Landing Elbows & Creating Angles (diary entry)

30.10.2023 Hours four and five were covered with my couple client's second Muay Thai course in a row. We followed a similar format as previously, using 12 x 3 minute rounds beginning with the clinch. After this we had a bit more time to go through technical areas each of my clients felt needed addressing. Rounds 1-3 - Clinch with sweeps (no strikes) Rounds 4-6 - Clinch with striking and sweeps Rounds 7-9 - Straight techniques versus cutting off the ring Rounds 10-12 - Kickboxing versus elbows & knees Landing Elbows:  One of my clients was concerned that elbow strikes were being used in isolation only. Whilst this does happen and can be a very sound tactic at times, they are usually best thrown as part of a combination. We looked two very basic combinations: jab/cross/elbow chop and jab/cross/hook/horizontal elbow. Here we looked at not over-rotating the elbow strike and the importance of stepping offline. Creating Angles:  Angles, circling and any tactic used to get off-centre are achieved with lateral or pivot steps. When moving outside an opponent, a simple step is all that is requited. However, it is efficient to pair this whilst drawing an opponent's attack. When moving to the inside, the fighter needs to be aware they are heading into an opponent's power line and throwing jabs (or straight lefts if they are a southpaw against an orthodox nak muay) should be used to cover this movement. We looked at switch-hitting as well, which is a lot easier to do from the Thai square-on stance. Understanding Range:  Range sensitivity is area I drew from the sparring. Often the teep can become crowded. This often comes from a fighter under-estimating the range he can get with the kick in Muay Thai. We looked at slight lean backs and more subtle shifts when finding ranges. https://clubbchimera.com/services/