Superb Striking Tips With Liam Harrison
Liam Harrison is one of the few well respected Muay Thai fighters from outside of Thailand. He has fought and won against many legendary Thai figures in the sport. He is known as “The Hitman” for a reason. With over 110 fights and only 24 losses, he goes in the ring to get the job done, not to play games. The Hitman hits hard and shoots to kill, with an incredible 48 knockout wins in Muay Thai. Within his 24 losses, less than five have come from knockout or TKO, so if you are planning on fighting Liam anytime, you better be prepared for a full fight, and a war. It's clear-cut that you do not want to get hit by this man, so obviously you wouldn’t try to block too often, instead you may try to dodge. Well, good luck with that.
In this video from The Hitman’s “Power Muay Thai” Instructional, Liam shows you to follow up a missed left kick to the head, with a spinning elbow. He discusses when the elbow is appropriate and when a different technique is a better fit for the situation. As a fighter it is extremely important to know when to use techniques. You can be the strongest fighter, the fastest, and have amazing technique, but if your choice of technique and timing are off, you will never do damage to an opponent.
At the beginning, Harrison dives right in telling the viewer what the combination is, expressing that if you miss the kick, you may take a left hook counter to the face. But that’s a fight, you will miss and you will get hit. Liam follows up that statement by making sure the viewer can be certain that they won’t get hit with the same punch multiple times. He states that fighters should look for patterns like that, and make sure that if they throw the kick and see the opponent slip again, they know what is coming next, and have the ability to “counter the counter” with a back elbow.
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The pair of fighters go through the motions, first of the missed kick and left hook counter. As Liam throws his left leg head kick, switch stepping and swinging for the fences; his partner Andy steps back with his right leg, allowing him to shift his head over his back hip out of the way of the oncoming kick. This position puts weight on the back leg, allowing for Andy to spring back to his normal stance and throw a left hook to Liam’s face. After showing the switch kick with Andy’s slip, The Hitman shows the spinning back elbow, after stepping down from his missed kick. Once his kicking foot touches the floor outside of Andy’s front leg, Liam spins and steps with his right leg towards Andy, while bringing his elbow straight back towards Andy’s chin. Harrison explains that fighters should be hitting with the bottom part of their elbow while aiming for the bottom part of the opponent's jaw.
After showing the slip and counter from a different angle, Harrison shows what not to do. He tells the viewer not to step down too far out of your opponent’s stance or you risk missing them and opening yourself up to the left hook again. If you do spin too far and get hit, it may be towards the back of the head, which Harrison guarantees will cause some damage. Showing the counter a final time, The Hitman steps down right outside Andy’s stance, and spins. Starting with his head, looking to his target. His head is immediately followed by the elbow, coming straight up the side of Harrison’s body as if he was sprinting and swinging his arm back.
Elbows from any angle are devastating, and when you have a wide variety you have more opportunities to do damage to an opponent. It is crucial to be able to integrate elbow techniques into combinations and know when to use them. Liam gives fighters everything they need to be able to connect their elbows to their opponents chin.
From the techniques breakdown to the in-fight perspective, Liam Harrison is the guy to go to when you need to elevate your striking game.