Elbow Strike Power

[Francis]

Hi Sylvie, I've been following your videos and muay thai library for a long time. My favorite fighter of all time is Yodkhunpon Sittrapium. I love his relentless elbow style and have tried to learn his fighting skills. Could you suggest me some strength training methods that are specific to increasing elbow strikes power, and if possible, specific to Yodkhunpon's elbow style? I'd appreciate it very much.

[Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu]

2 hours ago, Francis said:

Hi Sylvie, I've been following your videos and muay thai library for a long time. My favorite fighter of all time is Yodkhunpon Sittrapium. I love his relentless elbow style and have tried to learn his fighting skills. Could you suggest me some strength training methods that are specific to increasing elbow strikes power, and if possible, specific to Yodkhunpon's elbow style? I'd appreciate it very much.

Hey Francis, I'm not Sylvie but I'm sure soon. But I've spent a lot of time around Yodkhunpon and I have to say there is very little power in Yodkhunpon's elbow attack. In general the elbow in Golden Age Muay Thai is a cutting weapon, so looseness of movement and accuracy (bone on bone) is prized. It's not a strength or power strike. Everything Yodkhunpon teaches is about creating torso whip, a play in the shoulders. You can find much of this in the Muay Thai Library and Sylvie Study sessions. Things he's advocated for are like: throwing a 1,000 elbows a day, or hanging to open up the shoulders. You want fluidity of movement, not power.

[MadelineGrace]

18 hours ago, Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu said:

Hey Francis, I'm not Sylvie but I'm sure soon. But I've spent a lot of time around Yodkhunpon and I have to say there is very little power in Yodkhunpon's elbow attack. In general the elbow in Golden Age Muay Thai is a cutting weapon, so looseness of movement and accuracy (bone on bone) is prized. It's not a strength or power strike. Everything Yodkhunpon teaches is about creating torso whip, a play in the shoulders. You can find much of this in the Muay Thai Library and Sylvie Study sessions. Things he's advocated for are like: throwing a 1,000 elbows a day, or hanging to open up the shoulders. You want fluidity of movement, not power.

I was just going to say that in class this past Wednesday we learned that elbows are not about power but rather to cut.

 

[Oliver]

In America are they allowed?

That's pretty awesome. Never got to learn them starting out at home, because of the rule set, so it kinda made elbows the forbidden fruit that's fun to learn. 

[Xestaro]

When I see Muay Thai fights here in Germany (usually amateur), the fighters typically wear elbow-pads so using them for cutting is not really much of an option.

Actually I saw several fights when helping out at a bigger event 2 weeks ago that my gym organized and while people in Muay Thai fights used elbows in clinch for example. I often wondered why the didn't use them more in the very short range just out of clinch. Instead, very short hooks were preferred. I attributed it to most fighters maybe being more used to fighting under K1 rules than Muay Thai since MT is really not a big think in Germany but maybe it also has something to do with elbows just being a less effective option with the elbow-pads?