Сергей Заяшников - Win in the fight! Encyclopedia of Fight: Muay Thai, MMA, Kickboxing (Part I: Muay Thai, reducted ver)

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When doing right high kick , calf has a very large amplitude of the movement. The kick is made with the foot or lower part of the calf, and targets the head or the neck of the opponent.

2004-11-02. Moscow (RUS). “RAMTL in ‘Capitalism’ casino”. Dmitry “Sheriff” Abdullin (BLR) vs Osman “Shrek” Magomedov (RUS).

Execution. Bodyweight is moved to the left leg, the hip and right shoulder rapidly turn to the left thanks to the rotation of the rear leg (that is straightened and rotates on its ball). Then right thigh is rapidly drawn forward in a circle trajectory; the moment right part of the torso reaches the central axis, the leg rapidly unbends at the knee, the foot travels to the target in a circle trajectory, targeting the head or the body of the opponent.

In this kick, the leg should not be bent at the knee, which means that hips are turning together with the thigh, united in their movement. Left elbow or palm are covering the head from the punch, right shoulder is turned inwards, right arm is moved behind the back along the torso.

Note. One of the round kick types kick is a diagonal kick. The kick follows a circle trajectory, pointed at approximately 45 degrees to the floor. It targets the forearm or the head.

2015-12-11. Moscow City (RUS). “RAMTL FIGHT-VI”. Sher “Sher Khan” Mamazulunov (UZB) vs Valery “Gentleman” Pashkovsky (RUS).

High kicks main mistakes:

Foot is not turned on its ball;

The ball of the striking leg is not expanded;

No hand cover;

The hip goes “behind” the thigh, and does not turn together with it.

Depending on the tactical tasks and the situation in the fight, high kicks can be used in the attack, preventive attack or counter-attack.

When used in the attack, high kicks can be done as a stand-alone kick or part of the series. For instance, they are often used together with straight punches.

When used in a counter-attack, the boxer throws high kick immediately after the defense against the opponent’s kick. Usually, Thai boxer answers to a kick with a counter kick.

Right high kick can be done after step with the left foot to the left or forward-left. Similarly, left high kick can be done after right foot step to the right or forward-right.

These moves are mainly used against the attacking opponent. Moving to the right or to the left, the boxer gets away from the opponent’s attack and throws a counter high kick.

Defense against high kicks :

Calf cover-up;

Shoulder, forearm or glove cover-up against head high kicks;

Elbow cover-up against high body kicks;

Pulling back;

Jump back;

Leg push stop;

Step back with leg moving backwards. When defending against right high kick, back foot makes a step back while right hand parries the kicking leg from left to right.

2016-02-11. Moscow City, “Imperiya” Tower. 54th floor.“RAMTL FIGHT-VII”. Beybola “Head” Samedov (AZB) vs Alexander Krupnov (RUS).

2016-03-24. Moscow (RUS).“RAMTL FIGHT-VIII”, Abakar “Joker” Muratbekov (RUS) vs Roman “Vulture” Koshin (RUS).

The boxer puts up his leg bent at the knee, blocking the opponent’s kick with his calf. The foot points down and lead elbow is firmly tucked against inner knee side. The elbow and the calf create the protection wall, fully covering left and right sides of the torso.

2004-11-16. Moscow (RUS). “RAMTL in ‘Capitalism’ casino. Virachai Sukhechen (THA) vs Marsel "Sailor" Adzhiniyazov (RUS).

Main calf cover-up mistakes:

No hand cover-up;

Left foot is not turned in its ball and points upwards, not left-upwards.

After the defense, the boxer can go for a counter-attack with right high kick, low kick or punch, for instance, “one-two” combination of straight head punches.

Defense against high

roundhouse

kicks with shoulder, forearm or glove backside cover-up.

The defense against right high kick technique. In the fighting stance, the boxer draws up left shoulder to cover the chin. He presses the downside of the left glove to the side of his head. This way he protects the head from the side with a glove, the elbow and the forearm.

Specification. Often, the judges do not consider forearm and arm defense to be a defense, thus the opponent’s kick is fully counted. Though there are more vulnerable places on the body, several good kicks can be enough for the opponent to not be able to defend himself with “beaten” forearms or punch with “beaten” hands.

