HOW TO THROW A SWITCH KICK FOR MUAY THAI

By Evan Lee

The switch kick is a fantastic tool to add into your Muay Thai arsenal.

Actually, switch-hitting in general is an amazing weapon. I mean, just look at Andy Ristie.

Andy Ristie managed to knock out Giorgio Petrosyan, the "Floyd Mayweather of kickboxing," just because of how incredibly weird his switch-hitting style was. But today we’re not trying to be Andy Ristie; we’re just trying to build a good switch kick.

Let's talk a bit more about why the switch kick is so useful. If you throw a regular rear-roundhouse in a closed-stance fight (orthodox vs. orthodox or southpaw vs. southpaw), you’re probably going to catch an elbow or kick your opponent’s back.

If you’re in an open-stance fight, however, the rear kick is open because both of your rear sides are open. A switch kick allows you to make use of this opening even if you’re in a closed-stance fight. When Buakaw was young, he landed nasty head kicks with a neat parry and switch ...