Muay Thai is the art of eight limbs, but in the West we don’t get nearly enough practise with elbows. Unless you’re fighting under full Thai or MMA rules, you’re not allowed to use them in competition. Because elbows are sharp and can easily lead to cuts, some coaches are reluctant to let their students spar with elbows. Which is understandable, safely sparring with elbows is something that should be left to the experts.
We can’t neglect good elbow form though. After all who knows when those elbow strikes could come in handy in life! Today we will be looking at some common flaws in elbow strikes and how to fix them to improve the strike.
To assist us, I have a video recorded by the nice people at 8Limbs, of Yodkhunpon, the legendary elbow fighter.
Flaw 1 – Clenching the fist
This is something I see a lot from people of all levels. People throw an elbow with a clenched fist. This is poor form. Clenching the fist engages the muscles in your forearm and creates tension along the arm that makes for an awkward swing of the elbow.
If we look at a great elbow fighter, like Yodkhunpon for example, he keeps his hands relaxed and loose as he throws the elbow, he even allows his hand to just hang from his wrist loosely. This allows for more freedom of motion and fluidity on the strike.
Flaw 2 – Over swinging the arm
Another common beginner mistake is swinging the arm really hard trying to reach the target. This is a strange over commitment that doesn’t actually benefit or add anything to the elbow other than frustrating the user. It’s not possible for your elbow to get any closer to the target without bringing your shoulder itself closer. So rather than swinging your arm really hard, allow your upper body to turn.
It’s actually quite hard not to commit on an elbow. While it can be easy to throw arm punches, in order for an elbow to land you need to engage and turn your upper body for the elbow to reach its target. Again if we look as Yodkhunpon, we can see that as he turns he lets his torso pull the elbow to the target and he does it loosely. He isn’t swinging with tremendous snap (although he can) he simply moves smoothly into each strike.
Flaw 3 – Leaving the Chin Unguarded
This is a flaw people make when punching too, when you’re focussed on reading and hitting the target it is easy to loose control of your chin and have it sailing about in the air, ready to be countered on.
When you look at how Yodkhunpon finishes an elbow, you’ll find his upper arms always form a scarf around his chin. This protects him from potential country strikes in the event his elbow misses, or clips through his target.
This is especially important as elbows are such close range techniques that it’s very easy to get caught while throwing one.
Flaw 4 – Flaring the Elbow.
When beginners throw elbows you often see them lift the elbow up, before bringing it into the target. This is poor form and will alert your opponent to the fact you are throwing an elbow. All good circular techniques should come up, and then in.
Not unlike round kicks or lead hooks, the elbow should come up through your stance to the target before turning in to hit the target. Yodkhunpon does this phenomenally well. This not only prevents the opponent from seeing the strike, but because everything comes straight from his stance it ensures he has power.
Flaw 5 – Elbowing Too Hard
I realise this is a confusing criticism, as you want to hit your opponent hard in order to win. However while your hand is brittle and liable to breaks, the elbow is a solid chunk of bone and any strike from an elbow will do considerable damage if it lands clean.
The purpose of an elbow is to cut the opponent, rather than concuss them, although it can do both. In order to maximise cutting potential it’s best to sling your elbows with a whipping fashion rather than swinging hard like a bludgeon.
These are just a few of the basic beginner mistakes I see regularly. Stick to training and when in doubt, watch Yodkhunpon!
