I've trained in Muay Thai, and I've never heard of this technique. However, I've heard it mentioned in other forums, etc... Anyone heard of this punch? May you achieve Satori
As the photo shows, its when you spring the punch forward with the right and your right leg flys back, think the leg shooting back is to add more power! Trust me i've been hit with a few and boy they hurt when connected! Joe. Just to add thats an example it can also be done on the left side.lol
Thanks guys! Answered that question! You know, Ikken, you really scare me when you act helpful. I'm watching you.... May you achieve Satori
since we are on the topic of this punch...whens the best time to use it? it looked like it would come after a sloppy hook.. but how you you guys use it?
the way we do it is after throwing a few leg kicks. you then pretend to throw another, they (hopefully) drop their hands, you snap your leg backwards and throw the cross.
There are two similar situations that we've been trained to land this kind of a punch. Bear with me as it's easier to show it than it is to explain it... and it's easier to explain it than it is to land it! 1) It's set up with a feint - usually something like a feint of using a front push kick. You set it up by using several push kicks in a row... to point where you know your not going to land them... your not trying to... what your looking for is for your opponent to attempt to reach down and hook you leg in an attempt to sweep you with something like a submarine kick. What your trying to do is to get him to drop his guard just a bit... so on about the 2nd or 3rd push kick you bring the knee up but don't extend leg... (at this point your hips are back and your right cross would be chambered up by your jaw as where it normally sits for your guard)... he already dropped his guard a bit in an attempt to catch your next push kick... only he doesn't know it's not coming. Use one big explosive movement and bring the knee straight down - back to your stance - and the punch that's chambered comes right over the top/through the middle of his compromised guard. BAM! Again easier to demonstrate than to explain in words... etc. 2) The other variation on this is... your opponent (orthodox stance ones anyhow) throws a roundhouse with his front leg (not a kick many people pull of well or with power... but Kaoklai is KING of it) - instead of checking it as you normally would - by raising your right leg to check it... your 'cross-check' meaning you will bring the shin of your left (and forward) leg over to check it... when you do this your torso winds up a bit...bringing your left shoulder towards your opponent. This means your right cross is again heavily chambered... being as it sits now further back than it normally would in it's guard position over the jaw. You check the kick with a cross check and as soon as it's checked your body torques around the foot starts going back to it's stance as the front leg... you let fly with a massive chambered cross... again it's a set up... it's not the cross most people come to expect.. and if you ring strategy is do a series of repetitive moves to let the opponent believe he can count you... you surprise him with the cross check followed by the immediate right cross. Often times the right foot (your back foot if your othordox stance) will come off the ground with the power of the cross thrown... your not atttempting to punch your opponent in the face... but like your roundhouses should be thrown... your attempting to punch 'through' his face. Your target or the end position of your fist you want to envision as having passed through his skull and being right behind his skulll. the punch is often done at the bodies dead point.. the dead point of the person throwing the cross.. between the time the ball of his foot that he crossed checked with (his left foot) and the instant his torso uncoils and his hips torque right with the punch.. the punch unleashes and comes down a bit from the top... with a slight jumping motion. You don't often see either technique done very effectively in non Thai fights. The Thais have a very different rhythm when fighting than do most westerners trained in Muay Thai... it's very apparent in many Thai v.s. Westerner match ups. The rham muay (the trad. respect ceremony and music played at Thai fights also affects this rhythm). Hope that was helpful and not confusing. edit: needless to say both moves are trained 'static' for a long time before attempted 'live' figuring out how to get the torque out of the cross check position to use it to really add power to your punch takes a lot of efffort... it's seemingly easy but mechanically it's quite complex... the one fighter we have that's good at it... trains it almost as much as he trains his kicks.. and no surprise - he lands it about once a fight.
i caught my teacher with this punch while we were sparring.... wow hes got one hell of a head it felt like my fist hit a wall.. and as my fist made impact my leg couldnt completly extend... i felt very weak & stupid. lol
