Basic Muay Thai biomechanics

I’ve been doing strength training for about three years now, and I’ll be into Muay Thai for a year already by this coming December. Over the past nine months or so of Muay Thai practice six to nine hours a week, I couldn’t help but notice which muscles get involved for executing which moves. I really ought to put down my thoughts on the matter in a more organized way, but nonetheless here’s a rough sketch of what I’ve learned so far.

Move	Muscles Used
Hip Rotation	calves, thighs, hip flexors, obliques, abs, erector spinae
Jab	upper back, rear delts, triceps
Straight or Cross	upper back, rear delts, triceps
Uppercut	middle and front deltoids, biceps, obliques (as well as the other hip rotation muscles)
Hook	pectorals, middle and front deltoids, biceps
Roundhouse Kick	calves, obliques, abs, hip flexors, erector spinae, hamstrings (of the kicking leg), glutes, hip abductors
Push Kick/Front Kick	calves, hip flexors, abs, quads
Side Kick	calves, obliques, abs, hip flexors, erector spinae, hip abductors

Note that I included hip rotation on its own row in the table. Hip rotation is done on practically all striking moves and is important enough to merit its own entry. So when you read about the jab, for instance, think of it as already including all the muscles for hip rotation. Although, there’s also an overlap with the hip rotation entry and the rows for kicking; I did it this way because hip rotation is more pronounced for kicks than for punches, and also, some kicks, like the front kick, don’t rely so much on hip rotation as on pushing your pelvis forward.

I also didn’t include elbow strikes and knee strikes. Mostly that’s just because I’m too lazy at the moment, and also because they have similar biomechanics to some punches and kicks. I also didn’t include the fancy spinning kicks, because again, I’m too lazy and the moves themselves are more complex, and I’m not really trying to offer a PhD thesis on this. It’ll be fun writing about all of them at a future post, though.

Notice that I didn’t include the pecs (chest muscles) in the Jab and Straight punch entries. That’s because you actually rotate your shoulder forward when you execute these moves, and at the end of the move, your punching arm is not in front of your chest at all, but rather off to the side. If you do a zillion jabs and straights, believe me, your upper back will be sore, while your chest muscles will not!

Another not-so-obvious fact is the use of the hamstrings and glutes for roundhouse kicks. Again, at the end of the move, you do not actually have the leg extended in front of your body, but rather off to the side, therefore, you actually pull the leg backwards relative to your hips until its inline and off to the side of your body. The hamstrings and glutes are responsible for that part of the movement. Again, if you do a zillion roundhouses, even if they’re only low thigh kicks, your hamstrings are going to be sore, but your quads will not.

Now I know illustrations would be nice, but I haven’t had time time to properly do them, whether by drawing or by photos with arrows and such.

Most martial artists probably already know these things from their own experiences, but 1) this is mostly just a note to myself only, and 2) I still haven’t found a satisfactory reference on the subject yet. Even Martina Sprague’s Strength and Power Training for Martial Artists does not offer a real mapping of muscles with martial arts moves.

Its good to know which muscles are used for a particular move. When you find you are physically weak at a particular move, you can fashion a strength training regimen that specifically targets your weak muscles. Think of it as Physical Therapy, except you don’t necessarily have to have an injury to have a reason to strengthen a particular set of muscles. Keep in mind, though, that building mass isn’t the same as building strength, and that your training goals will affect how you craft your own lifting program. I’ll touch on these things in the context of the martial arts at a later post.

For now, I think this is pretty good for a spontaneous off-the-top-of-my-head article. Hopefully, I’ll be able to cover more material in a future post.