Clinch and More Elbows (diary entry)

29.09.16   My client’s seventh lesson in Muay Thai for Cross Training (ninth in a 10 lesson course) brought us back onto clinch-work. We expanded upon the elbow clinic I previously taught on 24th September and brought in some more technically difficult elbow strikes.   Additional elbows taught in this lesson:  

• smashing down elbow

• downward jumping elbow (great link here)

• spinning elbow

  This were integrated and/or combined with footwork, applications in clinch, set-ups (such as the leg-catch/spinning elbow) and knee strikes. Training was done with basic body targeting followed by work on the Thai focus mitts and finally under progressive pressure with head cages (specific sparring). I find that good quality head cages are a great way to spar elbow strikes, which many Thai gyms often exclude from sparring due to the high risk of injury. Elbow strikes to the head are prohibited under European rules and banned altogether from K-1, but are a frequently used in “ Full Thai Rules” western matches as well as in Southeast Asia. It would be fair to say that “pure” Muay Thai and its close cousins in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar generally exhibits a larger variety of elbow strikes in their matches than kicks, particularly in the last two rounds when fighters are trying to create a stoppage.   Above image provided by Fightland's coverage of Jon "Bones" Jones UFC fight with Stephan Bonar. Not quite a kick catch spinning elbow in this instance, but the same principle applied in a more offensive way under MMA rules. Jones went for a wrestling-style ankle pick and then into a spinning elbow.