Elbows Knock People OUT!
Elbows are one of the best ways to knock an opponent out for several reasons:
That is why you see so many knockouts from elbows in sports that allow it such as Muay Thai and MMA.
How to Elbow
Many people simply do not know how to elbow. I’ve even seen “instructors” on the YouTube teaching elbow mechanics that don’t make sense.
When you elbow you want to be able to get a full follow through to deliver all of your power. To do that on a horizontal elbow simply think about reaching over your shoulder as if reaching for a seatbelt. When throwing a rising or vertical elbow think about scratching the back of your neck.
Hit with the last inch of your elbow, that is the hardest bony part. And of course drive through your target like you would with any technique, don’t just make surface contact.
Straight Blast to Thai Clench to Elbow
My favorite application, especially to end a fight quickly, is to do my elbow right as I am acquiring my Thai clench. As seen in the video as one hand is reaching around the back of my opponent’s head the other arm is firing an elbow right into their chops.
Pull their head into your elbow for even more devastation.
Every fight has an entry. The entry is the first contact. That contact could be a punch that lands, a block, a grab, etc.
If the fight is starting from distance you will need to use your boxing / kicking skills to create the entry and if the fight is starting up close that entry might be you blocking your opponent’s sucker punch.
Either way once you have the entry your goal is to elbow them on the way in to your Thai clench. Often on the way to acquiring that Thai clench there will be a gap of space to overcome. For instance, imagine you just punched your opponent in the face… their head probably flew back and now there is a gap of space so that you can’t easily reach the back of their neck to get a Thai clench. You can’t grab them around the back of the neck to Thai clench until you make up that space. That is where your straight blast comes in.
So often you will often be transitioning from boxing to a straight blast to the beginnings of a Thai clench. During that initial Thai clench grab with one hand, before your other hand wraps around their neck, you will fire off your elbow.
We want to make this as seamless as possible. So enter our first drill.
Drill 1 – Straight Blast to Elbow
Simple walk forward while doing a straight blast and then wrap one hand around the back of your imaginary opponent’s head. Then with your free arm simple reach for the seatbelt which is your horizontal elbow strike. Then complete your Thai clench.
When you straight blast the goal is to bridge the gap of space between you and your opponent ASAP so you can Thai clench them, slipping in your elbow strike of course. But you never know how many straight blast strikes you will need to do. You might need only 1. Then again if your opponent is moving backwards you might need up to 3 to reach them. Remember you are sprinting forward so you will get to them quickly so you will probably never need more than 3.
So when you do the walking straight blast to elbow drill do 3 versions:
You can just walk around doing this to build fluid movement and to make it feel natural so it is automatic.
Drill 2 – Boxing Entry to Strait Blast to Elbow
Now you will start from a lunging range. Do whatever boxing or kicking entry you prefer. For illustration purposes let’s imagine your opponent fires off a jab, you parry it and counter with a rear straight. This moves their head back creating the opportunity to straight blast so you do. Once you are close enough you will wrap a hand around their neck and pull them into your elbow. Now wrap both hands around their neck and pull them into a modified Thai clench where you will finish the fight… assuming they aren’t knocked out already.
If you have a training partner to do this drill with great, but if not then you can do it solo.
Summary
Bruce Lee said, “I don’t fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
This is one of your primary ways to end a fight. Go get your 10,000 reps!
Until next time,
Brian
