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

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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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There is a natural division in western feminist thinking, and in some way this post is about that divide. But much more it is about the situational ethics, the principles we may want to protect and forward, when visiting or even living in a traditional culture like Thailand; when coming to a different culture as a western privileged woman. This post is a single-person deliberation about how to best do so in the context of Muay Thai and its unique traditions in Thailand, how I am attempting to do so. Hopefully this resonates with others. Not all women from the

Of Modesty and Men – Thai Manners In and Out of Camp

Power in Modesty? I just read an online article on the topic of Evangelical clothing stores popping up “all over” Brazil. The author is quick to note that Brazil is “known for it’s tiny bikinis,” so there’s some kind of shock expected from the popularity (in number as there is no note on the sales) of these modest clothing stores. The author raises the question, mostly in the title of the article, of whether there is power in modesty. If focus is taken away from the body and how “hot” it looks, can women accomplish more, go farther in

Female Fighter Alliance – a Young Girl New to Clinch

There’s a new little girl at the Petchrungruang Gym. She’s been there for maybe 2 months now, only in the afternoons, but she’s serious. For a long time I didn’t know her name – I found out it is Mai – but she’s 11 years old and Kru Nu informed me that she already wants to fight. She’s probably 40 kg. I always smile at her when I see her, mostly because I’m legitimately excited to have another female in the gym at all (who is training), but also because I want to make sure she feels a connection. It

Muay Thai Luck in Thailand | Talking With Angie

Angie’s beverage shop is on the side of a road that cuts between the very busy Thepprasit and equally busy Pattaya Tai roads. There are constantly motorbikes and cars wizzing past, occasionally pulling to the side to shout a drink order to Angie and then jet off somewhere for a minute before returning to pick up. Today it’s oddly quiet and tons of shops around Pattaya are closed, so the traffic is minimal and Angie is sitting with her back to the street. I’m facing her, seeing the slowness of the traffic and giving her a nod every now and

Training At O. Meekhun Muay Thai Gym with Phetjee Jaa – Pattaya

I was very excited and shocked to learn that my Muay Thai hero, the 12-year-old phenomenon Phetjeejaa O. Meekhun, trains at her family gym just a 30 second walk through a chicken farm from where I’ve been training every day for the last month here in Pattaya. I got to visit their gym and meet PJJ and her family a few days ago and got to actually go and train with the kids this past Monday. While en route on the big highway that runs through Pattaya and connects my two gyms, I was weaving between cars to sneak up

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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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