Landing The Rear Knee To The Ribs With Artem Levin
When we look at the Kickboxing knee and the Muay Thai knee, we notice that they are a little bit different; the Kickboxing knee comes from a more bladed stance which makes us rotate our hips and shoulders to throw the knee, unlike Muay Thai, where we thrust our hips forward into the target.
This simple change of stances changes the way we throw the knee in kickboxing. The stance dictates the trajectory of the knee as in kickboxing; I go straight up to the target instead of coming up and then pushing the knee into the target like in Muay Thai, so we must understand the rule sets usually dictates how we are going to throw our knee.
The difference between the knees makes a lot of athletes unsuccessful with their knees as they don’t understand when and how to throw each knee, something that is very dependable on the situation. The solution to this is simple. We should first look at our stance and decide which is the correct knee to use; the second step will be to implement the mechanics of the knee we have chosen.
We are going to look at the mechanics of the kickboxing knee:
- Take a small step forward and keep your heel up
- Rotate your shoulders to the side of the knee
- Throw the knee at an upward angle
- Keep your hands up with the lead elbow covering your face
In this video, Artem Levin is going to show us how he throws the rear knee in kickboxing!
Who Is Artem Levin?
Artem Levin is a former Kickboxing and Muay Thai Fighter. Artem started as a very successful amateur fighter winning countless IFMA championships. As a professional, he was known as a deadly and creative fighter that can knock out his opponents at any moment with any strike. Artem gathered many achievements throughout his career, but the most notable of all is becoming the former Glory Middleweight Champion.
Check Out Artem's Instructionals HERE! Click Learn More!
Following The Rear Hand With A Rear Knee To The Body
Artem starts the video by telling us that the move we’re going to see here is his favorite; he likes to use it in sparring and fights as it is tough to see and easy to land with a lot of power which makes it dangerous for our opponent.
The technique is simple; we will throw the straight right hand and follow it with the same side knee. When I want to land it in a fight, I will start by moving back and pulling the opponent to me. After I pull him forward, I want to start throwing my right hand to make him get used to it, and once the opponent gets used to the punch, i am going to follow it with a powerful rear knee to the ribs.
This combination is successful because kickboxing fighters get used to combinations that go from side to side, continuously moving our weight with our punches. For example, the 1-2-3-low kick is the most simple combination in kickboxing, and it changes sides after each strike.
So when I use a combination of strikes from the same side, the opponent will not be ready for it, and we can land our strikes consistently; this is why Artem loves the straight right to the same side knee.
The second reason is that when I throw the right hand, I push my opponent and make him lean back, which opens his midsection for a clear path that our knee can hit and break his ribs easily. When we use this move in an open stance (as a southpaw), I can add a jump to my knee as the distance is larger, and this makes it even more powerful, but the move stays the same, it is a rear straight punch to a straight rear knee.
Learn More From Artem Levin
Suppose you like this breakdown and how Artem uses his knees in kickboxing; you can expand your knowledge and check out “The Knee Strike Encyclopedia - By Artem Levin” available exclusively on Dynamic Striking.