Sparring Partners You Hate To Love...

[Becca]

I hate knee blocks. But there is this one guy in my class who will murder you if you can't do them effectively. Which is why I love sparring with him.

He has this kick-@ss set-up: He'll kick low with what ever. Lures you in thinking it is one of those "I don't feel like doing it right" kicks, you know? So you take the kick thinking to take advantage of his being open. Is not an openning for you, though! While you just let the wimpy kick bounce off and slip in close for the kill, he's dropping low and slipping his leg behind you. Then he sweeps your @ss, grabs your nearest appendage and pummles you down to the ground with a tornado of punch-elbow-reverse hand sweeps that leaves you unsure if you're fighting one guy or a flock of mad crows.

He's a big guy, is really young (about 18), and diseptively looks slow, so the wimpy kick looks authentic... All you have to do to prevent this set-up is a simple knee block, and you must block all of them, even the ones that are probably going to miss, 'cause what he's after is getting his leg behind yours without you being ready for the sweep.








(Man, my shins hurt!)

[Starchaser107]

knee block?
is this a shin block?
do you mean to say you raise your leg bending your knee?
or are you blocking with your knees?

[Becca]

Yes.









All of the above. Took me a while to figure out why all those are called knee block, though if you raise your arms as well as your knee it becomes crane block. The more common knee block is made by going into San Sao, or rotating your hips so's your torso is facing your opponant and your lower body is 90` to the left or right with feet in a duck-footed position with knees slightly bent. Very effective block but it tends to diflect kicks so they scrape down your shins if the kick isn't retracted quickly.

[Starchaser107]

might i respectfully ask WHY someone would chose to block with thier knees. this seems dangerous, for the person blocking.

[Judge Pen]

The object is to block with conditioned shins, but sometimes the knee is involved. Not as dangerous as the knee is not on a planted leg. The reason to do so is to block mid to low kicks without dropping your hands which leads to iron face training.

Becca, I've used the same combo as your sparring partner too, but probably not as effectively.

[Starchaser107]

don't misunderstand , I practice this block as well,
however i've always used the shins, and i suppose at times the thighs and knees might get involved.
involving the knees directly re: blocking is what i'm questioning.

[Oso]

if the knee is used the only thing used should be the patella tendon. otherwise, as already stated by the Honerable Judge Penn, the shin is where ya want to take it.

good to hear from you again, Becca.

which leads to iron face training.

LOL

[Starchaser107]

cool.
tnx judge oso and of course becca...4 real long time.

"grabs your nearest appendage and pummles you down to the ground with a tornado of punch-elbow-reverse hand sweeps that leaves you unsure if you're fighting one guy or a flock of mad crows."

any woman that spars regularly i give props to.

[The Willow Sword]

of the two kick boxers and the one kick boxer throws his leg up for a kick and the other raises his knee up to block, and the guys ankle was broken on the impact(its was a really painful thing to watch). Thats how strong the knee is when it is raised and locked in that position.

Becca(you are a woman right?) i would advise you to , whenever you are sparring a guy, immediately go for the groin kick. no matter what he does you kick to the groin. if he punches at you. kick his groin. if he goes to kick you,,,kick his groin(taking in to account your own blocking and counter measures) watch what happens,,,,hehehe. they will back off and you will have space. plus you should be evading anyway instead of trying to go head to head with someone who is bigger and stronger. physics never fails in this instance and one shouldnt try to test it.

Many respects,,TWS

[Starchaser107]

"of the two kick boxers and the one kick boxer throws his leg up for a kick and the other raises his knee up to block, and the guys ankle was broken on the impact(its was a really painful thing to watch). Thats how strong the knee is when it is raised and locked in that position."

thats how strong His legs were, and mind you the Ankle isn't really the toughest of joints there is, is it really so amazing that it broke...

i'd be awed if you said his shin shattered, but a broken ankle...wow
painful yes , but not hard evidence.

have you ever sustained a knee injury?, from what i hear one's knees never really heal after that,
also a word to the wise , with age the knee tends to deteriorate , and if your knees are damaged after a certain point in time, you might be looking into some serious surgery.


like I said I use those knee lifts as well, just careful on the knees.

[rogue]

I don't think it's so much a knee block as a knee strike into the tender areas of the thigh. At least that's what I was taught.

[Oso]

of the two kick boxers and the one kick boxer throws his leg up for a kick and the other raises his knee up to block, and the guys ankle was broken on the impact(its was a really painful thing to watch). Thats how strong the knee is when it is raised and locked in that position.

yep, that's a sick thing to watch.
almost as bad as Theisman's leg break.

of course...as long as you learn to move your chi into the blocking leg, you have nothing to worry about.

or the striking leg for that matter.

[FatherDog]

This sounds like the same leg block trained in Muay Thai. You're meant to catch it on the shin in Muay Thai, not the knee, but the mechanics and positioning sound the same.

[Oso]

AFAIK, it is.

[Serpent]

It's pretty universal in my experience, through many styles. However, catching it on the shin and not the knee is pretty essential, I would say.