Elbows Explained With Cheick Kongo!
In Mixed Martial Arts every fan loves a striker and if we have learned anything from boxing over the years, the heavyweights are the ones to watch. Why? Because when two heavyweights start throwing leather exciting things happen. This is not to say that the lighter weights cannot be fun to watch, There is just something special about Heavyweight match ups.
Another thing that seems to grab the attention of fans is what kind of base a fighter has. Stylistically what is their strongest skill set.This is why since the inception of MMA the tale of the tape lists what a fighters primary style is. This brings a sense of tribalism to the sport. When Cung Le was on his rise in Strikeforce every Tae Kwon Do school in the country had his poster up.
Wrestling is no exception to this fad either. There is a reason why Matt Hughes was so popular. It was because he was a wrestler first, and was billed as a wrestler out of Iowa. If any of you have heard of wrestling in Iowa, you would know that alone would bring him fans and lots of them.
Yet many believe that wrestlers bring a boring style, (I disagree) just hanging on, controlling their man on the ground and winning rounds with superior ground position. Sometimes you must understand what is going on in order to have an appreciation for it.
Unless you like knock outs! You don’t have to be a veteran kickboxer to love a good head kick knockout or understand the nuances of setups to appreciate a great slip and counter that floors the other guy. Even more so if the winner had just come back from adversity.
For instance, take the Knockout of the year in 2011. Pat Berry Vs Cheick Kongo. The sequence for the finish starts at just over 2 minutes and 15 seconds into the first round. Kongo throws a right leg kick that the American Kickboxer Berry Blocks, Kongo throws a straight right but Berry blocks and hits Kongo with a HUGE! Right hook that drops Kongo.
Berry smells blood and chases Kongo down! Hitting him with ground and pound but Kong refuses to go quietly. Kongo Grabs a double leg to buy some time. He is able to get back to his feet, and another huge right hook from Berry right on the temple Kongo slumps to the floor again. Everyone thinks its over but Kongo keeps his whits about him, but he is in Danger.
At this point everyone at the arena is on their feet, the announcers are losing their minds that Kongo is still trying to stand and is on stupid street with noodle legs. Another attempt at a double and Berry backs off and Kongo is on his feet.
As Kongo backs towards the cage Berry has had about enough of this fight and marches in for the final blow. As berry comes forward Kongo fires a right hook which bounces off Berry’s head, Kongo reloads his hips and fires a slicing right uppercut. It lands flush on the chin. Berry is out Cold!
Fights over and Kongo is declared the winner, with Knockout of the night bonus to go with his win bonus.
Kongo is a fighter who always brings an exciting fight both because he is a Heavyweight but he is also a true kickboxing styled fighter. His Muay Thai is hands down the best out of any heavyweight fighter we have seen. He is no stranger to throwing hands, feet, elbows and knees. All the while maintaining good distance and footwork as well.
Elbows are easy to throw while a man has the floor against their back and they cant move, but throwing elbows while standing is a different game. In Thailand the fighters will tie up and throw elbows off the clinch but those men are 110- 160 lbs. Cheick is 260 lbs and his opponents have the ability to knock him out with one punch. So how does he go about utilizing such a devastating weapon at the highest level of competition?
Ask him yourself, Here is a video of Cheick Kongo demonstrating how he goes about throwing the elbow while standing.
Kongo shows that if he slips a cross he can come up with an elbow like an uppercut to the chin or face of his opponent. Kongo also shows that keeping his hand in a guard but stepping in with the elbow can attack the chest. As well as throwing an elbow over the shoulder of the cross that his opponent just threw.
After an elbow he will attempt to clinch and throw knees. A simple system with devastating effects to be utilized in MMA or Muay Thai competition. Check out The MMA Muay Thai Manual available NOW!