Saenchai v Stephen Meleady

The Infamous 'Cartwheel Kick' performed by Saenchai

Catching the kick of his opponent, and while he is still unbalanced, Saenchai is seen throwing the cartwheel kick.

Who says Taekwondo isn't effective :) Hassan Kassrioui versus Mike Zambidis 2002 

Wayne Barret Versus Joe Schilling  Classic push kick parry to spinning back kick.  How to flow chart from the push kick counter.

Masaaki Noiri vs Yuki @ ' Road to Glory Tokyo'

A beautiful display of a counter cross.

As Yuki is offloading his attack, Noiri has his guard tight and is waiting for Yuki's hand to come down. Just at that moment Yuki throws the knee which left his head exposed, at the same time Noiri has dodged the knee by jumping backwards.

Landing with both his feet on the ground he is also able to land the dynamite cross that ended the fight.

In this scene it showed Noiris patiences as Yuki was knocked down 2 times previously in this fight. He was composed and also able to execute a finish.

Victor

Serkan Yilmaz versus Masato A very basic but effective set up for the spinning back kick and spinning hook kick. Both kicks are thrown from a side stance(feet facing the same direction).  Because there thrown from the same position and if executed properly it is hard to tell which one it is going to be.  This is a nice demonstration of a 50/50 setup. Are you going to bring your hands down to block the spinning back kick to the body or have your hands up to block the spinning hook kick to the head? Mark.

Kem Sitsongpeenong - Arm Trap to Elbow

Kem Sitsongpeenong  A short elbow sequence where Kem takes advantage of an "interesting" trap of the hands to land an Elbow KO. 

Axe kick to Jump Spinning Back Kick - Hassan Kassrioui

Hassan Kassrioui is a Moroccan retired Taekwondo Kickboxer who competed at the world champion level in the 90's. He also has his a Black belt in WTF Taekwondo(Olympic Style).

It's very rare that you will witness fighters who come from a traditional background that can successfully utilize such a large arsenal of kicks. Axe kicks, jump spinning round house kicks, spinning heel/hook kicks you name it he can not only do it but land it. Breakdown Hassan throws an axe kick which gets caught on the arm. His opponent blocks and attempts to sweep by kicking off the supporting leg. Here is where the magic happens Hassan recognizes this. As the kick comes in he throws a jump spinning back kick and successfully avoids the kick. This has to be one of the greatest TKD moments in Muay Thai that I have ever witnessed. Even in Olympic TKD rarely will you ever see a sequence of such high level of Taekwondo illustrated Enjoy Mark.

Absorbing and Countering - Leaping angle punch/Hook

Glory 16  Nathan Corbett Versus Tyrone Spong rematch This is a classic example of absorbing and countering. The counter here is done with the left to the same side in which Nathan kicked(Open Side). The punch thrown by Spong wasn't a big shot, but notice how he uses his back foot to push off and leap forward with his body weight and landing an leaping angled punch/hook. Mark.

Stepping side kick - Raymond Daniels

Glory 13 Raymond Daniels versus Brian Foster Raymond switch stances forward and throws a spinning hook kick. As the kick comes in Brian shuffles back and avoids the kick. Raymond realising this tendency does a Stepping side kick. Although the kick misses Brian does a good job at reading the kick and defends successfully by combining a dip and a dart to outside of Raymond to avoid the kick. Although the kick doesn't land this is a perfect example of how the stepping sidekick can be utilised in combat sports. Mark.

Glory 11 Chicago 2013- Tyrone Spong

In this bout Spong has demonstrated his 'Dutch Muay Thai Style'. Being a stalking fighter as well as a counter fighter. Keeping his guard tight and tucked he is not affected or threatened by Corbett's hand combos one bit, and always throwing a leg kick or body hook back as a counter.

As you can see in the archives Corbett is stepping really close when using the jab against Spong, but Corbett's jabs are also backed with alot of power which means his ideal of distance or set up is no valid. This leads to Spong always having a chance to counter with a leg kick successfully as Corbett recovery rate is slower. 

With the first knocked down(archive 3), we see Corbett setting up his punch with a leg kick. But Spong does not check instead baits the leg kick, with his guard tight takes one step back and loads a counter hook.

Spong was definitely the more completed and smarter fighter in this bout. Most of these counters can't be learnt overnight. As it was perfected with a lot of drilling during training. To not fear the rush of your opponents combos come at you but able to quickly react with something twice as hard from your self. Like Mark said in our first post ' Sometimes you need to take a hit to give a hit back' .

Victor

Glory 16 - Raymond Daniels versus Francois Ambang Aside from the sheer difficulty in landing this kick. What makes it beautiful is the set up and the technical prowess of Daniel. Traditionally this kick is set up from the back leg and uses the momentum from the spin to unleash the spinning hook kick. The thing which is beautiful about this. is the adjustment in throwing the kick, instead of throwing it traditionally using the rear leg for momentum to set it up. He uses a leaping lead leg side kick to create the momentum for the spin as he pressures his opponents to the ropes. By throwing the kick like this it makes it a lot more harder for the opponent to read and therefore increase chances to land the kick. Mark.

Raymond Daniels versus Brian Foster Glory Glory 13. Brian fakes a spinning hook into a step 180 roundhouse kick in anticipation to Raymond Daniels circling of the ring. Although Brian did lose this fight I think he just got flustered and fell into Raymonds game. I think segments like this really reflect some of the preparation Brian did to combat Raymond's unique style. Despite the end result of the fight, I think some of the strategies which he was employing in this fight are quite useful pieces to solve the puzzle of Raymond Daniels. Mark.

Sparing: Jim "Hollywood" Perdios versus Costa "Superfoot" Prasoulas This is a great demonstration of reflexes and the concept of drawing the kick. Costa in the white throws a switch kick to the lead leg inside thigh. Jim in the blue shuffles back and tries to deflect/parry the kick falls which falls short. Jim responds with his own rear leg low round house counter. What is interesting here is that after the switch kick Costa lands in a side stance which sets up you for more traditional techniques such as side kicks and spinning back kicks. Costa anticipating Jim's counter round house, throws a spinning hook kick. Although this doesn't land due to Jim's "Cobra like reactions". What to take from this? Sometimes you need to take a hit to give a hit back. This is a good demonstration of the concept of "drawing the kick" and also a nice setup to land a spinning hook kick. Cheers, Mark