Muay Thai low leg kick used in karate training????

[GeoGiant]

I'm a tall guy with a good reach..... and I'm slow. I'm trying to find a move that I can use to get my shorter opponent to drop his/her hands. I've watched a lot of sparing videos and the Muay Thai low leg strike (using my shin to strike the outter or inner thigh of my opponent) seems like a great move for me. My line of thinking is - the distance between my foot on the ground and "your" thigh is the shortest distance between any 2 points, other than maybe a jab to the head/chest. Also, this is a move I can do from a distance and then close on my opponent.

First and foremost, I want to make sure I'm not going to cause someone an injury. Does this type of move present a greater danger to my training opponent? As a person that has had knee issues in the past I'm very wary of doing anything around the knee area.

I should say that we train to fight in my dojo so the concept of points is not relevant to me.

Why does everyone think?

Is my logic flawed?

Am I presenting un-needed danger to my training partner?

Any suggestions on how to train to use this technique?

[Kuma]

Just don't hit them in the side of the knee and they should be fine. At most you'll give them a charley horse and/or some bruising.

Being a tall guy, there's another option for you: knee strikes to the outside of your opponent's arms. Beat on the biceps area of their arms enough and it quickly drains the strength out of their arms and they drop them a lot more. Tall guys and high knee strikes work out well together.

Train it either on a banana bag or have a partner hold a kick pad to the outside/inside of his thigh and he can hook his hand in his belt. Then just wail away.

[Toptomcat]

Do work your way up to it, though- don't just start throwing full-force kicks to the leg with no prep. Legs are a lot like the torso in that they'll take a phenomenal amount of punishment if you condition them well, but not very much at all if you don't.

[GeoGiant]

Thanks for the advice.

The reason I started to think about the low leg was due to a sparing experience. I was working out with yellow belt that is a lot younger & smaller... well he threw a sidekick and his heel landed on the outside of my thigh... WOW it hurt. 3 days later I still feel like I have a bump the size of tennis ball on my leg.

I'm hoping to get a heavy bag in the near future so I can practice hitting my shin against something.

[tonydee]

You might consider a low section front kick... it's easy to deliver, requires little telegraphing, needs less effort and motion than a roundhouse/turning motion, creates less counter-attack opportunities, and it's easier to keep your body front facing so you can follow up quickly over the top with hand techniques to exploit any opening you've created. FWIW,

.

Cheers,

Tony

[GeoGiant]

Thanks for the video Tonydee!

[Toptomcat]

When using straight kicks to the front of the leg, watch out that you aren't doing it when the targeted leg is fully extended. Straight kicks to the front of the knee are generally avoided in full-contact arts because (assuming a properly conditioned leg) they typically have negligible effect but have a small chance of hyperextending the leg to the point where one or more tendons rupture, if it's quite straight and has enough weight on it.

Round kicks to the thigh- as more commonly seen in MT- are much safer, while also having more effect for 98% of the time.

[MMA_Jim]

That being said (TopTomCat) no experienced fighter is going to be fighting with straight legs.

A good cut kick does well to keep people guessing which level the next attack is coming. A lead side cut kick followed up with a cross hook combination works exceptionally well.

[tonydee]

When using straight kicks to the front of the leg, watch out that you aren't doing it when the targeted leg is fully extended. Straight kicks to the front of the knee are generally avoided in full-contact arts because (assuming a properly conditioned leg) they typically have negligible effect but have a small chance of hyperextending the leg to the point where one or more tendons rupture, if it's quite straight and has enough weight on it.

Round kicks to the thigh- as more commonly seen in MT- are much safer, while also having more effect for 98% of the time.

Good points. I typically use front thrusting kick to attack the lower torso, which should be quite easy for a taller person often fighting shorter opponents.

Cheers,

Tony

[joesteph]

I've watched a lot of sparing videos and the Muay Thai low leg strike (using my shin to strike the outter or inner thigh of my opponent) seems like a great move for me. . . .

I should say that we train to fight in my dojo so the concept of points is not relevant to me.

The new art I'm studying not only trains Muay Thai kick to the legs, but we can use it in controlled contact sparring. The knee is off limits, I kick wearing shin guards, and I wear thigh protectors (in case the other guy does it to me) that I got from AWMA, just to play it safe.

Striking against the heavy bag, though, means going all out. I don't wear shin guards when I do this exercise to toughen up my shins.