Catching A Kick To Set Up A Knee With Jean Charles Skarbowsky
Catching kicks is a big part of Muay Thai, as Fighters spend most of their time in the kicking range because punches don't score many points. This makes defending kicks a crucial subject, and Muay Thai fighters are known for their beautiful, beautiful sweeps and counters after defending kicks.
Catching kicks is a unique defense; it allows us to connect to our opponent, slow down his movements and choose how the following exchange will look as you are the one in control keeping the leg entangled. Many fighters face the problem when catching kicks because they get hit by the kick trying to catch it; this makes them hesitant and careful before opening their defense to wrap up the opponent’s leg.
To catch kicks successfully without hurting ourselves, we must never stay stationary when we wrap up his leg. When I see the opponent kicking me, I will move sideways, opening the space for the kick to lose its power and allow us to catch the kick without the danger of getting hit by it.
Like we said before, catching kicks allows you to dictate the following action; this gives you the upper hand. But unfortunately, many fighters give up on this position before doing anything effectively because they get tired of holding the opponent’s leg for a long time with no success.
After catching a kick, we must have some kind of setup for the following exchange; we can use strikes or even faints to lead our opponent to react and give us an opening that we can commit to and hurt him.
In this video, Charles Skarbowsky shows us how he uses a faint after catching a kick to draw a reaction and land a knee to the midsection.
Who Is Charles Skarbowsky?
Charles Skarbowsky is a former professional Muay Thai fighter Who has fought the best of his time and lived in Thailand for a long time. Charles also became famous for being on The Ultimate Fighter when GSP brought him to teach Muay Thai for his fighters; he was seen as a funny figure who drinks and smokes all day but still makes professional fighters look like amateurs in the cage.
Check Out Skarbowsky’s Collection Of Instructionals HERE! Click Learn More!
Landing The Knee Off A Caught Kick
Charles starts the video by telling us that the first thing we want to do after catching a kick is to lean our head back and put our free hand in front of our face because our opponent has two hands. We have only one hand to defend ourselves, so we must create some kind of space and shield, so he can’t land his punches on me.
After establishing my defense, I'm in an excellent position to start attacking because he cannot kick me, and I am safe from his punches. Meanwhile, I have one hand and both my legs to hit with, which will confuse our opponent as he will not know what I will throw at him.
So I'm going to use his confusion to my advantage, and I'm going to faint the punch literally by pulling all the way back to load my punch and make him react to it by protecting his face; if he doesn't cover his face, I am simply going land the full loaded punch at him.
But if my opponent protects his face, I will move forward like I'm going to throw the punch and, in the last second, drop his leg and jump with a flying knee to the Solar plexus where he's open because he's focused on protecting his face.
Feinting the punch is such a good setup because the opponent he's expecting something, and I'm hitting in with something else. Following up with the knee can be a finishing blow as he is open in the solar plexus, and when the knee lands there, our opponent will go down most of the time.
Learn More From Charles Skarbowsky
If you enjoyed this beautiful material, you would love to check the full DVD Charles made for you - “Muay Thai Masterclass - Advanced Edition” available exclusively on Dynamic Striking.