BELOW IS AN EMAIL I RECIEVED RECENTLY, THOUGHT I'D SHARE MY RESPONSE:
'Hey, read a few of your posts on mma.com and you seem very knowledgeable in Muay Thai. I've got a question that you can answer whenever you feel like it, heck you don't even to. Anyway, what's the difference between a thai style round kick to the thigh and say a TKD round kick to the thigh (both using the shin)? I realize you drive in with the Thai kick but when you actually hit somebody/something, you just pull your leg back anyway. It seems like it's chambering... the same way a TKD kick works. I was kicking the bag yesterday and I don't see the difference between muay thai's driving, and TKD's chambering. As long as I step in, then kick, I'll get similar results.'
Before I answer your question, let me give you a little info re: my background, so that you can be assured that I am giving you a legitimate answer in comparing TKD kicking technique vs. Muay Thai kicking techniques. Also, I'm glad you have confidence in my knowledge on the matter to ask me. I'll do my best not to disappoint you.
I've been studying, fighting, and teaching Muay Thai for the last 8 years under Master K (Kumron Vaitayanonta) in Northern VA. I won an Amateur Muay Thai title in 1994, I was the VA State Director of the USMTA from 1994-1997, and I was certified as an Amateur Muay Thai Judge in 1995. Previous to my experience in Muay Thai, I studied Tang Soo Do, Mu Duk Kwan, Shotokan, and Ninjitsu. I studied and taught Muay Thai at two different TKD schools from 1992-1997 , and Master K continues to teach at the latter of those schools to this day. My point in this is that I want you to rest assurred that I am not making generalizations or assumptions when I speak of TKD, as though I have not specifically studied that art myself, I have studied some of its 'sister arts', and that I have worked with many, many students of TKD.
So, on with the explanation of the difference in techniques...
From a strictly observational point of view, it does not appear that these two kicks are all that different. However, they are exececuted in totally different manners.
For one, you mention the 'chambering' of the leg. In Muay Thai, the leg is NEVER chambered. The roundhouse kick is always thrown in what you can call a 'dead-legged' fashion. The leg should be kept almost straight throughout the kick. This goes for retracting the kick also. The kick is thrown using the rotation of the hip to swing the leg around in a similar fashion to the way you would swing a baseball bat. I actually teach my students using that analogy, that your leg is a baseball bat.
When you kick Muay Thai-style, unlike TKD, the kick should follow ALL the way through the target. (clarification, I'm only referring to the roundhouse kick) You follow through with the kick in a manner similar to performing a spinning heel kick. The leg does not stop at impact, nor does it stop after following slightly through the target. The leg travels all the way through the target so that it would actually spin you around if you were to miss your intended target.
After impact, the leg is not 'chambered' or pulled back into place. Rather, at impact, it 'bounces' back. This is not easy to explain, but if you get the opportunity to train with someone who can show you the correct way to throw the MT roundhouse kick, you will see that there is a 'rebound-effect' when you kick correctly. Your leg will literally bounce back into place. Basically, as you kick, you are thrusting the leg with your hip. Your hip continues rotating through the target even after your leg has been stopped by hitting a target, when the hip is stopped, it causes you to 'bounce back' into place in a kind of rubber band effect. (you'll understand what I mean when you learn it...)
Finally, you mention stepping into the target to kick. To properly execute a MT roundhouse kick, you should never step INTO the target. Rather, you should step at a 45 degree angle forwards. What you are doing here is getting your momentum to pass THROUGH the target, not INTO the target. Again, think of baseball. It may seem that the batter is stepping into the ball when he swings, but if you were to watch it in stop-motion, he is actually moving sideways to the ball at impact. If he were to step into it, he would get hit by it. Or, he would be bunting. You step 45 degrees forward (or sideways, however you want to visualize it) so that your body motion will swing the kicking leg through him just as if you are hitting him with the bat.
Imagine that you are trying to actually beat someone with a baseball bat. When you step to swing the bat at them, you are cutting off your power by stepping into him, b/c you are now putting him on the inside of the arc of the bat, so that he will absorb less of the blow, and could easily counter the swing.
One last point. Again, think of swinging a bat. Your upper body when you swing a bat leans away from the bat during the swing, so that your body weight will transfer into the swing. The same is true with the Muay Thai roundhouse kick. Lean away from your kicking leg as you kick so that your body weight is transferred into the kick.
Let me know if you have any further questions, or if you need me to clarify anything that I've written. Also, check out:
http://go.to/stickgrappler (goto the Muay Thai section)
This guy has archived a lot of articles/tutorials I've written on Muay Thai, and there is one that specifically talks about properly executing a roundhouse kick. (what I've written above only talks in detail about certain facets of the kick, but not how to actually perform it correctly)
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