Follow Up Your Combination With A Brutal Low Kick!
Cyrille Diabate is here to add a little spice to your next combination!
In combat two people square off, move around to where one person has a positional advantage over the other. Positional advantage is just a fancy phrase for opportunity. Typically, the fighter who can extract more opportunity out of the other is usually the person with their hand raised at the end of the fight.
Every fighter has their own approach to creating openings and if their timing is right exploited those openings to their advantage. Iron Mike Tyson used his “Peek a boo” style head movement to get to the inside of much taller opposition. Once there his opportunities flourished, resulting in some of the most devastating knockouts in boxing history.
In Thai boxing it is no different creating positional advantage creates opportunities. The major difference in Thai Boxing is the addition of leg kicks, elbows and knee. Garnering it the nickname “Art of eight Limbs” or “Art of eight weapons” depending on who you ask.
Many Thai coaches believe that if you “Chop the trunk of a tree, it will fall”. Simply speaking, Kick the legs and the opponent will go down. Often Thai matches become wars of attrition in which fighters can withstand more damage to their legs.
One way to land more leg kicks, is to end punching combos with a kick. Set the hands up high with punches, throw the leg kick to end the combo. MMA fighter Jose Aldo is a master at using leg kicks. So much so that in a match with Urijah Faber the damage was so severe Urijah could not train for several months after the bout.
Team Quest Striking coach Cyrille Diabate has coached both Randy Couture and Dan Henderson in striking. Adding leg kicks to the end of combos led Dan Henderson to a highlight reel finish of Michael Bisping. Jab, right, leg kick- Jab, Leg kick…..H-BOMB!! For the knockout.
Here is a quick example by Cyrille to implement leg kicks to the end of your combos
To break this down let us look at the combo as numbers
A Jab is #1, Overhand cross is #2, Left Hook is #3,Back hand uppercut is #6.
Leg Kicks are designated by what part of our partners leg we are kicking. Inside leg kick to the inner thigh, Outside leg kick is to the outer thigh, both kicks should land just above the knee using the lower shin not the foot.
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As a side note in Thai boxing there are two types of leg kicks. “Chopping and Slicing” Chopping leg kicks come downward into the thigh opposed to slicing which are faster cut upwards into the thigh but present more danger if checked (blocked) properly.
The combo that is shown is as follows
Jab (1) Uppercut (6) Cross (3) shuffle step, Inside leg kick. Overhand Cross (2) Outside leg kick.
The true key to this technique is the shuffle step. That is the piece that gives us positional advantage. The shuffle step does two big things. First it moves our body off centerline making it harder for our partner to counter. Second, it builds power in our kick.
An example of this would be stand in front of a punching bag. Throw a kick while keeping your center lined up with the center of the bag. It becomes hard to follow through the bag. Now do the same thing but this time take a step out laterally moving your centerline to the side you are kicking. Take notice about the power.
The difference in power while kicking the bag, is the reason for positional advantage. Each shot can add just a little more power, add that up over 3 to 5 rounds and it pays off.
Timing is everything while striking. The more you do it the better you will be. Check out Striking For MMA by Cyrille Diabate today!