Muay Thai for MMA - New videos from VT-1 Gym

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 1/05/2011 7:35am

You know what I'd really like to see? A good video about round kicks to the leg in MMA. It seems really underutilized. Leg kicks are used well by a few guys but many others even at the pro level have terrible form and don't sink their weight into shot or turn their hip over. It is a video I've been thinking about making for a while but I don't have anything more than an iphone camera. I'd love to see someone with the facilities and Thai instructors you guys have produce a clip on that.

**MMAMickey** · Posted On: 1/05/2011 1:33pm

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

You know what I'd really like to see? A good video about round kicks to the leg in MMA. It seems really underutilized. Leg kicks are used well by a few guys but many others even at the pro level have terrible form and don't sink their weight into shot or turn their hip over. It is a video I've been thinking about making for a while but I don't have anything more than an iphone camera. I'd love to see someone with the facilities and Thai instructors you guys have produce a clip on that.

This.

I see Alves kick guys' legs into the crowd, but very few others.

**JSK_83** · Posted On: 1/05/2011 2:43pm

I think the most unused techniques in MMA is the Muay Thai elbow. Do you have videos on that?

**MMAMickey** · Posted On: 1/05/2011 3:26pm

Originally Posted by JSK_83

I think the most unused techniques in MMA is the Muay Thai elbow. Do you have videos on that?

Wut? Elbows are used all the time.

What specifically are you describing as a 'muay thai elbow'?

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 1/05/2011 4:12pm

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

You know what I'd really like to see? A good video about round kicks to the leg in MMA. It seems really underutilized. Leg kicks are used well by a few guys but many others even at the pro level have terrible form and don't sink their weight into shot or turn their hip over. It is a video I've been thinking about making for a while but I don't have anything more than an iphone camera. I'd love to see someone with the facilities and Thai instructors you guys have produce a clip on that.

Seconded. Also, a special or two on using kicks in combos would be great. Most guys, even fighters who are supposedly strikers, just toss them out there with no setup or followup, so they end up missing or getting taken down more often than they do any damage. I think I've seen Alves land his jab-inside leg kick more often than I've seen any other five fighters combined land their "stand still, kick, whiff".

I like the push kick video. it seems like you wouldn't really be able to get as much pop in it with the lean back, but you're just trying to screw the other guy's balance, I suppose.

**elbowtko** · Posted On: 1/05/2011 7:25pm

Originally Posted by Neo Sigma

Seconded. Also, a special or two on using kicks in combos would be great. Most guys, even fighters who are supposedly strikers, just toss them out there with no setup or followup, so they end up missing or getting taken down more often than they do any damage. I think I've seen Alves land his jab-inside leg kick more often than I've seen any other five fighters combined land their "stand still, kick, whiff".

I like the push kick video. it seems like you wouldn't really be able to get as much pop in it with the lean back, but you're just trying to screw the other guy's balance, I suppose.

Ive always learned with the lean back method. Never leaning forward as you might get off balance. This is pure Muay Thai of course. I always thought that in MMA you would do it the other way around leaning forward so that if you missed your weight would be forward instead of back so you WOULDN'T get taken down.

Sorry, dont know anything about takedowns. Know more about Muay Thai though, and the lean back method is what i feel is the normal way of doing a push kick. No front snap kick ala karate.

**MMAMickey** · Posted On: 1/06/2011 3:02am

I was always taught not to lean back because less of your weight goes through the push. Plus, when you lean back it gets pretty hard to use it effectively as a face stomp.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 1/06/2011 7:15am

Back leg lean forward front leg lean back IMO. He mentions that in the video. Most of the big face kick teeps you see are back leg. The front leg is really just to keep them off of you and set up other kicks.

**Burnsey** · Posted On: 1/06/2011 11:31am

Originally Posted by elbowtko

Ive always learned with the lean back method. Never leaning forward as you might get off balance. This is pure Muay Thai of course. I always thought that in MMA you would do it the other way around leaning forward so that if you missed your weight would be forward instead of back so you WOULDN'T get taken down.

I would imagine that you'd still be better off with the lean back method as the danger of strikes to counter attack still exists.

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

Back leg lean forward front leg lean back IMO. He mentions that in the video. Most of the big face kick teeps you see are back leg. The front leg is really just to keep them off of you and set up other kicks.

I agree. I was always taught that for a teep your weight should be in the middle of the back leg so that if you miss or are blocked then you're in much less trouble. So a front leg teep requires a shift back and a rear leg a shift forwards.

From what I've been taught/seen the front leg teep can be used to do some damage but its mainly designed to maintain range and catch people off balance (a quick teep whilst someone is doing a slow rear leg roundhouse can easily put someone on their ass). I've also been taught to teep whilst leaning the body back to enhance the protective effect when someones trying to rush in with punches.