Hello everyone. i'm finally getting ready for my first official amatuer fight. I've gotten to train with some really good trainers, and finally settled in with my Muay Thai/Kickboxing coach. (he's a 2 time world muay thai champ, and a 3 time golden gloves champion) Well I asked him about competing, and he said I might be able to compete soon. But he wants me to start out with something before I compete in Muay Thai. He said I can compete in either Leg Kick/International rules, or Full Contact Rules. I'm not sure which to choose. I would like to fight in Leg Kick rules, but I wanna make sure I can check kicks fast enough. (which I work hard on) But I have no problems with FCR. For an up and coming Kickboxer ( ) what ruleset should I compete in so I can get my foot in the door.
Nice one Korp. I'm actually surprised that your MT coach suggested you do FC kickboxing for your first bout as opposed to MT. That's sounds really strange. I wonder what his logic or reasoning in that was. Even better than being really fast in checking kicks... is to not even be in range when they do kick. It works wonders... with his boxing background, especially that it's a Golden Gloves background... he'll no doubt have a very good idea of the type of strategy of in and out that so many amatuer boxers use... much of that can be adapted to Muay Thai. Most novice MT bouts are flail-fests anyhow... until the fighters gain confidence and grow comfortable in the environs. Sorry but I don't even know enough about the rulesets you mentioned. Good luck - let us know how it goes.
If you wanna fight thai, then do leg-kick now. There's more crossover between that and thai. If you're more of a boxer than FC may suit you more since there are no leg kicks to worry about.
Nicce, two of my favorite MAPper's in one thread with giving advice, good stuff. Hey slip, well my coach knows about my TMA background (HKD) and suggested that if I wanna get into my first match that it might be good. (I mentioned awhile back that I took 2nd place in a full contact WTF tourney) But he also knows that I trained MT awhile so he also suggested leg kick. I like his approach to MT. He wants everything to be ready. That means my hands, my feet, my shins, my knees, my elbows, my clinch, and my conditioning. So thats why I think he wants me to fight under those rules before I compete in MT, he wants me to be totally prepared for whats in store. Here are the rulesets slip. Full Contact Rules - Trousers (your favorite slip! ) Kicks and punches Kicks must be above waist Hands and feet only (no kicks with the shin) Leg Kick/International Rules - Thai shorts/Kickboxing trunks Kicks and punches Kicks to the inside/outside of the legs (including thigh and calve) Shins allowed as well as feet I really would like to fight in Thai once I'm ready and my coach thinks so. When I compete in Thai, I want to go in there with no flaws (or at least, very little)
The FC rules look like a waste of time. The Leg Kick/International rules are where you want to be. It's going to best prepare you to move into MT. To be honest... most amatuer MT fights don't allow elbows and they rarely allows knee's to the face. Like I said many amatuer bouts are total flail fests... it takes a good number of these until you get your game in order and get your head in the right space. No sense in fighters getting too busted up or cut up early on in their careers... that's why elbows and knee's to the face are avoided for more novice fighters for quite some time. Elbows is a brutal and nasty world that can stop fighters progress before it even starts by ramming out a good record with TKO's because of cut stoppage. Not what you want. So anyhow... it appears the best thing you can do is get involved in the International rules bouts to get your feet wet.
Thats what I was thinking to. I want to fight leg kick rules, but my parents (my mom actually) is worried. She has seen Kickboxer wayyyy too many times and thinks I'm gonna be taking knees/elbows to the face with cool 80's montages. (well the last part not so much, but she's worried I'm gonna die or something) I'm really excited. I really like my coach, with him, I know Im in good hands. He says I'm a great student because of my love of the sport and my intensity. He says I got alot of heart and I cant wait to step in the ring. Hopefully it'll be sometime in late October or November.
Also I got a question for you slip. When you check leg kicks, how do you like to check them? (like what part of your leg do you check them with) And how do you like to follow them up? (a single blow, combinations, a leg kick perhaps)
This discipline of kickboxing is called "low-kick", not "leg-kick", beacuse it allows low kicks in addition to "full contact" discipline rules. Correct me if i'm wrong, just never heard of a "leg kick" discipline.
From the Full Contact rule bouts you can gain development of your higher and more varied kicks(spins etc) also you gain a faster fight pace,for the low kick rules you gain using and checking low kicks without the "fear" of the knees,with modified Muay Thai(no elbow/knee to head) you will gain the clinch experience,for real Muay Thai competition you will gain cuts and breaks he he he!,good luck in whatever you do Korpy
I try to avoid checking incoming kicks when possible to be honest. Timing in checking kicks has to be superb. You really need to be right in there and stopping that kick before it reaches the apex of it's path. If you're trying to check kicks after they're into the well horizontal range... or even the downward arc towards the end after the hip and knee have already turned over a bit... you're in a painful place. If you have to.. it's better than taking a clean shot to the ribs or thigh... but best checked early on.. which to my way of thinking and moving has always been more about range than anything else. If I do check a kick... ideally I like to catch it with the upper part of my shin.. towards my knee. I always feel it hurts them alot more than it does me when I check with this part... if you look at the shape of your tib/fib bones you'll notice they get thicker towards the joints... which I believe makes a better part to check with than bang in the middle. Though honestly... sometimes you simply don't have the choice, timing or position to be able to check them where you want them. Low kicks that catch you on the side of your ankles are particularly painful and damaging. This is why it's so important to turn your hip out when checking kicks.. you want to meet their kick with your shin perpendicular to theirs... not check/catch it on the side of your shin. Ideally it's an issue of hard against soft... your hard shin against their soft thigh or neck or calf... when checking you want to catch hard against hard... as long as you catch early... less chance to have damage to muscle tissue. Checking drills should be a massive part of you regular training conditioning. That and copious amounts of heavy bag work. Followed up by a good regime of massage and stretching.. you hip abductors get one hell of a workout.. so do your glutes and your torso... so stretching is key to recovery. Yoga is a great option for loosening up the hips, lower back and hip joint.
Another good method for practicing blocking low kicks without pain is to hold a real thick kick shield for your partner to low kick, after letting him/her hit for a few kicks start to block the kicks with the pad on your shin,lift your leg and place the pad on the bottom of your upraised foot, turn your leg out a bit towards the kick,you will soon find out if your leg is at the correct blocking angle as if incorrect you will loose balance, this method is good to get a strong block(the main point of blocking!) as if your going to block a kick you need to keep a strong shape in order to kick back quickly,this is also a good method for your partner as they get a different feel to their kick and it helps to develop their balance to
Ok, here's an update for everyone. It's confirmed, I'm fighting October 20th. Also after some discussion with my coach, it will either be Low Kick or Muay Thai rules. I asked him if I could fight in MT and he said, it was strictly my decision, but he wants me in the gym a bit more each night (last night we worked a bunch of low kicks, countering, elbows, and clinch work). So with FCR out of the way, it's either gonna be Low Kick or Muay Thai.
Ok major update. My fight fight has been bumped to September 29th, most likely Muay Thai (K-1) rules, and my opponent is suppose to be from the US branch of Shidokan in Chicago. I heard those Shidokan guys are tough as hell, but I'm gonna go in and do my best.
Nice one Korp. Keep a cool head. You'll do just fine. And of course we expect a video clip to be posted. Win, lose or draw. Go Korp!
