How effective are the Old Muay thai kicks

[honest_truth]

YouTube - Donnie B. - Muay Thai Driving Kick

I found the video pretty interesting, just not sure how bending your kicking leg knee produces more power.

Would such a kick work well in MMA ?, since its a driving forward kick that allows for a clinch right after, but the decreased range is a bit of a concern.

[codo3500]

This is how we kick in my gym, seems to be successful for our fighters in their MMA bouts, our kickboxers use it too, yet to see it used under a muay thai ruleset as they're quite rare around here.

[hoodedmonk]

I stopped the vid. exactly half way through! (1:27 to be exact) the problem I see, is this guy is believing his own BULLSHIT!

[Uncle Skippy]

Range determines what type of kick you throw. If you are outside of kicking range, are you going to throw a 'ring style' kick which uses a longer range? Or an 'old style' kick which requires you to close more distance and puts you within punching range?

In his last fight, Cain Velasquez used short-range thai kicks to work his opponents thighs from an extended clinch. He also mixed them up with knees. It was an amazing display of clinch dominance.

Keith Jardin, in his fight against Wanderlei Silva, led off with short range kicks. He got too close and Wandy used his hands to counter and finish the fight.

Moral? Range determines what you throw. I wouldn't throw these kicks unless I had some sort of control over my opponent's upper body; he would drop me in an instant otherwise. More specifically, I wouldn't throw these kicks at all; the range required for these kicks puts me within kneeing distance. I'd rather throw knees because of my long limbs. But that is just me.

[WhiteShark]

I learned both kinds of kicks from 3 different Muay Thai coaches. Definitely not some sort of old style secret.


also, I have beef with the kicking the front of the leg camp. That just isn't where your femoral nerve is.

[Torakaka]

Different kicks for different situations if you ask me. I like both the heavy, bent leg kick and the more relaxed "straight leg" kick for their own little benefits.

The straight leg kick is fast and not nearly as telegraphed so I'll use it to pick apart open body shots to start an engagement or countering punches. The bent leg kick I'll use if my opponent ends up with the back of their leg facing me so I can drive through with an extra hard kick to the leg. It can be a great kick to throw at the end of a combo if you got your opponent covering up. It's just much easier to counter so you really have to set it up.

The straight leg kicks also don't take as much out of you, so I can throw fast straight leg kicks at someone all round, while if I tried that with the bent leg kicks I'd gas out like a mo-fo.

I'm not sure if one of these kicks is really any more damaging than the other, since they simply generate power through slightly different methods, but the bent leg kick has more drive through so you can much more easily take someone's legs out from under them or at least knock their leg around and make them unable to do anything until their balance is back together.

[Torakaka]

I learned both kinds of kicks from 3 different Muay Thai coaches. Definitely not some sort of old style secret.

Same here.

[elbowtko]

Learned both, first instructor taught it the "old style way," then thai dude with over 250 fights came from fairtex and does the "modern" way.

I think the old method is better up close, making you step out at an angle more. It does have more power, but you lose your balance quickly. I do the "modern way" ;)

[Ronin.74]

That's how I basically learned to throw a Thai kick to the leg I don't see how he thinks this is something new. For the record it's how my guys fighting MMA kick as well.

[Matt Phillips]

I learned the 'old' kick first at a JKD school.