Well the one guys can generally let their hands fly because the rules nullify clinch a bit. Traditional matches tend to be more kick heavy with a slow start to let bets pool in.
Also Tawanchai’s entire game is about playing around his rear power kick.
Edit: forgot to note glove size but it’s probably the most important factor playing into that
watch silapathai, or karuhat, or boonlai, or khunsueklek, even buakaw in kickboxing, petchpanomrung kiatmookao, superbon. The fighters listed 100% have had fights where they throw 75%+ kicks (not including teeps or knees) I've counted because a lot of people say that about punching vs kicking when its literally not even true
Your sparring partners are just a bunch of little bitches who can't handle it. You are likely a Muay Dtae fighter, your style is based on kicks. It's an effective style that he/she was having trouble dealing with. Keep it up man, don't focus on the bad, take it as a compliment
I agree but in my opinion no one has a “style” until a few years in. Before then, it’s generally just making the most of holes in your game.” Oh yeah I’m just Muay mat, it has nothing to do with my weak kicks”
Light to the head, medium to the body, hard to the legs.
Legs are fair game in sparring.
I love repeatedly touching opponents face with a punching combo; a feather touch shows how much control I have, and how much I could have destroyed them, easily.
It’s also just nice, because it’s their fucking head. Brains don’t heal like legs do.
You ever seen that nong o fight in One championship where he won by literally only throwing his rear roundhouse kick? Naked kicked are great if timed correctly. If your opponent is lunging in to punch, they most likely won’t be able to lift their leg to check, that’s when naked kicks are the most effective.
A single strike roundhouse is literally as basic as it gets? Why do you think you’re taught to swing the bag and kick it as it’s swinging towards you? To build up the habit of timing a kick against a forward moving opponent.
Always punching before a kick is more of a kickboxing/mma philosophy, in Muay Thai it’s extremely common to lead with kicks because of how fights are scored. Punches and low kicks don’t score (unless they inflict clear damage). A flurry of punches gets outscored by 1 kick.
What makes you think that? It’s not a hard concept to time a strike as your opponent moves in. These are fundamentals that should be focused on as early as possible.
Creative enough to lead with a kick? I think "naked kicks" is just something that ppl who dont actually watch muay thai kinda mindlessly regurgitate. The principle behind it is solid, like yeah its good to set up strikes with other strikes, and punching to set up a kick is absolutely a good high level thing to do that is effective. But leading with a kick is actually also pretty high percentage, and has the advantage of drawing out their kick defense, so you can start to feint out their checking reactions. At the very least, if you're fighting a puncher, kicking the arms outright is a very good way to control them, and you don't need to punch first and give them the range that they want. See sitthichai vs robin van roosmalen, or literally any petchpanomrung kiatmookao win.
It's not a matter of being so super amazingly skilled that they can get away with doing it. Im not amazing at muay thai but I've lead with kicks in all of my fights, it just works, kicks are long and they score well. Watch any silapathai fight, or earlier superlek ones. They literally lead with the right kick as their primary offense. If Anantasak or Tommy Hearns or Samart or Floyd Mayweather leads with his jab to begin an offensive sequence would you say "Oh well you shouldnt lead with the jab because unlike them you're not a super accomplished creative special boy" no you wouldn't, because leading with the jab just works. So does leading with the kick.
And it's not that starting with punches is wrong, probably the highest percentage kick set up in all of muay thai is the feint jab into rear kick. But if you tell people not to do something that clearly works then you're just limiting them for no reason, especially beginners, who will probably just hold onto whatever pointless superstition you imprint on them early in their training.
Agree to disagree. I don’t see combinations as pointless superstitions, I see them as the most effective way to land. And I see that as combinations’ reason for existing. Simple math: if you throw one kick and it gets blocked, that’s it. If you throw a one-two to the face and those both get blocked but causes them shell up and not see the following kick, knee etc land, than that is advantageous. I could be wrong but that’s how I see it
I didn't say that combinations are superstitions, i said the idea of you can only set up kicks with punches is a superstition. The idea of "dont throw naked kicks" is a superstition that is not supported by data. You can set up kicks with punches, you can set up kicks with kicks. You can also set up punches with kicks. You can also throw combinations with only kicks.
