Quick Evasion

A late update:

Rather than doing a two step evasion, sometimes it is necessary to do a quick evasion. Imagine a right triangle in front of your opponent, who is standing inside it, the right angle pointing to your midline. We are going to move both feet off line simultaneously. This will place you on a neutral stance, on the 45° diagonal. To your lead side it is a slide, to your rear side you will have to switch stance and end up in the neutral on the opposite diagonal.

The set-up is off the jab, using the bounce to throw the jab and then retreating, so that you have time to step off.

From either side you can:

• Throw a short kick or round knee
• Push their counter off-line and throw the cross, pivoting into your stance as you do
• Pull their arm down at the elbow, throw horizontal elbow

Dedication or Desperation

Today I did a 7:30 am private lesson in muay thai. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would ever train before 10 am I’d have called you a crazy person. But with maturity, comes responsibility without a loss of the desire to be a better martial scientist. Ian worked with me from the clinch, a lá judo tie-up each person with one hand behind the neck and the other on with lateral control of the elbow. We traded hook knees to the ribs and flanks, alternating sides, until one person rolled the elbow grip hand underneath their partner’s arm securing medial control of the biceps. Stay hips close, head on your partner’s shoulder. It behooves the partner with outside control to roll an “overhook” over the elbow and underneath their partner’s axilla. Otherwise push their arm away and deliver a horizontal elbow to the face.

1. As your partner throws their hook knee on the side you have biceps control, twist their body by pulling with the neck control hand and pushing with the biceps side. They should fall, particularly if the movement is done from a hips in position and rapidly.
2. As your partner throws their hook knee on the side you have neck control, pull with both your grips as you sweep the their base leg with your ipsilateral foot.
3. Your partner delivers the straight knee on the neck control side, slide your arm control hand to the shoulder to push and throw the hook knee ipsilaterally to sweep them.