Sylvie's Tips - How to Drill Caught Kick Response Without a Partner

Sylvie's Tips - How to Drill Caught Kick Response-001

I’ve never really had opponents catching my kicks in fights, but that’s partially because I don’t really mid-kick. So, the reason I know that I suck at responding when my kick is caught is almost entirely through padwork, where I topple over like a kicked-over bicycle. Which is to say that I don’t really practice against this and only get reminded of how unpracticed I am when my trainer occasionally wants to mess with me. I do know how to handle the caught kick – I’ve been shown techniques from various sources – but I never drill them.

When I visited Dejrat Gym in Bangkok and did a private session with Ajarn Surat, one of the first things he noted – with a disapproving head shake – was this falling over business. So he showed me how to keep my hand in his face for balance and then how to kind of lean into the kick to transfer weight and then hop on the standing leg, in the same rhythm of someone trying to push me or sweep me, so that I don’t get knocked over. Mai lom, in Thai… don’t fall.

Arjan Surat’s technique wasn’t so different from what I’ve learned before. What was different was his explanation and his particular insistence on the importance of balance in Muay Thai (everyone says balance is important in Muay Thai, but for Arjan Surat it is serious); he followed by showing me how to just thread my leg into the ropes to build my flexibility and one leg balance. “Every day, every day,” he said to me. I don’t stretch and flexibility isn’t really my problem so much as panic and tension when my leg is caught, but what Ajarn managed to do was inspire me to work on this shortcoming in a way that I could manage without a partner. Part of my failure to ever really drill this deficiency was that I don’t have access to drilling partners, or I lack the courage to force the kids to work this stuff with me on a regular basis. So I devised this strategy to work on the exact technique Ajarn Surat taught, without needing a partner. So, I can drill the balance and get the strength in my legs and figure out where to put my weight to build a base and then get someone to work with me by catching my kick more to get rid of the “oh shit!” response. I will say, since working on this for myself over the past month or so, Pi Nu has started catching my kick in padwork a lot more. That might partially be because he’s seen me working on it, but it might also be that he knows I won’t just crumple onto the floor anymore – so there’s actually something to work on now.

The practice of this on the bag may require a little balance work. This Sylvie’s Tips on the Floating Block may help in that. Also, my full private with Ajarn Surat (about 45 minutes) will be put together as a blog post and video and will be up later.

An Introduction to Sylvie’s Tips

You can read about the Sylvie’s Tips feature here in my first post:

Sylvie’s Tips – Muay Thai Tips, Techniques & Helps from Thailand

See all my Sylvie’s Tips articles.

The Full Sylvie’s Tips YouTube Playlist

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The Author Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

A 103 lb. (46 kg) female Muay Thai fighter. Originally I trained under Kumron Vaitayanon (Master K) and Kaensak sor. Ploenjit in New Jersey. I then moved to Thailand to train and fight full time in April of 2012, devoting myself to fighting 100 Thai fights, as well as blogging full time. Having surpassed 100 fights in 3 years here, my new goal is to fight an impossible 200 times in Thailand, as much as I possibly can, and to continue to write my experience.

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Interview with Frances Watthanaya by Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

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I’m a big fan of the all-female Pettonpung gym in Mae Rim. I’ve fought a few women who trained there over the years I was in Chiang Mai, but it wasn’t until I went to visit them that I realized it is all female fighters. The trainer there, Khun Yai, appears to really like me. He remembers me from fighting one of his top fighters, Nong Ying, who is a beast – she now lives and fights in China – and he probably likes that I fight a lot, which his fighters do as well. When I dropped by after

Motivation is 80% Expectation – Lessons in Attitude in Muay Thai

Afternoon training at Petchrungruang yesterday was a pendulum swinging between, “hey, that’s not so bad,” to “holy hell, I’m never going to make it through this.” I didn’t feel well, mostly fatigued and feeling a little bit flu-ish in the sore muscle and fever department. So of course, of course, as I’m pushing my way through bagwork I get called in to the ring to do sparring with this kid who has been kicking my ass in clinch the last couple days. So I sucked it up and got in the ring, focusing on just having the right kind of

Muhammad Ali - Bragging - Women Muay Thai

Why Women Champion Themselves in the Fighting Sports

I was having a conversation with an accomplished and very thoughtful female fighter, Mae-Lin Loew of the incredibly well written Loew Factor blog. She was at once applauding me for being so honest and open in my writing, and at the same time kind of wishing she could move more in that direction herself. The subject of social limitations to what might be perceived as self-aggrandizement in blogging came up, and this little portion of my response seemed to stand on its own and say important things, so I duplicate it here: …There’s a lot of sniping and criticism no

My Muay Thai Scars - Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

Losing Face – Beauty and Changing How My Stitches and Cuts Are Read

y stitch count stands at 51 stitches, most of which are in my face. When looking in a mirror, I can see about five vertical lines along my hairline and forehead. I love them. I haven’t always, but I do now – they’re part of my story and in the context of what I love, where my heart has taken me, they’re something I have pride in. The other day I imagined what it would be like to go back to the US and work the job I had before, which was bartending. It’s a very image-conscious occupation and it

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Sylvie’s Tips – How to Drill Caught Kick Response Without a Partner

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The Author Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

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