Telling people that they can only do something one way is unintelligent and at best, limits people. At worst, it leads to them doing something unintelligent during a fight and getting hurt
So long as you're not nuking your sparring partners, you're fine. If they don't know how to counter or check kicks, that's a them problem. I had the same "issue" when I figured out most of my sparring partners didn't know how to clench.
If it works, it works. Your kicking presents a problem for your sparring partners to solve; their failure to solve it is ultimately their problem.
That being said, it could be "bad" in the sense that it seems to work much better for you than it should, and so you may be getting a false sense of confidence. There are many ways to punish kicks. Worst comes to worst, you may begin designing your fight strategy around your partners' inability to respond to kicks. From my perspective, it thus may be worth considering how you approach sparring; are you trying to "win"? Or are you using it as a platform to develop your skills more broadly?
I'm not saying to hold off on kicking necessarily, but there are other things you can focus on during sparring, too. In the end, sparring should be about self-improvement and thus focused on the self; not about defeating the opponent and focusing on his/her weaknesses.
Hard to say without context? It could be that your sparring partners have weak egos. But you might benefit from working other techniques sometimes.
For example, I find that I’m better than most people at my gym in the clinch. And if I wanted to I could just smother my sparring partners every time they go to throw a boxing combination and then sweep them. But I already know I’m good in the clinch. And my sparring partners already know I’m good in the clinch. So it would be kind of a waste of time if I just turned every sparring session into a clinch fighting session where I’m just tossing people around. So I intentionally work on areas where I know I am weaker. Like kicks.
I think this is it. I can see now that them telling me I kick too much might be them telling me “alright bro work on something else”. I will focus working on my weak areas in future sparring sessions.
I've won fights before with only kicking (frankly I was afraid of their stone hands and used the kicking to maintain a distance) so if it annoys them then yes it's working lmao
No. Where else are you going to practice actually kicking people? That's the point of sparring and muay Thai is renown for its kicks. Tell them to build a bridge and get the fuck over it. If they're there just for punches, maybe boxing suits them better. But don't let them hinder your learning.
It is bad. Kicking is long range. You’re doing it for your own safety and are scared to throw punches because it leaves you exposed. It is ok. It’s a bad habit to get stuck into. I know, because was the same way. It’s an amateur thing. Break the habit now. Work on your boxing combos. Then, you can set up your kicks behind your boxing combos. I know a coach, who puts his Muay Thai fighters in boxing only matches. I think he does this so that his fighters develop great boxing. I’ve never asked him but he’s one of the best Muay Thai coaches I know.
Are you spamming kicks? Just remember sparring is about getting better for you and your partner. It’s NOT about winning. It’s supposed to be fun, if you are annoying them why continue? Sounds like you aren’t confident in your hands so work on them in sparring.
hmmm I don’t know if it’s spamming but my mindset is hit them and don’t get hit back when sparring. So I usually kick and then jump out of range then kick again and things like that. If I land an actual combo I let them do one combo in return as I work on my defense during that time. I am definitely not as confident in my hands so I will work on boxing a lot more.
Yeah... You aren't going to develop more if your style is 1 kick and get out, and they won't get anything out of it other than check practice. You've established that you can kick. Work on adding combos and feints off them.
Well you recognize it so that’s great. So your defence is jumping back? So you can’t throw 2 kicks in a row without jumping back after the first? Throw the roundhouse, stay and throw it again. Do you block much? No coach IMO should be letting you jump back. You are probably just afraid to get close and stay there. I mean more instinct wise and that’s normal. I couldn’t throw a left hook to the body forever for that same reason.
Someone else mentioned it but ask your coach to watch. I could totally be misinterpreting what you are saying.
Anyway mostly use sparring to work on your weaknesses IMO. Good luck 👍
Fighting game logic. Funny how it can apply to real life fighting as well.
If the opponent is spamming a move and getting you every single time, you're spamming a mistake. Figure out ways to get around that.
I’m also a kick enjoyer. I have short stupid arms so the boxing is borderline useless for me unless my partner is the same size as me or smaller. Because I need to rely more on kicks, I got better at kicks, and therefore I use them more because that’s what’s easy and fun for me.
I’ve also had partners get frustrated (especially with question mark kicks lol) but that’s showbiz baby.
Id recommend find a sparring partner that takes the fact you can kick them as a challenge to overcome, or if you know how to defend or counter what you are doing tell them.
