Connecting Punches And Knees With Ernesto Hoost

Punches are arguably the most important weapons in any strikers arsenal. This doesn’t change, no matter the sport, whether it’s Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai or Mixed Martial Arts. Punches can not only score knockdowns, knock outs and points but they can also help set up your other weapons if you can use those. 

You see this in all combat sports. In MMA it’s common to see punches set up or be in combination with a takedown but the most common place that you see this is in Dutch style Kickboxing. Dutch style Kickboxing is characterized by its use of punches and kicks in combinations but it also incorporates knees and who better to learn about the Dutch Kickboxing style from than Ernesto Hoost.

In this video, Ernesto Hoost goes over how you can connect your punches and knees together in combinations and how to use them to set each other up. Ernesto Hoost is a Kickboxing and Muay Thai legend, being a four time K-1 World Champion. Having retired from professional competition in 2006, Hoost has gone on to coach many fighters and share his knowledge with up and comers. 

Knees are a great strike, as they can deal a ton of damage, enough to break bones and end a fight. The problem is that they are a really short range strike, meaning that you are going to need to find a way to get in close to your opponent to land them. This is why most knees happen from within the clinch. The problem is that in strict Kickboxing, not MMA or Muay Thai, the clinch is either severely limited or out right banned. This means that you need to find a way to get into range if you want to land knees. 

This is why setting up your knees with punches is a great idea, as they can get you into range to land shots. They also get your opponent thinking that you are only throwing punches, which means that they won’t expect a knee. 

This video focuses on combinations that start with punches and finish with a knee. Hoost says that it’s important that you use these punches to get close, so that you are in a good enough range to land the knee.

The first combination is short, sweet and simple. It’s a rear hook, followed by a lead hook, into a rear knee. Hoost says that if you want to make sure your knee hits hard and is guaranteed to land, you can grab your opponent‘s head and pull them into the strike. You can even use your hooks to help you get a good grip on your opponent’s head by reaching around behind their head after it lands. You can even miss the strike on purpose to get the clinch grip. Keep in mind to do this quickly if you are fighting under rules that don’t allow for the clinch. 

If you don’t like starting combinations off with your rear hand, then you can go lead hook tho rear hook then rear knee, that works as well. You can also use a switch knee or step up knee in this case if you feel more comfortable doing that. You can do both with or without getting the clinch grip. 

Notice how Ernesto Hoost is using hooks rather than straight punches to set up his knees. This is because hooks are short range punches that get you in a good range for knees. Straight punches on the other hand, are long punches that don’t get you in the optimal range to land powerful knees. 

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