The Best Way To Land Knees By Exposing Your Opponent By Artem Levin
MMA is a very diverse sport, so when we think about how we are going to execute an attack, we can do so with elements from different arts such as wrestling, judo and Muay Thai. Developing all your skills from different arts into one Mixed Martial Art is an aspect that takes a lot of practise. The best way to incorporate all of these skills and effectively land accurate strikes, is to develop techniques that allow you to expose certain parts of your opponent’s body.
Different strikes that you throw at your opponent will create different reactions in their defensive maneuvers. Identifying how your opponent reacts is extremely important in a fight, so you have to test out your opponent by throwing strikes and seeing their reaction. Once you can determine how they will react, then you can start throwing the bait and exposing them for deadly attacks.
That's why the team at Dynamic Striking have brought to you the Russian Specialist Artem Levin to share his knowledge of Muay Thai Kickboxing. In this video he shows us his concepts for opening up his opponent so he can land a jumping knee!
Who Is Artem Levin?
If you haven’t heard of Artem Levin then you are in for a treat! Artem Levin is a professional Muay Thai Kickboxer with a fight record of 56 wins with only 7 losses and 2 draws, including 35 TKO wins. The Russian born with the nickname “The Lion” has won an abundance of amatuer titles and is a former Middleweight Glory and It’s Showtime 77 MAX champion. According to combat press Artem Levin is ranked #4 Middleweight in the world, so rest assured you have some great instructions to watch!
Check Out Artem's Instructionals HERE! Click Learn More!
Check Out Artem Levin Below Teaching Knee Strikes!
Artem Levin starts this video off by explaining his favourite technique and how he implements it, he talks about the straight right punch followed by a right knee to the ribs. Artem uses the same side strikes to open up his opponent.
Often fighters can fall into a rhythmic pattern, where they throw a left, throw a right, left, right, left. This can become predictable to your opponent, so you must incorporate techniques like a double jab or a right punch to right knee attack for example. Mixing up your strikes in this way makes it fundamentally harder for your opponent to know how to attack you.
So when you are practising your sparring then start to incorporate this technique, the first thing you need to do is work out the timing between you and your opponent. When you understand the range and how to time your step in and step out properly, then it becomes easier to expose your opponent and land your strikes more accurately.
Now you are ready to attack so you can step backwards slightly, this can be a shuffle movement or a small step or two. As you step or shuffle backwards you throw a right hand straight punch at your opponent. In most exchanges a fighter will defend the punch by dodging or leaning away, this will expose the ribcage area for you to follow up your right hand.
As your opponent reacts to your right hand, use the power in your left leg and step forward jumping your right knee straight into the exposed rib area of your opponent. This can be an extremely savage attack depending on how your opponent exposes themself. In some cases you can aim your knee uncomfortably into your opponent’s liver.
It’s all about mixing up your strikes, if you can keep your opponent guessing then you have a far greater chance of executing your strikes effectively. So get on board with “The Lion” and watch more of his Muay Thai Kickboxing techniques brought to you by Dynamic Striking!
Learn More From Artem Levin About Landing Knee Strikes!
If you liked watching Artem Levin give his insight into landing knees on your opponent and you are interested in learning more, then check out The Lion’s great series The Knee Strike Encyclopedia by Artem Levin Available exclusively on Dynamic Striking!