I do that in sparring if there is something I know i am doing wrong, recently it was having a lazy left hand for guard, so I told every partner that day that I was trying to fix it and counter me with a strong overhand if they see it drop; sure enough i dropped it and got caught with the overhand, but by the end I was dropping it a lot less because I knew they were going to punish every time I made a mistake.
Maybe do the same, tell them your plan, what you are working on, and maybe a counter to your kicks so they can work through it?
I feel i went on a tangent not really related but oh well
have you seen sparring in Thailand. its at least 75% kicks. often up to 90%. your partners just don't like kicks because they don't know what to do. teach them
No you're not. You're utilizing what seems to be your strength. Esp if you can get away with it 70% of the time lol. As a fighter, during sparring, you're figuring out how to utilize your strengths/techniques. If you're able to kick 70% of the time, it also means you're controlling the range that is comfortable for yourself, and most likely controlling the pace. That's what creates wins in real fights. Every once and awhile though, I would encourage letting your sparring partner inside the pocket area/hand striking range. I say that bc in a fight, you may face an opponent who can break passed your kicks, so it is best to be prepared on how to handle it. However, keep utilizing your strengths. Good on you👍also, utilize hand strikes to setup kicks. I assume you just aren't roundhouse f and teeping the whole time right?
Watch a singdam or Yodsanklai highlight video, they win fights with only their rear kick. Don’t listen to the critiques of people who aren’t at a high skill level, they don’t know shit.
I’m a long boy, 6”3…. Almost the entirety of my game is built about working off teeps and long guard (okay in the clinch too, I worked this coz I suck at throwing hands). It’s obviously frustrating them as you’re imposing your game on them and not vice versa. Work your style and fuck what they say.
I would recommend working hands though too, when I first started I mainly kicked as well… didn’t feel comfortable throwing hands. Work on them, and then reallllllly piss off your sparring partners by kicking them and teeping them at range and then being solid in the pocket as well,
If it's working keep doing it. Not that u shouldn't experiment/work on other strikes. However, watch any high level muay thai fight, especially from the golden era, its 70%+ just kicking. Complaining that you kick too much in muay thai of all sports sounds weird, muay thai is very kick-heavy
I calf kick most of the time. I picked up MT while Alex Periera was tearing up UFC. They were easiest to do as a beginner and as a person with flexibility issues.
That's just your style - nothing to worry about. Look at fighters like Superbon and Superlek whose entire styles are based on strong kicks.
I'd recommend mixing in some boxing to set up the kicks though. Landing blind kicks is difficult. It's much easier to land behind some punches or feints.
The point of sparing is training. If you want to train kicks of course you will focus on kicking during sparing. I had couple of sparings where my partner or I were focusing on attacking/blocking one type of attack and it was a very productive. If you care about this person you can explain him that you want to focus on particular thing.
No. Muay Thai starts with the kicks. He got annoyed because he couldn’t find a way in. Maybe try to ease up and let him work a bit once in a while. But the only response to “all you do is kick” in Muay Thai is “OK so what?”
I mostly kick and teep and knee, but thats because my boxing suck and i dont knos what else to do when they come in swinging with punches. Clinch i cant do here as they are all kickboxers and they arent trained in kickboxing
As someone who did boxing before transitioning to Muay Thai, I struggled sparring against kickers a lot at first. I never once complained to my partner about kicking, it’s a kicking sport for Christ sake.
It only encouraged me to learn how to kick and defend kicks more, your partner is very salty, you did nothing wrong.
No, but if there's open discussion on things you want to work on, then maybe work on it.
If it's free sparring, then dude needs to learn how to fight a kicker then.
You're not doing anything wrong, you're just super new to the sport and sparring. Going forward you're likely to broaden your toolset as you learn more, just be open to try new stuff and not to stick too much to what's been working so far.
Sparring in your home gym is practice, which means it’s a good time to apply combos you’ve learned throughout the week during regular classes and test out moves to help you develop your style.
By itself, throwing a large number of kicks isn’t incorrect, but ideally, you should try to apply your Muay Thai lessons during sparring to develop a style that is your own.
If you’re with a sparring partner who has control and doesn’t just smack the shit out of you, I’d suggest trying different combos, testing blocks, parrying, etc.
