Learn How To Throw The Long Knee properly With Buakaw Banchamek
The knee strikes are the bread and butter of Muay Thai, and there’s a good reason for that; it’s a powerful strike that carries tremendous force with it, which can break even the most formidable opponents.
Muay Thai fighters love throwing the knees, and they can throw it inside the clinch or from range using the long knees covering distance and catching the opponents off guard.
If a knee has ever hit you, you know how bad the feeling is, especially when you are not ready for it; making the knee a powerful strike to utilize during fights, causing damage and slowing down our opponents.
Being able to throw the knees from a distance is a crucial and simple skill to develop. Used by Muay Thai fighters as a defensive ability against an opponent coming forward or an offensive ability against an opponent covering up.
The problem with long knees is the risk of being hit while throwing it; caused by the distance where punches can quickly get in our face and damage us; the solution to this is the Thai fighters’ form while throwing the knee, reducing the overall risk.
In this video, Buakaw Banchamek goes over how to use the long knees correctly and with great effectiveness.
Who Is Buakaw Banchamek
Buakaw Banchamek is one of the hottest names in the muay Thai and kickboxing world. Buakaw has been a fighter since the age of 8, making his way through the ranks winning many world titles in both kickboxing and muay Thai; becoming one of the most famous fighters alive today, throughout his career, Buakaw has managed to have an unbelievable record of 239 wins and only 24.
Using The Long Knees Correctly
The video starts with Buakaw talking about the importance of the step and the range we’re in. you need to be just outside punching range to use a small step forward, putting us in the proper distance to land the knee.
Buakaw then talks about the stance where we are always on our toes and never have the entire foot flat on the mat.
He then explains that we should not always lock up a clinch when we are looking to knee our opponent, but we should always pay attention to their ability to hit us; if we’re not defending ourselves, we will get hurt.
The form our body should have while throwing the long knee is bending the body to the back, something essential for Muay Thai fighters is a flexible back, and you can see the better the fighter is, the more he can bend his back.
Then Buakaw reminds us that we should always keep our guard up while throwing the knee, Buakaw keeps the opposite glove to the knee up, and the second arm swings back to create momentum.
When we are throwing the knee, we always aim at the body’s midsection, so we have a big surface area to land on and avoid missing.
You can also use the long knee after catching a kick, immediately stepping in and counter with the knee.
The key Details
- Stay on the toes
- Stay just outside punching range
- Step in with your knee
- Always cover-up
- Aim for the trunk
Learn More From Buakaw Banchamek
If you want to learn more techniques like this with details from the legendary Buakaw, check out “Authentic Muay Thai Fighting by Buakaw Banchamek” available exclusively on Dynamic Striking!