Trouble countering punches with knees

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Hatake88

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I've watched Thai fighters step in with their long guard and counter the 1-2 with knees.

However, when I do it, my opponent is running around too much - the moment they are done with their 1-2, they'll spring back and circle. Sure, my long guard means I'm not getting hit in the face as much but I don't have enough time to fit the knee in. Also, my long guard only prevents some shots - my coach tells me to take my head off centreline when kneeing to avoid getting hit completely but I find everytime i lean away a little I become more exposed and off balance.

Anyone have any tips?
 
Hatake88 said:
I've watched Thai fighters step in with their long guard and counter the 1-2 with knees.

However, when I do it, my opponent is running around too much - the moment they are done with their 1-2, they'll spring back and circle. Sure, my long guard means I'm not getting hit in the face as much but I don't have enough time to fit the knee in. Also, my long guard only prevents some shots - my coach tells me to take my head off centreline when kneeing to avoid getting hit completely but I find everytime i lean away a little I become more exposed and off balance.

Anyone have any tips?
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It honestly sounds like you need to work on your headmovement and foot work to maintain your balance. So you can move your head off the centireline while kneeing.
 
Really helps if your opponent is the same size or smaller. Don’t try this against someone with a longer reach.
 
Hatake88 said:
I've watched Thai fighters step in with their long guard and counter the 1-2 with knees.

However, when I do it, my opponent is running around too much - the moment they are done with their 1-2, they'll spring back and circle. Sure, my long guard means I'm not getting hit in the face as much but I don't have enough time to fit the knee in. Also, my long guard only prevents some shots - my coach tells me to take my head off centreline when kneeing to avoid getting hit completely but I find everytime i lean away a little I become more exposed and off balance.

Anyone have any tips?
Click to expand...
find a trusted sparring partner and get him to slap you up while you focus on knee counters. This is one of those 'you've gotta figure it out for yourself' deals, because I might tell you what I would do - but I've got a different body type, general skillset, confidence level etc.

Woldogs right, it could actually be your head movement that's letting you down, or it might be that you've got flimsy control of their arms - its hard to know from just text. You're always welcome to inbox me a video if you'd rather not share footage publically
 
Also: don't lean back! If you don't have a huge reach advantage you're probably going to get your head bashed as you lean or on the way back to your stance

crunch your abs, chin down, squeeze your butt


ps: I always find myself sharing this video every know and again lol perfect form in my opinion
 
You have to blast him with the knee during his combo, you can’t wait for him to finish punching you! When you anticipate him ready to punch you and the very second you realizes he is moving forward to do so, you cock that knee and blast it right in his torso! It doesn’t even have to be hard because the force of him moving forward in to the knee should be enough to fuck him up most of the time
 
DoctorTaco said:
Change your timing and try to catch them on their way in. You put the knee out there and let them spear themselves on it
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I find a good parry helps. Parry the jab and step up with left knee to jam the right hand (either straight into collar tie or cover against the right)
 
Learn to parry punches without giving up ground. Stepping forward when parrying the jab sets up all kinds of shit. It's how Marciano constantly landed his right. It will open up another world of countering opportunities.
 
eternaldarkness said:
Learn to parry punches without giving up ground. Stepping forward when parrying the jab sets up all kinds of shit. It's how Marciano constantly landed his right. It will open up another world of countering opportunities.
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thanks! by parry, you mean parry downwards or sideways?

when I spar with noobs, its easier to parry and slip etc. but, as I spar people who are better and better, they rarely are out of range when they throw their punches. i.e. they aren't throwing it far enough I have time to parry. maybe if I use long guard more, that'll give me enough time to parry as my arms are outstretched.

thoughts?
 
Lucas Coradini said:
Also: don't lean back! If you don't have a huge reach advantage you're probably going to get your head bashed as you lean or on the way back to your stance

crunch your abs, chin down, squeeze your butt


ps: I always find myself sharing this video every know and again lol perfect form in my opinion
Click to expand...


Nice, thanks for posting.
 
If it's not technique it deffo sounds like a timing issue. Any video?
 
Question for everyone here - when you do the knee, do you step in a straight line (albeit with your foot turned 45 degrees) or do you step out to the side slightly?

Trying to take my head off centre line. Tagging @AndyMaBobs - the one true guru on knees haha
 
Hatake88 said:
Question for everyone here - when you do the knee, do you step in a straight line (albeit with your foot turned 45 degrees) or do you step out to the side slightly?

Trying to take my head off centre line. Tagging @AndyMaBobs - the one true guru on knees haha
Click to expand...

So this is question that's pretty relative to what you're doing.

Typically I would say step off to a slight angle because it will align your knee closer to the targets center line. But there are times where you may want to step straight in. So for example say your opponent keeps throwing their rear kick at you (assuming same stance match up) - their kick will block your leg and prevent you from stepping out on that angle for your rear knee. In this case you have two options:

1. Jam the kick by stepping straight forward and kneeing
2. Step outwards into your opposite stance and throw your lead knee (which will now be your rear knee).

If you go with option one, it's best to have diagonal knee strike so you can still hit inside your opponent:

giphy.gif


For me as a southpaw I typically like the step outside with the left knee strike, and if I'm met with an orthodox's left kick, I will simply step straight in to throw a knee (rather than outside).

So it's one of these 'it depends' answers that leaves you with no clear goal - but that's fighting in general. Knee strikes, as you can probably tell by now are a style unto themselves, and this is without getting into clinch fighting
 
Lucas Coradini said:
Also: don't lean back! If you don't have a huge reach advantage you're probably going to get your head bashed as you lean or on the way back to your stance

crunch your abs, chin down, squeeze your butt


ps: I always find myself sharing this video every know and again lol perfect form in my opinion
Click to expand...


Yup, don't lean back on the knees. I've made that exact reasoning for a few years now! It leaves you pretty exposed to a collision with an elbow as you come back.


Fun fact for you, I trained at this guys gym when I took some lessons/ass kickings from Damien Alamos. Real good place to learn, no weirdness about people from other gyms coming to train at all
 
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