How To Have Powerful Muay Thai Kicks

Kickboxing or Muay Thai are combat sports indigenous to Thailand that involves 8 points of contact - fists, elbows, knees and shins. It’s an exciting display of athleticism that uses all your body muscles for a full-body workout. There are various types of kicks in Muay Thai but the most powerful is the front kick. When executed effectively, it hits your target with speed, power and accuracy even from a distance.

Here are some tips to help you improve your kicking technique for significant impact:

1. Breathe deeply and focus on the target
Breathing is another key part of Muay Thai. The best fighters in the world understand that breathing deeply and focusing on the target helps you stay calm, relaxed, and keeps you in control.

You should focus on breathing deeply during each kick. If you are practicing kicks in a group class, then be sure to breathe deeply at least once every 5-10 kicks so that your body can get enough oxygenated blood throughout its muscles.

2. Bend slightly at the knees, push off your back leg and extend your legs completely
The next step is to bend slightly at the knees, push off your back leg and extend your legs completely. It’s important to note that this should be done while keeping your body relaxed, mind focused and breathing steady. This will help you generate more power in your kicks by relaxing the muscles in your legs before they go into action. Also keep in mind that it’s important not to lock out too much on any part of the kick (i.e., don't fully extend either leg).
You can also use these tips when practicing punching drills since they apply similarly across both disciplines.

3. Lift up the knee of your kicking leg in order to tuck in your shin
When you lift your knee, you should see two things:

• The shin should be tucked into the chest with the foot pointed outwards and the toes down.
• The heel of your kicking leg should be lifted. This will keep your body balanced when you kick and it also allows for a quick return to fighting stance after landing your kick.

It's important to avoid lifting too soon or too late in this motion of lifting up your knee and tucking in your shin. If you do it too early then it won't look right because all of the power from kicking comes from pushing off those planted feet. If you do it too late then there will be no time to bring back that leg before delivering another devastating blow!

4. Rotate your hips, bring up the non-kicking thigh to the chest, keep the kicking foot pointed outwards with toes down and the heel lifted

• Rotate your hips, bring up the non-kicking thigh to the chest, keep the kicking foot pointed outwards with toes down and the heel lifted

As you pivot on to your other foot, bring down your kicking leg and reverse kick or do another front kick. Then rotate around for a roundhouse kick.

5. Use your hips to accelerate and pivot on to the other foot while bringing down the kicking foot

To get the most power out of your kicks, you need to use both your hips and legs. The most common mistake people make when they kick is they don't rotate their hips enough. The reason for this is because in Muay Thai, it's not just about kicking with strength—it's about using proper technique so that you can be more effective. You may be able to generate a lot of force with your leg muscles alone, but if you don't have good form and technique, then the kick won't go very far or hit as hard as it could.

If you want powerful Muay Thai kicks, then this means that you also need to use your upper body as well as lower body together when performing them (this includes pivoting on one foot while bringing down the other).

Check out my 3 part series on how to Muay Thai Kick. 

​Muay Thai conditioning is important for accelerating power and keeping balance!

Conditioning is important for improving your Muay Thai kicks. Conditioning is also important to keep you balanced and powerful in combat sports. Muay Thai conditioning will help you with all aspects of your fighting, including the impact of your kicks.

However, Muay Thai conditioning does not have to be daunting or time-consuming; it can be done quickly and effectively with the proper training methods. In this article we'll look at some ways to boost your power and speed by incorporating specific types of conditioning into your routine!
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It’s hard to master the moves needed for a perfect Muay Thai kick, but if you follow these tips and keep practicing, you’ll get there soon enough!
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