The Do’s And Don’t Of Checking Leg Kicks in Muay Thai

Pro Fighter Paul “the Reaper” Banasiak Explains Common Mistakes and Tips for Checking Kicks

From Muay Thai Guy

Fighting is flow. Positioning enables the flow.

It is a flow between offense and defense, and what enables this flow is positioning. If your posture is off when you’re parrying a punch, your countering well be slow. Your positioning is what enables the fluidity of your movement. Imagine a powerlifter who starts his deadlift with a rounded back. He will be slow off the ground and he will be even slower as the bar moves up.

Consider deeply how each position connects to another. Consider how you will flow from a check to a counter roundhouse kick, from a parry to a rear straight. Learning to flow from position to position is learning how to pass the baton. If you’re in a 4 x 100-meter relay, don’t know how to pass the baton, and end up dropping it, you’re screwed. However, if you do know how to flow from position to position, your speed will improve ten-fold just as learning how to pass the baton improves running time.

In the below video, Paul explains the exact position you should be in when checking kicks. He goes over how to raise your leg, at what angle, how to angle your shin, and more:

How To Check Leg Kicks In Muay Thai and Kickboxing

To recap the checking tips:

• Keep a strong, upright posture.
• Keep your shin perpendicular to the ground.
• Turn your hip out at an angle, pointing your knee at about 45 degrees.
• Contract your glutes.

To recap the common mistakes:

• Do not bend your shin.
• Do not crunch your body.
• Do not pull your leg straight up.

As you can see by the above tips and mistakes, the details of fighting are many. Even with a great coach, they cannot see every mistake you make nor provide every tip you need.

However, what if you had multiple coaches? All great coaches encourage even their most prized champions and fighters to explore other gyms for fresh perspectives. The great George St. Pierre is always encouraged by Tristar’s legendary coach Firas Zihabi to seek out new outlooks.

But we’re not all making GSP money. Which is why the coaches from all across the world have been brought to you. Paul Banasiak is but one of many coaches on the freshly upgraded Nak Muay Nation 2.0. Other coaches include Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu, Glory’s Chris Mauceri, Tiffany Van Soest and more!

Click Here To Check Out The New And Improved Nak Muay Nation 2.0!