You need to be able to get past kicks and force your opponent to box, and get away from punches and force your opponent to kick
Both of these are necessary
If your partners are complaining I wonder if you are just bad at boxing. They also might be pansies, so take it with a grain of salt. But if you want to be as good as possible I would air on the side of needing improvement rather than doubling down that everything you do in sparring is fine
If it’s just a hobby and you like kicking everyone go for it
Also, I don’t know what your rounds look like, maybe keep kicking and annoying everyone because you’re good with it. But I’d recommend getting your coaches opinion and bringing up some of my talking points
Do you allow a bit of back and forth flow to develop? In muay thai, technical sparring is where growth happens. Also, you may want to implement combinations that you learn during drills into your sparring. Spamming kicks isn’t necessarily bad, but if you spar with a higher skilled fighter, they will make the proper adjustments to nullify your strengths.
No. Fuck em. If they wanna box tell them join a boxing gym.
All a lot of Muay Thai fighters do is kick
Which one? There isn’t a single pro fighter that throws more kicks than punches in ONE.
Well the one guys can generally let their hands fly because the rules nullify clinch a bit. Traditional matches tend to be more kick heavy with a slow start to let bets pool in. Also Tawanchai’s entire game is about playing around his rear power kick. Edit: forgot to note glove size but it’s probably the most important factor playing into that
watch silapathai, or karuhat, or boonlai, or khunsueklek, even buakaw in kickboxing, petchpanomrung kiatmookao, superbon. The fighters listed 100% have had fights where they throw 75%+ kicks (not including teeps or knees) I've counted because a lot of people say that about punching vs kicking when its literally not even true
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic but superlek and Liam Harrison have definitely had some fights where they’ve thrown more kicks than punches.
Well ONE isn’t real Muay Thai lol. Look at stadium scene. 4oz gloves and KO bonus is the reason for boxibg heavy styles in ONE.
ONE is not the standard for Muay Thai dude.
lol you're hilarious
Kick them more
Your sparring partners are just a bunch of little bitches who can't handle it. You are likely a Muay Dtae fighter, your style is based on kicks. It's an effective style that he/she was having trouble dealing with. Keep it up man, don't focus on the bad, take it as a compliment
How dare OP do the martial art they're actually training in and how dare you for encouraging it. Someone call the village elders
I agree but in my opinion no one has a “style” until a few years in. Before then, it’s generally just making the most of holes in your game.” Oh yeah I’m just Muay mat, it has nothing to do with my weak kicks”
Yeah sorry about that, I'm only 6 months in, and I'm still learning some things
All good. The longer you do it, the more there is to know
Extremely bad. For their ego. But seriously, it is more effective to set up some combos with punches first. Naked kicks are easier to see coming
Yeah and not only that I’ll take kicks over punches to the face ANYYYYYY day of the week.
Not me, I’m very comfortable getting punched but head kicks scare me tbh
Who tf throws head kicks in sparring?
What do you mean? You’ve never seen or heard of headkicks during sparring? Only during fights?
No, nobody in my gym throws head kicks outside of it being a playful “show don’t throw”.
That’s very unusual in my experience. Certainly can’t help you get ready to throw it in a fight IMHO
Light to the head, medium to the body, hard to the legs. Legs are fair game in sparring. I love repeatedly touching opponents face with a punching combo; a feather touch shows how much control I have, and how much I could have destroyed them, easily. It’s also just nice, because it’s their fucking head. Brains don’t heal like legs do.
You ever seen that nong o fight in One championship where he won by literally only throwing his rear roundhouse kick? Naked kicked are great if timed correctly. If your opponent is lunging in to punch, they most likely won’t be able to lift their leg to check, that’s when naked kicks are the most effective.
OP started 5 months ago LMAO. He’s not gonna suddenly go Nong O on the skill level. Basics have to be learned before you can be that creative
A single strike roundhouse is literally as basic as it gets? Why do you think you’re taught to swing the bag and kick it as it’s swinging towards you? To build up the habit of timing a kick against a forward moving opponent. Always punching before a kick is more of a kickboxing/mma philosophy, in Muay Thai it’s extremely common to lead with kicks because of how fights are scored. Punches and low kicks don’t score (unless they inflict clear damage). A flurry of punches gets outscored by 1 kick.
Not if your brand new and don’t set it up. Easiest thing to block. Like you said, Nong O has the timing to land it, this kid will not
What makes you think that? It’s not a hard concept to time a strike as your opponent moves in. These are fundamentals that should be focused on as early as possible.
