Well, summer is finally upon us and after an entire day of procrastination I’ve decided to sit down and write. As always the time is there but there’s also a lot of distractions that let things drift to the wayside. You know after all this time, I still need to work on my focus. As always that’s a work in progress.

It’s been a good week training and I’ve spent more time at the gym than last week which is always a good thing. A couple of good runs this weekend has rounded things off well and as always the time I commit is time well spent. Training wise I finished with a bit of me time hitting the bags in one of my gyms open mat sessions.

I’ve been focusing a lot of late on ‘teeps’ or front kicks as well as knee strikes so spent most of my time concentrating on both of these areas. I’ve found when you use a teep effectively it’s a very powerful kick for creating distance to counter attack, or to set your opponent up for a follow up strike. Teep and a body kick is always a popular one in most gyms I’ve trained out of over the years.

That’s how you do it.com 

As I’m sure most of you know it’s essentially the kicking version of a jab, so it’s important to use it at the right time. In the past I’ve thrown that kick for the sake of it, but recently I’ve begun to use it when it should be used. I’ve gone back to basics a lot recently and I’m still a firm believer that it’s the little things in life that see you through.

It’s good of course to be able to follow up after you’ve got a little room to breathe, so I’ve spent time just drilling Teep then Knee off my rear leg and alternating to my front leg too. In fact, I’ve spent more time working my rear leg teep than off my lead (being honest both aren’t too bad but the rear is the faster and stronger of the two).

I remember being taught many years ago that your lead leg is your range finder or jab and your rear leg is your ‘fuck off’ kick. If you carry on the momentum (one kick leading straight into another) you should be able to ‘walk through’ someone, and I think that’s quite an intimidating attack in itself and of course you’ve got different striking areas with the kick too.

I think if you put your hip into the kick it has a lot of stopping power when thrown with a bit of venom. It was one of the first kicks I was taught in Muay Thai and it can often be one of the most effective. Not everything has to start with a punch (we’re big on boxing in the west).

So other than focusing a lot on that particular kick when I’ve had the chance (usually just on the bags ) I’m also pretty much intent on making sure my knees are also a force to be reckoned with. In fact, out of all my weapons in Muay Thai I’d say knees are a prime candidate for being my favourite.

Other than elbows of course. And just like elbows they deliver real damage when you use them effectively. In fact, I’ve won a couple of fights simply because of my knees. Broadly speaking it only takes one well placed knee to finish a fight. I’ve seen that happen a few times too.

Some days it just feels good to focus on the simple things in life in training. What we do isn’t rocket science but what we’re taught works. At least when you apply it correctly anyway. So that’s just about it from me for another week, and I thought I’d leave you with a video on my favourite thing courtesy of Master A. (one of the best ‘how to’ videos on knees I’ve seen in all honesty.) In the mean time, have a good week train hard and just like the time.. I’ll see you on that road. (hopefully next Sunday.)

Muay Thai How to Develop Devastating Knees Tutorial