Weight Training Muay Thai Article
The Muay Thai Slap Knee...A Way To Get A Rest In The Clinch Or Misunderstood And Deadly Technique
The muay thai slap knee is used exclusively in the clinch and (just like the muay thai clinch itself) is not properly understood by most of us from western nations. Most people looking at a muay thai fight who have never put the gloves on themselves think that when the fighters get into a tight clinch and start throwing slap knees that they are just 'having a rest' before they start throwing 'real' techniques again.
When you watch western muay thai fighters throwing the slap knees in training or in a fight you can be forgiven for thinking this because that's exactly what it looks AND feels like. Believe me when I tell you that when a properly trained fighter hits you with a slap knee it will buckle you if you don't prepare for it.
The first time someone got me properly in training it dropped me to the floor because I didn't even brace for it...I didn't think it was much of a threat!
Muay thai fighters from Thailand know the different ranges of muay thai inside and out. They have found ways to hurt you from all possible ranges and angles and the clinch range is given special importance.
These are the main aspects of the slap knee...
1. It is done in a tight clinch situation where there is not enough space between you and your opponent to throw any other technique.
2. As you and your opponent are face to face, chest to chest, and groin to groin, the only targets are the sides of the body ie. the ribs.
3. You turn your knee outwards, lift it up, and swing it around in an arc to hit the side of your opponents body.
This is where the confusion comes in...it shouldn't have been called a slap knee to begin with!
'Slap knee' is obviously not the name the Thai's give this technique and here's why...
To an inexperienced on looker this knee looks like it is 'slapping' the side of the body with the inside of the knee and the shin at one time so that the impact is dissipated along this whole area. This is actually how it is taught in a lot of schools.
The way I was taught from a guy trained in Thailand is that before you throw the knee inwards towards the target you get a pendulum action happening in the lower leg first. I will give you a little drill which will explain this properly...
1. Hold on to something like the heavy bag for balance and bring your knee up and to the side as though you are about to swing it inwards towards the bag.
2. Suspend the knee there for a second and start swinging the foot back and forth sideways as though it is a pendulum in a clock.
3. Once you've swung the foot a few times and gotten the feel of it wait for it to swing outwards and then as the foot begins to swing inwards swing the knee into the bag and complete the knee - STRIKING WITH THE INSIDE OF THE KNEE ONLY.
4. Do this several times until it feels natural and you can do it with one swing of the foot and the whole 'slap knee' is one movement.
What happens when you practice this technique is that it feels awkward and getting the pendulum action in sync with the knee takes a little time. Also, when you first start make the action a big one and gradually get it smaller and smaller.
That is why when you watch Thai fighters do the slap knee it actually looks like they are 'slapping' the side of their opponents body with the whole inside of the lower leg...because they have practiced it so much that it is small pendulum movement now but they are striking with the pointy bit of the inside knee.
If you get the proper muay thai slap knee technique down you will find that it can be quite powerful and because it is targeting a vulnerable position it can be quite dangerous. Because you are not turning the hips or thrusting the hips forward it looks (to the untrained eye) like a weak technique using only the hip flexor muscles for power. Do the slap knee properly like you've been trained here and show your next sparring partner how lethal you can be in close.
