Arm-Kick Playbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "Hit the Arms First: The Arm-Kick Game." Print it. The article explains why kicking the guard scores now and pays later. This book trains it: target standards on the pad, setup chains that…
| Art | Muay Thai |
|---|---|
| Family | Muay Thai & Ring Sports |
| Level | intermediate |
| Format | playbook |
| Topics | kicks, sparring, training-plans |
Mat Manual companion guide to "Hit the Arms First: The Arm-Kick Game." Print it. The article explains why kicking the guard scores now and pays later. This book trains it: target standards on the pad, setup chains that hide the kick, round-plan cards that turn early investment into late collection, and the defense cards for the player receiving it.
Name: ______________________________ Gym: ______________________________ Coach: ______________________________ Stance (orthodox / southpaw): ______________ Chosen damage side (left / right / both): ______________
BEFORE ANYTHING: SCOPE AND SAFETY ☐ Contact level is agreed before every pad and sparring format in this book. The receiver sets the level, the kicker stays inside it, and either partner stops any rep with one word. ☐ Shin contact is a pass/fail standard. A kick that lands with the foot or ankle on a braced arm or pad is a failed rep, and power comes down until the shin lands. Ankles lose arguments with forearms. ☐ Arm work is bruising work by design. Deep, one-spot pain, numbness or tingling in the hand, weakness in the arm, or swelling that keeps building after the session ends the game for that arm and is reported to the coach. Ordinary bruise soreness is expected; those signs are not. ☐ No head contact is part of this book's arm game. Setups that show at the head are punches to pads or agreed light touches in sparring formats, under your gym's rules. ☐ The roundhouse mechanics standard here is the common teaching in this library's roundhouse pair. Your coach's version governs in your gym; note variations in Part 1 and train the version you will fight with.
Part 1: The Target Card
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Technique | Mid-level roundhouse kick, aimed at the arms covering the ribs |
| Striking surface | Shin, through the arm, never the foot or ankle as the intended surface |
| Primary targets | Forearm and upper arm on the guard side; the triceps line on the rear side |
| Range | A half-step closer than your body kick's range (article standard; checked in Part 3) |
| Sides | Both arms trained; damage concentrated on one chosen side per fight plan |
| Scoring idea | Effect: guard driven into the body, stance disturbed, arm made slower across rounds |
| What it is not | A blocked body kick, a warm-up kick, or a promise that the guard falls by round three |
| Your gym's variations | Scoring reading: ______________ Guard style taught: ______________ Contact convention: ______________ |
Write your chosen damage side at the top of this book and revisit it monthly. Fighters who change the chosen side every session accumulate nothing anywhere; fighters who never test the other side become readable. The plan in Part 22 settles the rhythm: one main side per block, the other side kept honest.
Arm-Kick Playbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "Hit the Arms First: The Arm-Kick Game." Print it. The article explains why kicking the guard scores now and pays later. This book trains it: target standards on the pad, setup chains that hide the kick, round-plan cards that turn early investment into late collection, and the defense cards for the player receiving it.
What's Inside
- Part 1: The Target Card
- Part 2: Pad-Holding Standards for the Arm Target
- Part 3: Pad Progression One: The Static Target
- Part 4: Pad Progression Two: The Moving Target
- Part 5: Mechanics Checks: The Three Audits
- Part 6: Setup Chain A: Hands High, Kick the Arms
- …and 22 more sections
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Free companion article: Hit the Arms First: The Arm-Kick Game — the full article, free in full.