MUAY THAI’S DEADLY ELBOW

At close range, the elbow is like a club. The Thais have refined the art of elbow fighting into a science.

By Jason D. Webster

FEW OF THE BODY’S WEAPONS CAN MATCH THE potential for inflicting the gory damage the elbow can produce. The capacity of this weapon to pummel, cut, crush and break causes most to cringe whenever imagining such a ruinous weapon being used against them.

Because the elbow can travel at a variety of angles and because the force behind it is so inherently powerful, many consider the elbow to be the ultimate close-range fighting weapon. However, many fail to develop this weapon to a useful level due to its inherent danger to practice, and strictly confine practice to bags or pads.

Muay Thai is respected because the Thai boxers are known to be extremely proficient with this tool in actual fighting. Conversely, because most western martial artists seldom use this tool in sparring or controlled fighting and its employment is prohibited by U.S. fighting organizations, they fail to understand the elbow’s full range of uses.

Landing the elbow on target is difficult against an opponent expecting its use, so to be effective the user must employ timing, distance and angles to the utmost. Only through constantly exploring this versatile weapon can both the defensive and counter-attack applications of the elbow be understood.

Today, most Thai boxers concentrate on two major elbow strikes: the striking elbow (tee sok) and the cutting elbow (fan sok).

Both the cutting and the striking elbow can be delivered from either arm, but most employ the rear arm due to its increased power (somewhat similar to a right cross). The striking elbow is thrown slightly off the horizontal plane and can strike any facial target but often is aimed at the temple or eyebrow. The cutting elbow employs an even steeper trajectory (between one and two o’clock) in hopes of cutting “across” a large diagonal surface area.

As with all Muay Thai elbow strikes, the hands of the elbowing arm is kept open and relaxed, so the force behind the blow is centered more in the shoulder than the arm itself. This also facilitates the hand and forearm’s inward fold towards the body without braking the speed of the elbow.

These two elbow strikes can be varied in both trajectory and distance. Though probably they are the most natural feeling and versatile of elbow strikes, they are difficult to use against another Thai boxer. At close-range, a Thai boxer will cover his head and neck with his gloves and forearms in such a way that, unless the guard is dropped, an elbow has little chance of landing  successfully.

In order to compensate for some shortcomings of the cutting and striking elbow, it is necessary to use the upward elbow.

The upward elbow can come up between the opponent’s guarding arms, making him compensate his defense. Though the vertical trajectory of this elbow is harder for the opponent to see coming and is harder for him to defend against, it is also difficult to put enough speed into the snap to cause damage.

This elbow strike must be practiced laboriously to get over the uncomfortable feeling of the body’s incline which allows the elbow to “snap” up. The distance to use this elbow is fairly short, so bridging the gap to throw it requires utmost skill and timing.

Today’s Thai boxers rarely use this elbow because to gain proficiency requires long practice and a good deal of confidence. However, it will surely create an opening if done correctly, regardless of whether the opponent sees it coming or not.

Sometimes the opponent must compensate the guard by closing his hands to the front. This will open the side of the head to attack a much more productive target

Once the side of the head is open, an elbow strike off the horizontal line can hammer the exposed area. Both striking and cutting elbow strikes are effective at this, but a better, though far more difficult maneuver is the sok klab or reverse spinning elbow.

This is potent and highly effective because the body’s full weight is behind the strike. It also is hard to recognize because it is often a continuation of one movement. Unlike the striking or cutting elbow, which require the boxer to switch his body direction to follow up a blow, the reverse elbow can follow the inertia of an initial strike in one continuous motion. The trajectory of the reverse elbow can be varied greatly to strike any number of targets.

A variation of this technique, yet harder to master than the rest, is the sok mamuang (elbow lifts mango). To accomplish this strike the boxer brings his rear elbow up vertically with the hand of the elbowing arm pointing towards the ground while he spins, usually aiming for the chin or solar plexus. The difficulties with this technique lie in having to throw it with the back turned to the opponent and getting inside his guard. The utility of the strike lies in combinations of movements. Due to the body’s twist and the elbow rising vertically from the body, the opponent likely will find it difficult to see the strike coming. It may not have the versatility of the others but, if mastered, the offensive and counter-offensive potential of this elbow strike is phenomenal !

One elbow strike which doesn’t get the attention it deserves is the downward elbow, which is executed by smashing the elbow down while keeping the hand and forearm vertical (this time pointing upward). This strike is almost non-existent because when two muay thai boxers fight, rarely does one bend over enough to employ the technique.

Since both fighters grab each other’s upper bodies, it is difficult for one to get the other into a bent over or lower posture, a prerequisite for delivering a downward smash of the elbow. The downward elbow, like the reverse elbow, should be used at the end of a combination as a finishing blow. A strong kick to buckle the opponent’s leg or a knee to the solar plexus or ribs can get the adversary into a lower posture so a downward elbow can be delivered.

Once the opponent is in an even slightly inferior (lower) postion, the elbow can be delivered by raising up on the toes and crashing down with elbow’s point onto the top of the adversary’s head, forehead or collarbone. In extreme cases, this elbow can be delivered airborne if the opponent is groggy, or even by climbing up on the opponent’s leg if the situation allows.

Conclusion

Shadowboxing must be done constantly to help imprint the motion on the Thai boxer’s neuromuscular pathways so it becomes more or less automatic. Working with pads and heavy bags are other forms of practice, but control and accuracy must be constantly practiced so a more intense level of training can be employed.

The elbow is a devastating weapon. Its employment ranges from knocking the opponent out cold to breaking a limb to momentary paralysis. If a muay thai proponent or any martial artist wishes to use this tool, he should work  to develop it to a level where it can strike from any angle and can defend against most attacks.

The versatility of the elbow make it shameful to restrict the practice to two or three types of strikes. If this weapon is developed fully, whether for use in the ring or pure self defense, it definitely will make for a more complete, more confident, more effective fighter.

From Martial Arts Master magazine February 1999