Fight Breakdown: Low Kick Combos & Switch Uppercuts

THE VALUE OF ACCURATE, PERFECTLY TIMED LEG KICKS

By Evan Lee

If you've ever watched Muay Thai fights, you’ll notice that the first round or two often starts rather slow, with neither fighter committing to that many attacks. Usually the action gets picked up in the 3rd round, and that is exactly what happens here in round 3 of Sean's short-notice fight in Thailand.

In most fights, from boxing to MMA, and wrestling to Muay Thai, the opening rounds or minutes of the bout are spent trying to get a read on what your opponent is trying to do or how they react. However, if you have a two-month training camp to get ready for a single opponent, you can already know a lot about them and not even have to spent that opening round or few minutes feeling them out.

In the world of Muay Thai, and specifically Thailand, where the nak muays are fighting almost weekly, there is not enough time to prepare for your opponent. There may not even be footage of them fighting. There are even times where all you have on an opponent is a name and whether they’re a southpaw or orthodox fighter.

In other words, reconnaissance info on opponents is slim even in the best of circumstances.

Now, Sean took this fight on a 10-hour notice. The feeling out process is done. Both fighters are more than warmed-up now. 

It's time to get to the good stuff.

Fight Breakdown: Low Kick Combos & Switch Uppercuts (Round 3)

PRECISION LEG KICKING

Sean also doubled up on the same side. Oftentimes, fighters will throw their strikes from left to right, then left to right, and so on. This is done because the left strike shifts your balance in a certain direction; throwing with a right shifts your balance right back to neutral.

This is more natural, so it's what people end up doing most times. Sean instead doubles up on one side, which is something unexpected, and catches Bob by surprise.

Let's investigate how Sean was able to transition from the right straight to right low-kick so smoothly.

You will notice that with the right straight that Sean throws, he has not turned his shoulder over fully, thereby transferring too much weight to his left leg. Because of this, he is able to take another slight step with his lead leg to bring his right leg through.

Now, if Sean had twisted his shoulder and brought his weight over fully with the straight, his kick would not have had much power because the springs that generate power for the leg kick had already been released.

With all of these precise, well-timed low kicks taking their toll on Bob, we move into the fourth round where everything comes together quite nicely for our man. More to come soon!