Hey so long story short my thai stance seams to be very weak to getting kicked in the ribs as I havnt figured out how to block mid kicks with my leg/ flexibility isnt there yet so its too slow. Anyway what tends to happen is I keep getting hit in the right rib and liver which can put me out of action for a little bit, sometimes its major take a couple of weeks out sometimes its just “dont take another hit here.” which makes sparring risky. I was wondering if I could just swap into a side stance tkd style and still use my MT moves or whether they just would be useless. It would protect my liver and ribs a lot better. I wont have to deal with elbows as people dont throw them in sparring and they aint legal in k1 or amateur mma. I hate not being able to spar when I have the energy but have a weak spot in my ribs.
While you’re healing, can’t you ask your sparring partners to go light? Also, I find light sparring is better for learning than heavy sparring.
Are you keeping your elbows down? Only one way to find out! Why not try it and see if it works out for you? ^^^ Also this
My training background includes both TKD and MT; if you want to use side stance against MT fighters, you must respect their low kicks. If you don't, your front leg will get lit up and your list of injuries will grow. To use side stance against MT fighters effectively, use it sparingly and only when suitable. Example: Say you have thrown punches at your opponent and he or she is covering up to protect the head and face, you could use a back-slide to increase distance and enter your side stance, followed by delivering front-leg side, hook, or round kicks to the body or head (especially effective when done while pushing off with the back foot). If you want to see examples of high-level fighters mixing TKD with MT/K1, do a YouTube search for Serkan Yilmaz and Steve "Superkick" Vick. If you want help designing a flexibility training program to improve your ability to do leg blocks, send me a private message.
If it's your right rib then they are kicking with their front leg of a switch step I take it? It's hard to block mid line kicks off the front legs with your legs as you are normally back weighted easiest way is to tuck elbows and either move in to the kick or circle away. If it's their back leg kicking your left side and you are having trouble checking using your legs again tuck elbows and take it on your arms or use foot work to circle away from the power or back our of range. But I question how hard you are sparring if this is happening through shin guards in normal sparring it sounds very heavy to me if it's not competition training?
Because im training in an MMA environment its not always muay thai sometimes its boxers, sometimes its TKD sometimes its MT. What I notice tends to happen is as soon as I start holding my own, the men just go in super hard, not sure if there like "oh you can take a hit." or whether its "I cant lose to a girl" mentality but either way its not good and can prevent me from training for a while. I wasn't going that hard. Was sparring with a TKD blackbelt in an mma environement, hit his legs and he just cracked me with some heal kick, came out of nowhere really fast and think its probably a bit bruised for a week or so now.
Yeah it's probably a bit of both. Best take it as a compliment. I tell the blue belts that I roll with if I'm going hard on them it's because I respect them enough to not let them get out and end up getting myself caught. I get what you're saying about the mix of styles too. Some guys who aren't trained properly just kick weird and it's awkward to defend. It still comes down to the same thing and you need to learn to defend that hole in your game. Sounds like you're coming along well though!
I'd actually disagree rolling hard where the chances of hurting your partner are very small and sparring striking hard enough to damage someone are two different things. The former is what you expect and what makes grappling so good to train, the latter would make me question the gym I was in if I'm honest especially if it's not competition training. If it's an MMA environment and you switch to a side on stance most of your Thai offense will go the window, there's a reason thai's stand the way they do and not the way tkd or point sparres do. Standing side on will hide your right ribs more but make your offense: leg kicks, knees, rear power kicks useless to a large extent. Now if you are talking kick boxing in an MMA environment and not Thai boxing side stances can work in a striking setting but you will be using front leg attacks more, side kicks, hook kicks etc, and spinning kicks off the back leg, if you have trained them they will work but if your main style is Thai you might be in trouble. In MMA a side stance can open you up to single leg takedowns, and stop your ability to sprawl
What icefield said. You can, but it makes it a very different thing, which is far more dependent on timing and skill, neither of which you have yet.
It may well be that your just throwing as hard as they are, and they've been doing it for longer. The only person you can totally control in sparring is yourself, if everyone seems to be going hard on you, check it's not you that's the cause. At least some of the time it will be.
Is taking heavy hits something that will come with experience? Or can women just not take a proper well executed kick from men?
Nobody is supposed to be able to take a well-executed kick, that's the point of a kick! Learn to defend it properly and you'll be fine
"Hit me as hard as you want me to hit you" is a pretty standard approach people take to sparring so, as others have said, it is worth considering how hard you're hitting. Especially leg kicks which people have a tendency to dig in harder because its just a leg kick. It also tends to apply for effort level rather than force. If someone new was blasting my leg with most of their power, they would likely get a receipt at close to my full power to drive the point home not to take the mick. Sometimes that also causes problems where someone is matching your power in terms of effort, but its not equal in force because someone is relatively more skilled or just stronger. If you're sure they're just lighting you up harder and you don't like it, or feel they're taking the mick, or have an ego about you being a girl, tell them to drop the power. If they keep doing it just stop the round with them. That can be a scary thing to do but its in your best interests. And really, any decent partner will take the message and calm down, and any good coach will respect your decision not to spar with someone you feel is going too hard and isn't respecting your boundaries/skill level/whatever. If you get crap for it, then its not a good gym.
That could be an ego thing. There are no leg kicks in TKD (not in "mainstream" TKD anyway) so when you hit him with something he wasn't used to or couldn't defend very well he busted out some TKD style goodness to let you know he still has some tricks up his sleeve or...erm...trouser leg.
Thanks for all these responses. Im probably just gonna spar with other women or with men I trust and have trained with a fair bit for now. Actually was thinking I may have to cancel thailand earlier but then doctor told me its likely just bruised not fractured considering I am able to walk around amd breath normally.
Yeah if it was broken you'd probably know immediately. Sitting up would feel like dying. On the upside, ice and rest will heal it fast! My mum also used to put Witchhazel on my bruises to heal them quicker. No idea if it actually done anything.
For bruising and sprains I can recommend a poultice of comfrey - a plant also known as Knitbone for it's medicinal use Comfrey: A Clinical Overview We have picked it fresh in the past but you can probably get ready made preparations. My Dad was skeptical but couldn't argue with the results when my wife used it on his fractured wrist after a fall. Another similar plant is Arnica ( or Wolfsbane ), it's a more commonly found treatment in pharmacies - balms, oils, body soaks etc. Hope that's some help, like others have said, developing your blocking/checking is the best option. If someone's kicking your ribs on a regular basis maybe work on reading their movement,to evade the strike and target the back leg - easier said than done I know !
