow then quickly pull the elbow
and hips back to their original fighting position!

Repeat these movements very slowly and increase the speed as you gain more
coordination and confidence!

BACK LEG STRAIGHT ELBOW

Throwing the Back Leg Straight Elbow is just like throwing the front leg elbow
except you’re just going to pivot a little more on the back toe to give your hips
much more force and power while hitting your target! Start off in your natural
boxing stance, with your chin down and elbows relaxed at your side. As you begin
to throw the elbow you’re going to drop your hands slightly from your chin down
to the chest and press the hand against the chest very tightly while lifting the elbow
up to shoulder height. At the same time you’re going to torque or twisted the hips
very quickly towards your target to deliver the blow then quickly pull the elbow
and hips back to their original fighting position!

Repeat these movements very slowly and increase the speed as you gain more
coordination and confidence!

OVER-THE-TOP ELBOW

An Over-The-Top Elbow should be mainly thrown off the back leg. It is basically
identical to throwing the back leg straight elbow except instead of bringing your
elbow just to shoulder height and throwing it straight; you’re going to swing the
elbow in a circular motion to get the elbow over the shoulder while pivoting on
your back toe then dropping it diagonally across your target!