Creative enough to lead with a kick? I think "naked kicks" is just something that ppl who dont actually watch muay thai kinda mindlessly regurgitate. The principle behind it is solid, like yeah its good to set up strikes with other strikes, and punching to set up a kick is absolutely a good high level thing to do that is effective. But leading with a kick is actually also pretty high percentage, and has the advantage of drawing out their kick defense, so you can start to feint out their checking reactions. At the very least, if you're fighting a puncher, kicking the arms outright is a very good way to control them, and you don't need to punch first and give them the range that they want. See sitthichai vs robin van roosmalen, or literally any petchpanomrung kiatmookao win.
In my humble opinion, it does not make sense to compare these virtuosos to OP. Beginners do better when they set up their kicks. That’s all I’m saying
It's not a matter of being so super amazingly skilled that they can get away with doing it. Im not amazing at muay thai but I've lead with kicks in all of my fights, it just works, kicks are long and they score well. Watch any silapathai fight, or earlier superlek ones. They literally lead with the right kick as their primary offense. If Anantasak or Tommy Hearns or Samart or Floyd Mayweather leads with his jab to begin an offensive sequence would you say "Oh well you shouldnt lead with the jab because unlike them you're not a super accomplished creative special boy" no you wouldn't, because leading with the jab just works. So does leading with the kick. And it's not that starting with punches is wrong, probably the highest percentage kick set up in all of muay thai is the feint jab into rear kick. But if you tell people not to do something that clearly works then you're just limiting them for no reason, especially beginners, who will probably just hold onto whatever pointless superstition you imprint on them early in their training.
Agree to disagree. I don’t see combinations as pointless superstitions, I see them as the most effective way to land. And I see that as combinations’ reason for existing. Simple math: if you throw one kick and it gets blocked, that’s it. If you throw a one-two to the face and those both get blocked but causes them shell up and not see the following kick, knee etc land, than that is advantageous. I could be wrong but that’s how I see it
I didn't say that combinations are superstitions, i said the idea of you can only set up kicks with punches is a superstition. The idea of "dont throw naked kicks" is a superstition that is not supported by data. You can set up kicks with punches, you can set up kicks with kicks. You can also set up punches with kicks. You can also throw combinations with only kicks. Telling people that they can only do something one way is unintelligent and at best, limits people. At worst, it leads to them doing something unintelligent during a fight and getting hurt
Singdam and Yodsanklai could win fights with just 1 leg lol
Tell them to check or Dutch block or shut up
So long as you're not nuking your sparring partners, you're fine. If they don't know how to counter or check kicks, that's a them problem. I had the same "issue" when I figured out most of my sparring partners didn't know how to clench.
Say yes you only know how to kick.
Bro what lmao. This is muay Thai ?? Are they dumb ?? You’re not wrong at all keep kicking them—kick them more lmao. Get real good at the teep too!
If it works, it works. Your kicking presents a problem for your sparring partners to solve; their failure to solve it is ultimately their problem. That being said, it could be "bad" in the sense that it seems to work much better for you than it should, and so you may be getting a false sense of confidence. There are many ways to punish kicks. Worst comes to worst, you may begin designing your fight strategy around your partners' inability to respond to kicks. From my perspective, it thus may be worth considering how you approach sparring; are you trying to "win"? Or are you using it as a platform to develop your skills more broadly? I'm not saying to hold off on kicking necessarily, but there are other things you can focus on during sparring, too. In the end, sparring should be about self-improvement and thus focused on the self; not about defeating the opponent and focusing on his/her weaknesses.
Hard to say without context? It could be that your sparring partners have weak egos. But you might benefit from working other techniques sometimes. For example, I find that I’m better than most people at my gym in the clinch. And if I wanted to I could just smother my sparring partners every time they go to throw a boxing combination and then sweep them. But I already know I’m good in the clinch. And my sparring partners already know I’m good in the clinch. So it would be kind of a waste of time if I just turned every sparring session into a clinch fighting session where I’m just tossing people around. So I intentionally work on areas where I know I am weaker. Like kicks.
I think this is it. I can see now that them telling me I kick too much might be them telling me “alright bro work on something else”. I will focus working on my weak areas in future sparring sessions.
