Muay Thai Hawaii Article
Learn These Tips On How To Make Your Muay Thai Thigh Kicks Lethal With The Kicking Shield
I keep reiterating the importance of partner and pad work to really improve your muay thai technique and one piece of equipment fills a hole quite well. You can't hold the thai pads or hand mitts for leg kicks properly so the best thing is the kicking shield. You can do full power muay thai leg kicks against the kicking shield and because it is held by a partner he can simulate a fighting experience quite well.
The kicking shield is exactly what it sounds like, a padded shield used for kicking practice. It is made of foam covered in leather or vinyl and has handles at the back for the pad holder to grab.
One of the most effective and most used techniques in muay thai is the leg kick. It is very powerful and relatively easy to deliver because the leg isn't high off the ground when kicking.
You can practice the leg kick with full power on the heavy bag and this is where you should start. The heavy bag doesn't move too much so you can zero in and perfect your technique.
When you move on to kicking a live moving human you come across some problems. You can't kick your sparring partner with full power cause he won't be your partner too long. Your pad holder can try to use the thai pads to catch the leg kick but if he lowers the thai pad to his thigh you will just kick straight through it.
There is a technique used in Thailand where the pad holder will get down on one knee and hold both thai pads together at chest level. This works ok because the pad holder is in a position of power and will be able to catch it. The problem with this is that the pad holder becomes a stationary target and can't move around to provide a realistic fighting experience for the fighter. You may as well kick the heavy bag.
The kicking shield is great because the pad holder can hold it against his thigh and you can kick it like you would kick your opponent. The holder can also move around like an opponent so you are kicking a moving target.
If you are holding the kicking shield for somebody you need to keep these points in mind...
1. Hold the shield against the target - the angle of the thigh when bent in a typical muay thai stance is different than that of a heavy bag. The fighter must get used to kicking the thigh at the angle that creates the most solid impact and hurts his opponent the most.
Holding the shield flush against the leg provides the fighter with this feedback. You can also change the position quickly from target to target. For instance, the outside thigh to the inside thigh. This provides a realistic combat experience and allows the muay thai fighter to kick with full power.
2. Either brace against the kick or let your leg swing away - depending on how hard the fighter can kick. The ideal situation is that you plant your leg on the ground, hold the shield flush against you leg, and brace hard as the kick hits the pad and stops.
Some muay thai fighters, however, kick so hard you can't stop it. When this happens either partner the fighter up with a heavier, stronger pad holder, or let you leg swing away with the kick. As the kick makes contact with the shield shift your weight back on your rear leg and let your front leg go with the kick.
The worst scenario is that you brace for the impact with your keg planted on the floor and your knee buckles inwards with the sideways impact and you break your knee. You want to make the experience realistic for the fighter but not that realistic. Self preservation comes first.
3 Test the fighters defense - every now and then throw some techniques at the fighter. Because the kicking shield is pretty light you can get it out of the way quickly and throw a leg kick of your own or a cross punch if the shield is in your front hand.
One of the hardest things to do is recover after throwing a round kick to defend one yourself. As a pad holder you should be doing this relatively often so that the fighter is keeping a good muay thai guard. Don't do it too often though otherwise the fighter will get too defensive minded. Keep him attacking.
4 Get the fighter to react quickly - don't hold the pad constantly on your thigh whilst standing still unless you are specifically working on power and kicking angle.
Hold the shield at your side and then quickly move it into position on your thigh. This gets the fighters reaction speed working as well as all the rest of the skills involved.
You want the muay thai fighter to react whenever a visual stimulus (a target) presents itself. If you're holding the shield there constantly the muay thai fighter doesn't know when to kick and you don't know when to brace.
5. Hold the shield by the top handle, not the middle one - don't put your arm in between the shield and your body. You want the shield to cushion the impact of the kick against your muscle, not put a bony thing in the way.
I have seen muay thai guys cut the middle handle off a shield because it's useless. And dangerous if it has plastic on it.
The kicking shield can of course be used for other muay thai kicks like push kicks or body round kicks. Just make sure you hold the shield against your body instead of using the handles provided.
You would only use the shield with these kicks if you were doing legs kicks as well. If you are only doing body kicks you may as well use the thai pads. As I said earlier, the kicking shield is a tool that fills a hole that other muay thai equipment can't fill.
