More on knee kicks

This knee kick is called Farewell kneekick in Muay Thai. Here the foreleg is parallel to the ground. It is a high kick.

Knee kick needs the following skills as well:

• Clinch and grapple technique. You are going to be in close contact for a good knee kick. So, you have to learn to clinch rather well. For the knee kick to be effective, you have to hold the target at the neck. That grip has to be keen. This will somewhat prevent him for attacking you, if he is close enough. 
• Balance. Balancing skill is very important for any kick, but more so for this one, since your hands are also engaged and you are hanging on to the target who is obviously trying to dislodge you, if he is a skilled fighter he may be rather successful at that. So, you have to balance well for this. 
• Focus: A knee kick must be well-targeted. It must be used only after you have gauged and decided where you want to hit. This must be done in a fraction of a second. Which must mean your focusing skills must be super perfect.
• Hip strength. In a good knee kick you are not just hitting your target, but pushing and thrusting from your hip. This is the only way you can power your kick and push the target away with the small knee joint. So, the strength for that comes from your hip. It is a thrust-throw technique. 
• Guard: since you are so close to your opponent, your guard instincts must be terrific. Your opponent is in close quarters for you. And even the worst fighter would aim for an elbow punch (which will be obviously targetted at your vulnerable head). So you must, even while  you clinch and kick him, be able to ward off his blow. 
• Timing and cunning: This means you must not let your target guess what you are up to. U cannot stand up and aim with the knee. A good fighter can block a knee kick well in advance if he knows you are coming for him. So, it has to be a last second throw. The other is timing. So it is a mixture of mind's alertness and focus and timing that will get the proper results in a good knee kick. 

There are several types of knee kick. This one goes for the side, from the side.


Target in a knee kick is usually the torso, up to the chin.

A knee kick needs regular practice to become perfect. Remember so many skills are involved in this beautiful tool, created from your own body.

What muscles do you need to get a super-focused knee kick and what type of exercise:

• U need strong adductor -- muscles in the front of the thigh.  This is used for hip alignment and positioning. Since you now know that the hips are the power base for a good kick, you def want to get strong adductors.
• and hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh. . . The hamstrings are involved with knee movement as well as hip alignment. So, you definitely want toned and strong hamstrings. 

So if you develop these muscles, you get

• fast kick (fast twitch muscles) 
• more power from your hips 
• greater focus and targeting from your  knees 

 Good exercises to develop these muscles

• Hamstring curls 
• Hip adduction exercise
• Squats and curls

 U don't get a good kick just like that. You get by working around it, through exercises and preparatory practices, till everything falls in place. And your kick meets its target.