2004-10-26. Moscow (RUS). “RAMTL in ‘Capitalism’ casino”. Sergey Shish (BLR) vs Elbrus Dzhumakov (RUS).

Pulling back defense against high

roundhouse

kick.

The technique of this defense is very simple: the boxer quickly pulls back, bending backwards in the lower back.

To defend against right kick, the boxer steps left-right, softening the kick impact, and grips the leg with his left hand either from the outer side, taking a kick into the body, either from the inner side, taking the kick with the forearm.

Diagonal kick technique is similar to the high kick, the only difference being that kicking leg goes along a circle trajectory, with approximately 45 degrees to the floor. The kick targets the forearm and the head of the opponent. Usually this kick is used as a counter attack responding to the punch of opponent.

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Thanks to the big amplitude of the leg move and its big weight, it is a very strong kick, however not easy to execute – and that is why it is used relatively rare in Thai boxing fights.

2016-03-24. Moscow (RUS). “RAMTL FIGHT-VIII”. Abakar “Joker” Muratbekov (RUS) vs Roman “Vulture” Koshin (RUS).

Before right circle kick , left foot steps right-forward, at the same time turning to the right. Then the torso makes a strong rotation to the right, moving bodyweight from right to left leg; shoulders go ahead of the hip, and hip goes ahead of the thigh – which makes back muscles and back side of the thigh stretch.

Vertical rotation axis goes through left leg and left shoulder. Right foot leaves the floor and starts rotation movement towards the target along a circle trajectory. The kick is made with the heel and targets upper body, head or neck of the opponent. In the end of the kick, the torso is turned to the opponent with its right side, right shoulder is drawn forward. Left palm and left elbow cover the head from a counter-punch.

2015-12-11. Moscow City. “RAMTL FIGHT-VI”. Danila “Nerd” Goldinov (RUS) vs Igor “Tikhon” Tikhonov (RUS).

Since left round kick is too visible due to its large right step, it is rarely used as a stand-alone kick in a fight. More commonly, it is used after missing the target with a right round kick, or in the situation when the right leg ends up being in the front.

2015-10-23. Moscow City. “RAMTL FIGHT-V”. Rasul Vaisov (UZB) vs Arslan “Lion” Yallyev (RUS). On the left photo: A. Yallyev, T. Dzhemaliev.

Left round kick technique is similar to the right round kick technique. The only difference is that the step before the kick is longer (step with the right leg forward-left). All moves are done to another side.

Jump

kicks

.

2015-10-23. Moscow City. “RAMTL FIGHT-V”. Hariton “Wolf” Tuktaev (UZB) vs Elbrus “Sheick”Kaziev (RUS).

It is a mistake to think that in Thai boxing punches are secondary. Enromous amount of fights end before the final gong just because of the punch effects – even in Thailand, where boxers are traditionally strong in kicks, elbow and knee strikes techniques.

2011-06-23. Moscow (RUS). VIP-RAMTL GYM. Radu Sprighel (NYC, USA) hold at pads.

Though not being equally strong as kicks and knee strikes, punches are more precise and can reach a very vulnerable area – the lower jaw.

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Jab is used to gauge the distance and probe the opponent’s resistance, coordination and defense ability. Jab disrupts the opponent and prevents him from focusing. A lot of attacks start with jab.

Execution. Body weight is transferred to the front leg, left shoulder turns to the right until reaches central torso axis, and then the hand rapidly straightens along a direct trajectory. When reached the target, the fist makes a punch through rapid quarter clockwise rotation, having palm pointed down.

When doing the punch, the boxer focuses all his strength on the forward hand movement, however when put back, hand travels relaxed and without any tension. In the position when the hand is straightened forward, left shoulder covers the left side of the chin, while right hand covers right side of it.

Jab can be combined with left footstep forward or right footstep backwards (left footstep backwards is rarely used).

Note. When punching, the fist is pointed thumb up: this will make the punch longer, however in that case it will be harder for the opponent to use his shoulder to cover the chin from the right punch.

2005-01-11. Moscow (RUS). “RAMTL in ‘Capitalism’ casino”. Juri Zhukovsky (BLR) vs Zaur “Samurai” Abdusalamov (RUS).