How to use the Muay Thai clinch

Although the Muay Thai clinch has been used for years in Muay Thai, it’s still relatively new and undiscovered in the world of fighting. Basically, Muay Thai only started to get real, international recognition when it was highlighted in MMA. Before then, it was known of – but it wasn’t as popular or mainstream. Since it’s been proven to be one of the best striking martial arts, it has grown massively and as a result, the Muay Thai clinch has become a staple in MMA fighting.

In short, the Thai clinch is when you’re facing your opponent directly with both hands around the back of their head. This is a dominant position that controls their head and posture which makes it hard for them to escape or throw any meaningful strikes. On the other hand, the person controlling the clinch has a number of attacks available, such as elbows and knees that are often used in Muay Thai.

In other words, if you’re a fighter who is curious about this position then it’s definitely worth learning. If you’re here just to brush up on its importance and how it functions, then this article will also show you the power of the Muay Thai clinch.

Inside position

Getting the inside Thai clinch is the best grappling clinch position you can get in Muay Thai. Basically, it allows you do control the upper body of the opponent. To do this, you’ll want to enter with a collar tie, which is the term for when your one hand is placed on the back of the opponents head. Then, you’ll want to put your other hand in the same position.

This won’t be easy though and takes practice to set up. Usually, this means feinting other attacks such as punches and kicks beforehand. A skilled opponent will always be wary of a singular collar tie too, knowing that it can lead to a lot of bad positions for them. However, if you do manage to get the inside position Thai clinch, then you will have a lot of attacks that are listed below.

Trips and sweeps

In Muay Thai, points can be scored by trips and sweeps. This involves puttin the opponent to the floor by using your feet. Usually, this happens as a result of the Thai clinch, where the aggressor manages to off balance their opponent. When the opponent puts too much weight on one leg, it makes their other weigh less. So, if you manage to move them and start off balancing them then these openings will naturally occur.

Once one leg is overcomensating the opponents balance, you can then sweep the other, resulting in putting them on the floor. Obviously, in MMA this has better implications compared to Muay Thai where the fight will be reset. A lot of foot sweeps require a lot of practice and timing, so they’re not necessarily easy to learn. Sometimes, people will accidentally kick the shins too, but this will not sweep the opponent.

Remember, the more you control the opponents head, the more you can move their body, and this trickles down to the feet. Thus, a lot can be achieved from the Thai clinch in terms of sweeps. Interestingly, there’s actually quite a lot of crossover between Thai foot sweeps and some of the sweeps used in Judo too.

Elbows

Whilst foot sweeps do happen from the clinch, usually elbows and knees are more common. Like foot sweeps though, this also requires moving the opponent to create angles and opportunities. For instance, if you just stood still, it would literally be impossible to throw elbows. So, you would need to move them to either side. For example, if you made the opponent step to their right, then it would allow you time and space to momentarily let go of your right hand, and slip an elbow onto their face.

This would be a glancing blow and ideally you’d hit around the cheek bone or side of the head. This can easily cut the opponent and cause bleeding, or even concussions if hit hard enough. Some Muay Thai specialists will slip in elbows after moving their opponent, only to quickly regain the clinch straight after. This means, they can effectively hit their opponent and return to a dominant position, slowly but surely damaging the opponent.

Knees

Perhaps one of the commonest attacks from the Thai clinch is landing knees on the opponent. To do this, you’ll want to lower their head with your heads and break their posture. In doing this, you should hopefully guide their face so it’s looking directly at the floor. With this in place, you can then start kneeing the opponent in the face which can seriously damage their nose. Obviously, landing powerful knees can knock out the opponent too.

With knees, the more flexible you are, the better. For instance, if their posture isn’t broken, then it’s still possible to knee them in the chin if your legs are flexible and athletic enough. Kneeing from the clinch is slightly different from elbow and sweep attacks. This is because it doesn’t rely of off balance as much and can be done when both fighters are relatively stationary.

Further, you don’t need to move the opponent to a side to create an angle. It’s worth noting though, that using other attacks will help disguise knees which will give you greater success. In both Muay Thai fights and MMA, knees from the clinch can prove a very successful strategy and if done correctly, can end a fight in a matter of seconds.

Headbutts (Lethwei rules)

Although headbutting is strictly illegal in Muay Thai, it’s fully legal in Lethwei which has a very similar style and background with Muay Thai. Basically, the head can also be used as a weapon and once again, this requires timing. One way to headbutt the opponent from the inside clinch is to hit them on the nose whenever their posture rises. For instance, if you’re looking straight on at them, then you can headbutt them.

Sometimes, you may have their posture broken looking towards the floor. As mentioned, this is when you can knee them in the face. However, imagine from this position the opponent senses this and starts to posture up, thus freeing their head from your arms. As their head and face rises, you can slip in a headbutt and land it square on the nose. This can knock people out and stun them fairly easily.

Just remember, it’s not wise to headbutt the opponents forehead which is the hard part of the skull. Instead, you should aim for the nose so it doesn’t hurt your own skull in the process. Even if you train Muay Thai and don’t use headbutts, it’s still something to think about from a self defense perspective.

Neutral clinch position

In Muay Thai, the inside Thai clinch is the best grappling position to have. As seen, it has numerous advantages without too many negatives or counters either. However, one of the negatives of this position is that experienced fighters will be very wary of it. More likely, is that each opponent has a neutral clinch which is neither good or bad to either fighter.

This requires putting your hand on the inside position of the head, whilst your opponent does the same to you. You may also grab the opponents elbow from this position to stop neither one gaining a better clinch. In short, it’s neutral and can either lead to a good or bad scenario or position. You may also see a similar stance in wrestling and other grappling martial arts, where this position is used to set up takedowns and other attacks. Here’s a few things that you can do.

Regain a better position

Imagine you’re losing a fight and you need a rest – this is where initiating a defensive clinch works well. Just like you see in boxing and MMA, sometimes it’s good to start hugging your opponent from up close. This will lessen the distance and give you a breather. Whilst it may not be wise to stay in this position forever, it can be used to stall and survive if you’re tired.

Another way to gain a better position from here is to grip fight to turn the clinch from a neutral position to an inside one. Therefore, this acts as a good entry into more powerful positions, as long as you have an original plan on how to get there.

Sweeps and trips

Just because a position isn’t dominant in favor of one person, it doesn’t mean it can’t be utilized. For instance, you can still get foot sweeps without having a classic Thai clinch. Here, you’ll just need to off balance them in different, creative ways. Typically, this is harder to do when someone has better posture, but it’s still possible. If you can throw in some feints and get them moving left and right, as well as back and forward then you may be able time a foot sweep and scoop under a moving leg with your foot.

To learn more about this, you could possibly look at nogi Judo sweeps that are done from similar positions.

Strikes

Again, you may not be in the best clinch in Muay Thai, but you can still hurt your opponent. This involves using the same principles as before. For instance, if you manage to break their posture then you can still knee the face just like before. Similarly, if you manage to see an opening then you can still land a glancing elbow if it’s viable.

In other words, the neutral clinch still has a lot of attacking options, as the inside clinch does. The only difference is that it’s typically harder to achieve as your opponent will have more space to defend. By the same token, you should also be wary of your own defense. Remember, you’re basically giving up your own attack which your opponent converts into their own attack. So, it’s best to be more cautious in this position and recognize there’s attacks and counters in play as well.

If you’d like to learn more about the Muay Thai clinch, then check out this book by UFC Champion, Anderson Silva. Over the years, he won many bouts by using his Muay Thai skills, so it’s fair to say that he knows what he’s doing in this field.