Blocking A Low Muay Thai Kick

Last Thursday (10/22/2009), you might have read my post about one of my favorites “Low Muay Thai Kick Can End A Fight Within Seconds” and today I owe you a follow-up.

It’s probably better to be the one who is attacking than the one who is on the receiving end.

And it’s probably safe to say that if you are attacking, you should be prepared for your opponent to throw something back at you.

Having a good defense will deinitely increase your chances of not getting seriously hit or injured.

Of course, it would be ideal to simply get out of the way of your opponent’s attacks.

Unfortunately, you will not always have the time or positioning to evade them.

Therefore you have to be able to block or check attacks.

And because I brought up the low Muay Thai kick last Thursday, it is only right that I offer you the defensive technique to deal with this type of attack.

I have to say that when I started Muay Thai years ago I came in with a fairly strong traditional Shotokan karate background and mindset when it came to blocking and counter-striking:

Block the kick by bringing your arm down and counter with a midsection reverse punch.

This actually worked in my favor in a number of tournaments.

But in Muay Thai this led more to a shin hitting the side of my unprotected face or to already described painful thigh that I couldn’t stand on for about an hour.

Can you feel my pain?

Thank you.

Anyway, if you cannot counter the low kick by stepping away or applying a push kick, simply block the low kick by lifting the leg that’s being targeted.

If you do it right and block the attacker’s kick with your knee instead of your shin, your opponent is going to feel the pain in this own leg and will probably be hesitatant in his low kicking actions.

Grasping these concepts have made a big difference is the way I look at blocking and counter-attacking.

I hope this will benefit you, too.

The 2 min. video offers some pretty good tips. Here they are: