How To Land A High Percentage Knee With Artem Levin
Setting up and landing knees can be tricky. As you have to get within close quarters to land them and avoid counters or being controlled by the opponent. With knees in the clinch you can have your opponent preoccupied with hand controls or off balance them to land knees, cleanly and effectively. And if you start landing body knees it will pay off really well as it takes the wind off of the opponent and drains their energy if they don't fall for the count from It. With knees from distance or from the open you will need to punch to keep the opponent busy then land your knee. It could be in the middle of a combination or off of single shots. A really good way to land a knee is to throw a punch and the same side knee right under it.
Who Is Artem Levin?
Artem "The Lion" Levin, is a Russian middleweight Muay Thai kickboxer. He is the former Glory Middleweight Champion, as well as the former It's Showtime 77 MAX champion and WBC Muay Thai Light Heavyweight champion. Artem is known for his highly technical style. Being extremely well rounded in his boxing, knees, kicks, and defense. Having beaten almost everyone put in front of him.
The Knee To The Ribs Technique
Artem Levin starts the video by saying this works really well for him in sparring and in fights and it's a really dangerous knee for his opponent to block. It's his favorite knee to land. This technique is a straight punch with the same side knee. Giorgio Petrosyan, the greatest striker of all time also uses this technique extensively. Artem Levin's version is a little bit different. Giorgo uses Ky when closing distance while Artem does it backing up, baiting the opponent as a counter as opposed to going forward the whole time. So he takes a few steps back with his back leg and throws a big right cross and a big advancing knee afterwards.
Artem then says traditionally fighters are taught to punch and then throw the opposite side kick. So the left punch with the right kick or vice versa.
Fighters will defend the right cross by pulling their head back and changing their head slots from front to back, which will make the ribs open up a bit and become a bigger target. If you are a little far you can jump with the knee forward. Now if the opponent is a southpaw then it's even better because the liver is in front.
Summary Of The Technique
- Take a few small steps back to lure opponent in
- Throw a big right hand cross
- Keep the right hand on the opponent's face to blind them
- Advance with a big knee to the ribs
Artem's Instructional
The Knee Strike Encyclopedia is available NOW! Upgrade your knee strikes with Artem Levin!