Muay Thai Sweeps Techniques: Muay Thai sweeps are artistic creations. Few moves in the sport demand more time and accuracy than this one, therefore it’s really amazing to watch one performed perfectly. Sweeps are among the best-looking moves a fighter can do in the ring, and they also rank highly in terms of points. When a fight is tight, sometimes a single sweep may decide the outcome. Standing over your opponent after you’ve sent them falling to the mat creates a tremendous effect on the scorecards.
Because they meet almost all of the conditions for the sport’s judging standards, Muay Thai sweeps techniques are highly prized. When a combatant is knocked off their feet, it might be evident that they are dominating. A perfect sweep shows mastery of technique execution, and sweeping your opponent consistently shows control over the fight’s pace. It would be a cherry on top if doing so deters your opponent from exchanging points.
We’ll walk you through five fundamental sweeps in this post, breaking them down into manageable stages for usage against some of the most popular weapons in Muay Thai. You will thus be equipped with the ideal tactics to counter each fighter’s most potent weapon, whether they are a Muay Khao fighter with forceful knees, a Muay Femur with potent teeps, or a Muay Tae with devastating body kicks.
5 Powerful Sweeps-Based Muay Thai Counter Techniques
1) Over-catch and Sweep Vs. A Kicker
The most often used technique in Muay Thai is the roundhouse kick to the body, and each fighter’s toolkit should include this tried-and-true sweep. It’s critical to get proficient with this as it’s probably the one you’ll use the most, and when you do, you may prevent your opponent from utilising one of the most valuable weapons in the game.
- Step Away: As soon as you catch the kick, you should be sure to move away from it. If you don’t, your ribs can get quite painful.
- Catch The Kick: Put your arm around your opponent’s shin and scoop it up under your armpit to help unbalance them.
- Circle Off: Step your rear foot forward and twist it once the leg is securely under your armpit, singing the energy of their kick. This is easier if you softly nuzzle their chest or neck in the desired direction with your arm.
- Sweep: Kick your opponent’s foot or shin out from under them by placing it low on their calf, close to their ankle.
You might also be interested in reading this: The Top 4 Upper Body Muay Thai Exercises
2) Under-catch and Pull Vs. A Kicker
One of the mainstays of Muay Thai is the over-catch and sweep, which can easily block a body kick. When your opponent starts to kick higher, up into your arms and shoulders, it gets harder to pull off. One excellent technique to adjust to this is to employ the under-catch, which may be the foundation of many powerful sweeps.
Former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O in four simple phases that we’ve listed below.
- Under-Catch: To shield your ribs from the shin of your opponent, keep your arm tightly tucked in. To protect yourself in the event that they kick high, make sure you maintain your glove snug against your mouth while doing this. As soon as the kick makes contact, extend your opposite hand across your body and hook your heel into the glove’s palm.
- Control The Foot: Step back while simultaneously drawing your opponent’s leg in front of your torso when you have their heel in the palm of your glove. To ensure they can’t get away from you, grab your second glove and put it over the top of their foot.
- Pull Back and Down: Squat down to reduce your body weight and pull your opponent onto you. It will be simpler to sweep them in step four the lower you draw their leg.
- Reverse Their Direction: Pinch their foot across the front of your body by jumping up as soon as they start to fall forward onto their front foot. They will suddenly turn around and fall onto their back as a result.
3) Sweep vs. A Long Knee
Dealing with an aggressive knee combatant might be challenging. Their relentless tempo may leave nearly any combatant out of breath, and their relentless forward aggression can quickly deplete your vitality. One excellent technique to slow them down and give yourself some breathing room is to sweep them as they move in to do a throw knee.
Move Laterally: As your opponent comes up onto one leg, quickly move to the inside of their knee such that their knee passes exactly under your armpit.
Over-grab The Leg: Just as you would grab someone’s calf as they kick, scoop their quad high up under your armpit. Make sure you raise it high enough to cause them to stumble more.
Turn and Sweep: As you catch, maintain your lateral velocity. By doing this, you may deflect your opponent’s momentum and make them spin. Pull out their standing leg with the front of your shin and push their chest with an outstretched arm as they turn.
4) Pull The Leg Of A Puncher
Fighting Muay Mat fighters may be equally as challenging as fighting Muay Khao fighters. They have a rapid-fire burst of powerful shots that will overwhelm you with volume and make it hard to time your kicks. This is a straightforward, one-step sweep that works well to get a puncher to reevaluate their strategy.
A boxer must shift most of their weight onto their lead leg in order to punch. Pull their leg out before they place it on the ground by hooking their leg with yours as they advance, almost like you are kicking their calf.
Just watch out for your guard since even the smallest mistake might send you to the canvas rather than your opponent.
5) Pull And Sweep A Lead Leg Teep
It can be hard to battle against a counter-fighter that is comfortable using their teep, especially if you want to engage in close-quarters combat. The greatest way to nullify someone’s teep is to make them reluctant to throw it, and punishing them with a deft and skilful sweep is an easy method to achieve this.
We’ll concentrate on the first one here as it incorporates components of the second and fourth sweeps that we’ve already covered.
- Grasp The Foot: As your opponent extends their lead leg, step back slightly and use your left hand to grasp their heel. This is known as the “orthodox” method. Then, in the same manner, that you trapped the leg in our under-catch and pull sweep, lay your right hand atop their foot.
- Pull Their Leg: To make your opponent lose balance, take a step back, draw their leg forward, and then release it.
- Pull the Leg: Using the same technique as the last sweep, snag the leg that is about to fall with your foot and pull it forward before it reaches the floor. Keep in mind that you are pulling the leg out from under them, not kicking it.
In summary
These five sweeps are a great place to start if you’re new to Muay Thai sweeping. Executing them against a competent opponent who wants to stay upright can be challenging, despite their apparent simplicity. Make sure to practise them frequently if you want them to become valuable tools in your Muay Thai toolkit.
These are the 5 Powerful Sweeps-Based Muay Thai Counter Techniques. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
