mmm… liver
November 20, 2008 by nopstar
So I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been aiming way too low. Maybe I need to crack an anatomy book sometime.
Anyway how irresponsible is this doctor? Anyway, it’s kind of a long video but informative nonetheless. Was anyone else getting annoyed by the fact that he kept calling it a Thai kick? Your training MMA, what other kick is there?
Here is another vid via FightGeek, it shows you how to throw the liver punch. I’m aware that this punch is prevalent in K1 and rarely used in Muay Thai, because of the risk of taking a knee or an elbow. My trainer Neungsiam was never psyched when Dii Mak and I would try this in his sessions. He would make a look of disdain and just shake his head.
Anyway I’ve been working with a boxing trainer and we drill this quite a bit. I’d like to stress that it is important to have your weight on your lead leg, but you don’t want to be leaning too far over your lead leg. Especially in Muay Thai… too far over and your taking a knee to the grill.
Anyway… there you go, happy sparring!
I really like liver shots. One of my fav combos is cross, left body, right cut.
I’m well versed in anatomy, so I do tend to be a bit of a prick about targeting sensitive spots lol. Liver, solar plexus, kidneys and so on. In the clinch I usually try to open up their right side and work my stronger round knees into the floating ribs/liver margin. I also like to lock off to the side, so you can wrap knees towards the back (kidneys) and the solar plexus on the front.
Left round kicks work great too if they’re timed well. Like shell for a jab/cross, then fire the left round while their cross is still out and take full advantage of their ribs/liver.
Of course, if you want to try and legitimately injure a person (aka be an asshole +++) you can always target the collar bone with sawk tong
I always thought the Liver was a little lower, but Good to specify the area. I thought Sato´s knee to Buakaw was a bit high, but now I know it was perfect! Cool Post Nop.
I have about 3 or 4 anatomy book’s, and one DVD. Did you know, the cartilage in your knee’s can resist up to 14,000 lbs of pressure? Intense. Anyway, when I trained Muay Thai at ‘One Kick’s’ in Las Vegas, NV, we did a lot of training on liver shot’s. We’d do a drill on the bag that went: left hook, right hook, left body shot, right body shot. If we got comfortable with it, then we’d add a 1-2 combo before the hook’s. One of my favorite exercise drill’s.
oh man.. I just punched myself to check the liver and now I’m dying omg.. s.o.s liver shots hurts.. really bad..
Hey, cool topic! I’ve heard a lot about the dangerous liver-shots but never practised it, tough. This “science”-thing was cool hehe, enjoyed that.
I’m suprised that more gyms don’t teach liver shots. They’re truly disabling, and is a very different pain than a hard cut kick.
I love me a left hook to the liver just like Chavez… Funny you should write about it because I was just practicing that on Tuesday night while sparring. I usually enjoy throwing the inside leg kick to counter the 1-2 but the left kick makes people really think..
judasz-
hahahah fing hell man! I guess that’s one way to find out!
I am also a big fan of teep and side kicks to the liver.
djmattyd: i must agree with you. I’ve dropped a few people with a teep to the liver and i really wasnt nor am I a douchebag IMO. lol
Most guys that talk about liver shots in MMA guys are people who generally don’t know what they’re talking about and haven’t been hit with one properly.
Also Nop is spot on with the ‘Thai Kick’. Could not have phrased it better.
I cringe every time I hear anyone invoking that term. The general applicable fallacy is that MMA people train everything and therefore are good at everything which is why of course they fight for significantly less money than true elite atheletes of other sports. But hey at least someone is believing their own hype.
It’d be more laughable than it already is but the people that go around touting the ‘liver punch’ and ‘Thai kick’ genuinely believe they are good at those 2 particular techniques and almost invariably – they are not. It goes even beyond being completely semantically off.
It doesn’t matter which random ‘kru’ (who have never had a fight at any meaningful level ever) they train with or which grandmaster they deem worthy of sucking up too.
The goods are in the ring. If anyone wants the goods go and get them and than perhaps some true gravity can be applied to discussions of which technique is meaningful tactically. Because one will have actually used them against a target that’s dangerous and hits back.
I completely agree with stack even though i do sense a very stinging bitterness in his typing. Personally, i just accept MMA for what it is and Muay Thai as well.
I love liver shots (not taking them so much even though it is always a learning point). I bought a few anotomy books and even a Dim Mak book (cheesy I know) and I think they have helped refine my technique even more. It’s also my experience that a solid liver shot hurts just as much in MMA as it does in Muay Thai.