How to Master the Muay Thai Low Kick: Technique, Power and Strategy Explained

In Muay Thai, MMA, and combat sports in general, few techniques can debilitate a fighter quicker than a solid chopping low kick. It can destabilize an opponent, stop them from coming forward, and even be the final strike for a TKO victory.

In this post, we'll explore the history of the Muay Thai low kick, why it's so effective, how fighters train and apply it, so that you can start adding it to your Muay Thai arsenal.

The Fight That Made The Low Kick Famous

The Muay Thai low kick was made internationally famous in 1988 when Thai fighter Changpuek Kiatsongrit took part in a historical match with American kickboxing superstar Rick Roufus. The match was of mixed rules, and Kiatsongrit was not allowed to use the Muay Thai elbow.

Despite the rules favoring the kickboxer, Roufus, who is to this day widely considered the greatest kickboxer of all time. Round after round, Kiatsongrit hammered Roufus's legs with low kicks and won the fight with a devastating TKO victory in the fifth round. He had targeted the kickboxer with low kicks throughout the fight, and within a few years, the low kick spread across the kickboxing world.

Why Are Low Kicks So Devastating?

A single low kick might actually be less damaging compared with other strikes, such as elbows, liver shots, and head kicks, which can end the fight instantly. However, low kicks can gradually tear down an opponent by damaging the quadriceps with each kick. Low kicks can also target the inner thigh, which can disrupt an attack, but more often are thrown to the side of the quads with the IT band, which is the outside of the leg.

Let’s talk about a nerve called the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve that runs from your lower back, down the outside of your leg to the top of your knee. Halfway between the knee and the hip is where the nerve is closest to the surface and most susceptible to damage.

This is a good place to aim your low kicks, as it can force the leg to ‘give out’. This is usually when you see the fighter buckle and collapse to the floor after a few solid low kicks.

How to Train the Low Kick

There are several ways to sharpen your low kick. It's to use a variety of methods, but not all training methods will be available to everyone.

• Long Bag Work: Building power and conditioning the shin.
• Pad work with a trainer: Practicing accuracy, timing, and setups with a trainer.
• Shadowboxing: Practicing the combinations used to set up your low kick.
• Sparring or partner drills: Working, usually wearing shin guards to reduce the damage you can cause with the kick.

How to set up the low kick

Like any power shot in martial arts, you can’t just throw them as a singular shot and hope that they land. They will be too easy for your opponent to defend against; you usually have to throw the low kick after they have been set up by your hands.

For a more devastating low kick, you can fake your opponent into defending a body kick, and as he lands his defending leg, throw the low kick while the leg is in a weaker position.

The low kick can also be used as an important counter strike. As your opponent is coming in, their weight is usually on their lead leg. Throwing a low kick as a counter after they punch will usually end their attack.

Muay Thai Scoring

As you are probably aware, in Thailand, the home of Muay Thai, fights are scored differently from international Muay Thai.

So, how do low kicks score? In Thailand, they rarely have a direct impact on the scorecards, and that’s because they are seen as a weapon to wear down your opponent.

However, if you can buckle the leg or cause obvious damage such as reddening the thigh or even scoring a knockdown, this will score highly in the eyes of the judges. This is known as a conditional technique. A technique used to slowly damage your opponent's condition.

So, does this mean throwing low kicks could be a waste of your time? Not really! When used correctly, even if low kicks do not cause obvious damage, they can still slow down an advancing opponent, sap their speed and power, and cause them to think twice before they attack.

The Traditional vs The Modern Low Kick

The traditional Muay Thai low kick is thrown by stepping forward (or diagonally), shifting weight onto your lead leg, and then swinging the shin like a baseball bat into your opponent's leg. It's powerful, simple, and reliable, but it does have its drawbacks.

Fighters today use variations that are faster, sharper, and harder to defend - the UFC fighter Alex Pereira is a great example of how it's been adapted into MMA, in a modified form.

Whether you are using the low kick for Muay Thai, MMA, or any other combat sport, it could become an essential part of your game plan.

Low Kick Course

When beginner and intermediate students come to Thailand to fight, I often ask them what their game plan is, and they often reply with something like ‘I’ll try and hurt them with some low kicks in the first round - slow them down and then..’ but many students don’t fully understand how to throw the low kick.

That’s why I teamed up with a Muay Thai world champion to create a course on how best to utilize the Muay Thai low kick.

In this course, we are going to give you the steps you need to follow to develop crushing and powerful low kicks. We will teach you the basics, but also techniques that more advanced, professional fighters can use. We will give you the specific points of performance to turn a good low kick into a great low kick. Then we’ll give you some combinations you can practice with your trainer, your student, or on the bag, providing you with some drills you can add to your training regimen so that, before long, you will be utilizing the low kick to chop your opponent's leg right out from under them.

Meet your teacher: Kru Maew

Kru Maew is a two-time Muay Thai world champion, winning the Rajadamnern Stadium title at just 21 years old. Kru Maew mastered the low kick and used it to finish most of his opponents, and the techniques he used will be taught to you in this course. Kru Maew now teaches in Phuket, Thailand, from his gym, Kru Muay Thai.

In this course, we are going to teach you what you need to follow to develop crushing and powerful low kicks. We will give you the specific points to turn a good low kick into a great low kick. Then we’ll give you the combinations you can practice with your trainer, your partner, or on the bag. Providing you with some drills you can add to your training regime so that, before long, you will be utilizing the low kick to chop your opponent's leg right out from under them.

You can buy the course here https://fighterslink.gumroad.com/l/Kru-Maew-Low-Kick-Secrets