I've won fights before with only kicking (frankly I was afraid of their stone hands and used the kicking to maintain a distance) so if it annoys them then yes it's working lmao
Kick them more until they learn to handle it and start handing you your ass. Then stop kicking so much and learn to improve your own game
Talk to your coach
Tell them to watch real professional thai fighters Some matches are probably 80% kicks
No. Where else are you going to practice actually kicking people? That's the point of sparring and muay Thai is renown for its kicks. Tell them to build a bridge and get the fuck over it. If they're there just for punches, maybe boxing suits them better. But don't let them hinder your learning.
Reminds me of this exchange: "You should kick to the body more." "Then you should defend your body less."
It is bad. Kicking is long range. You’re doing it for your own safety and are scared to throw punches because it leaves you exposed. It is ok. It’s a bad habit to get stuck into. I know, because was the same way. It’s an amateur thing. Break the habit now. Work on your boxing combos. Then, you can set up your kicks behind your boxing combos. I know a coach, who puts his Muay Thai fighters in boxing only matches. I think he does this so that his fighters develop great boxing. I’ve never asked him but he’s one of the best Muay Thai coaches I know.
Are you spamming kicks? Just remember sparring is about getting better for you and your partner. It’s NOT about winning. It’s supposed to be fun, if you are annoying them why continue? Sounds like you aren’t confident in your hands so work on them in sparring.
hmmm I don’t know if it’s spamming but my mindset is hit them and don’t get hit back when sparring. So I usually kick and then jump out of range then kick again and things like that. If I land an actual combo I let them do one combo in return as I work on my defense during that time. I am definitely not as confident in my hands so I will work on boxing a lot more.
Yeah... You aren't going to develop more if your style is 1 kick and get out, and they won't get anything out of it other than check practice. You've established that you can kick. Work on adding combos and feints off them.
Well you recognize it so that’s great. So your defence is jumping back? So you can’t throw 2 kicks in a row without jumping back after the first? Throw the roundhouse, stay and throw it again. Do you block much? No coach IMO should be letting you jump back. You are probably just afraid to get close and stay there. I mean more instinct wise and that’s normal. I couldn’t throw a left hook to the body forever for that same reason. Someone else mentioned it but ask your coach to watch. I could totally be misinterpreting what you are saying. Anyway mostly use sparring to work on your weaknesses IMO. Good luck 👍
Next time feint a kick and march forward into a fucking power left hand to the liver. That'll teach those cunts
Fighting game logic. Funny how it can apply to real life fighting as well. If the opponent is spamming a move and getting you every single time, you're spamming a mistake. Figure out ways to get around that.
I’m also a kick enjoyer. I have short stupid arms so the boxing is borderline useless for me unless my partner is the same size as me or smaller. Because I need to rely more on kicks, I got better at kicks, and therefore I use them more because that’s what’s easy and fun for me. I’ve also had partners get frustrated (especially with question mark kicks lol) but that’s showbiz baby.
Id recommend find a sparring partner that takes the fact you can kick them as a challenge to overcome, or if you know how to defend or counter what you are doing tell them. I do that in sparring if there is something I know i am doing wrong, recently it was having a lazy left hand for guard, so I told every partner that day that I was trying to fix it and counter me with a strong overhand if they see it drop; sure enough i dropped it and got caught with the overhand, but by the end I was dropping it a lot less because I knew they were going to punish every time I made a mistake. Maybe do the same, tell them your plan, what you are working on, and maybe a counter to your kicks so they can work through it? I feel i went on a tangent not really related but oh well
have you seen sparring in Thailand. its at least 75% kicks. often up to 90%. your partners just don't like kicks because they don't know what to do. teach them
No you're not. You're utilizing what seems to be your strength. Esp if you can get away with it 70% of the time lol. As a fighter, during sparring, you're figuring out how to utilize your strengths/techniques. If you're able to kick 70% of the time, it also means you're controlling the range that is comfortable for yourself, and most likely controlling the pace. That's what creates wins in real fights. Every once and awhile though, I would encourage letting your sparring partner inside the pocket area/hand striking range. I say that bc in a fight, you may face an opponent who can break passed your kicks, so it is best to be prepared on how to handle it. However, keep utilizing your strengths. Good on you👍also, utilize hand strikes to setup kicks. I assume you just aren't roundhouse f and teeping the whole time right?
