Muay Thai Times - Issue #3

Welcome back to the Muay Thai Times!

This week, we’re going to breakdown and discuss the secrets of counter striking, how to read your opponent, set them up with traps, and punish their mistakes like a seasoned pro. Stick around till the end for the bonus training tip of the week. ✅

What Makes a Great Counter-Fighter?

First of all we must answer the question, what makes a great counter fighter? A great counter fighter doesn’t solely rely on their speed and reactions, they anticipate. What I mean by this is that they make their opponents overcommit and capitalise on openings. From last weeks edition, you will remember fighters like Samart Payakaroon, Saenchai, and Lerdsila are masters of this art, using slick footowork, feints, and precision strikes to control fights.

Reading Your Opponent 📖

Before you can effectively counter, first you must understand patterns.

☑️ Watch your opponents habits. Do they always jab before kicking? Do they drop their hands when they kick or knee?

☑️ Look for tells. Always watch your opponents eyes, often they will tell you with their eyes where they are going to hit you. Look for slight shifts, flinches, and perhaps repetitive attacks.

☑️ Stay calm. Rushing will inevitably lead to mistakes, the best counter strikers remain patient.

Drills to improve ⬆️

• Spar with limited strikes. For example a round using only jabs and push-kicks. This will allow you to focus on reaction time and perfecting your timing as openings arise.

• Slow down your sparring. This will allow you to develop awareness and recognise attack patterns.

Setting Traps & Baiting Mistakes 🎣 

The best counter strikers don’t just wait, they force mistakes by setting traps for their opponent. This might look something like:

☑️ Leaning slightly back. Do this to bait an overextended punch, and firing back with a knee or elbow on their way in.

☑️ Dropping your hands slightly. Do this to make them think you’re open. Slip as the punch comes and counter with some punches of your own, as they are left open and exposed.

☑️ Leaving your lead leg slightly too far in-front. Do this to bait the low kick and as it comes pull your lead leg back into the opposite stance, and fire back with a kick of your own.

Drills to improve ⬆️

• Feint heavy pad work. Using faints during your pad work will encourage you to use them more in sparring.

• Spar with a specific trap in mind. Try to bait your parter into making a mistake you want them to make and counter them accordingly.

Best Counters for Each Attack 💥

There are countless counters for every attack and it’s up to you to discover which ones work best for you. Here are some of my favourites:

🔥 Against a roundhouse kick. Catch the kick and sweep their standing leg. This is a very basic counter but works nevertheless. This not only scores highly in Muay Thai, but also breaks down your opponent mentally if you keep throwing them to the floor.

🔥 Against a jab. Parry the jab across their body, with the same hand you knocked their jab to the side with fire back with a hook. This works well as their is nothing protecting their head on that side whilst their jab is out.

🔥 Against a low kick. If it’s a low kick to your front leg, bring it back into the opposite stance and fire back with a kick to your opponents back. Striking the back is highly scoring in Muay Thai. This is because in order to hit the back you must have them in an exposed position, leading them unable to defend themselves.

🔥 Against a push kick. Catch the push kick, pull them towards you into a heavy back hand or elbow. By pulling them in you’re effectively doubling your power, so this technique can work very well and end fights.

Mistakes to avoid ❎ 

❌ Over committing. A counter should be quick and sharp. Not a full blown attack leaving yourself open.

❌ Being predictable. Just like you will notice your opponents patterns, they will notice yours. If you always counter the same way, skilled opponents will read you and set you up.

❌ Waiting too long. Hesitating for too long will give your opponent control over the fight.

Final Thoughts

Developing elite-level counter-striking takes time, but the key is patience, awareness, and precision. Study fighters like Samart and Saenchai, be clever with your drills, and always look for ways to capitalise on openings.

💬 Which counter-striking technique do you struggle with most? Reply and let me know on here or Instagram.

📢 Next issue: The Clinch Battle—How to Dominate on the Inside.

Thank you for being part of the Muay Thai Times community! Your support keeps this going and I can’t wait to bring you more. 🥊

Until next time, keep training hard and stay sharp.

See you in the next round!

Muay Thai Times