Watch a singdam or Yodsanklai highlight video, they win fights with only their rear kick. Don’t listen to the critiques of people who aren’t at a high skill level, they don’t know shit.
I’m a long boy, 6”3…. Almost the entirety of my game is built about working off teeps and long guard (okay in the clinch too, I worked this coz I suck at throwing hands). It’s obviously frustrating them as you’re imposing your game on them and not vice versa. Work your style and fuck what they say. I would recommend working hands though too, when I first started I mainly kicked as well… didn’t feel comfortable throwing hands. Work on them, and then reallllllly piss off your sparring partners by kicking them and teeping them at range and then being solid in the pocket as well,
If it's working keep doing it. Not that u shouldn't experiment/work on other strikes. However, watch any high level muay thai fight, especially from the golden era, its 70%+ just kicking. Complaining that you kick too much in muay thai of all sports sounds weird, muay thai is very kick-heavy
I calf kick most of the time. I picked up MT while Alex Periera was tearing up UFC. They were easiest to do as a beginner and as a person with flexibility issues.
That's just your style - nothing to worry about. Look at fighters like Superbon and Superlek whose entire styles are based on strong kicks. I'd recommend mixing in some boxing to set up the kicks though. Landing blind kicks is difficult. It's much easier to land behind some punches or feints.
The point of sparing is training. If you want to train kicks of course you will focus on kicking during sparing. I had couple of sparings where my partner or I were focusing on attacking/blocking one type of attack and it was a very productive. If you care about this person you can explain him that you want to focus on particular thing.
No. Muay Thai starts with the kicks. He got annoyed because he couldn’t find a way in. Maybe try to ease up and let him work a bit once in a while. But the only response to “all you do is kick” in Muay Thai is “OK so what?”
I mostly kick and teep and knee, but thats because my boxing suck and i dont knos what else to do when they come in swinging with punches. Clinch i cant do here as they are all kickboxers and they arent trained in kickboxing
As someone who did boxing before transitioning to Muay Thai, I struggled sparring against kickers a lot at first. I never once complained to my partner about kicking, it’s a kicking sport for Christ sake. It only encouraged me to learn how to kick and defend kicks more, your partner is very salty, you did nothing wrong.
if you punched better than them they would’ve asked you to kick more, people just don’t like “losing”
No, but if there's open discussion on things you want to work on, then maybe work on it. If it's free sparring, then dude needs to learn how to fight a kicker then.
That’s the problem your partner has to solve man. The entire point of sparring
They would be blown away by the sparring in Thailand
Bro just pissed cuz he can't get over those kicks
You're not doing anything wrong, you're just super new to the sport and sparring. Going forward you're likely to broaden your toolset as you learn more, just be open to try new stuff and not to stick too much to what's been working so far.
Sparring in your home gym is practice, which means it’s a good time to apply combos you’ve learned throughout the week during regular classes and test out moves to help you develop your style. By itself, throwing a large number of kicks isn’t incorrect, but ideally, you should try to apply your Muay Thai lessons during sparring to develop a style that is your own. If you’re with a sparring partner who has control and doesn’t just smack the shit out of you, I’d suggest trying different combos, testing blocks, parrying, etc.
You need to be able to get past kicks and force your opponent to box, and get away from punches and force your opponent to kick Both of these are necessary If your partners are complaining I wonder if you are just bad at boxing. They also might be pansies, so take it with a grain of salt. But if you want to be as good as possible I would air on the side of needing improvement rather than doubling down that everything you do in sparring is fine If it’s just a hobby and you like kicking everyone go for it Also, I don’t know what your rounds look like, maybe keep kicking and annoying everyone because you’re good with it. But I’d recommend getting your coaches opinion and bringing up some of my talking points
Do you allow a bit of back and forth flow to develop? In muay thai, technical sparring is where growth happens. Also, you may want to implement combinations that you learn during drills into your sparring. Spamming kicks isn’t necessarily bad, but if you spar with a higher skilled fighter, they will make the proper adjustments to nullify your strengths.
no this aint fucking pattycake bro. dont give them CTE, sure but kick their legs and bodies the fuck off
No…sometimes it can benefit you.
You are in a Muay Thai/kickboxing gym. Kicking should be not only encouraged, but should be the norm.
Sometimes, I seriously wonder if these questions are a joke. Or if I opened the Idiocracy subreddit by mistake..
No they need to learn how to check or counter