Knee (Tee kao)

English Thai Transliteration
Straight Knee Strike เข่าตรง Kao Trong
Diagonal Knee Strike เข่าเฉียง Kao Chiang
Curving Knee Strike เข่าโค้ง Kao Kong
Horizontal Knee Strike เข่าตัด Kao Tud
Knee Slap เข่าตบ Kao Tob
Knee Bomb เข่ายาว Kao Youwn
Flying Knee Strike เข่าลอย Kao Loi
Step-Up Knee Strike เข่าเหยียบ Kao Yiep

* Kao Dode (Jumping knee strike) - the Thai boxer jumps up on one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
* Kao Loi (Flying knee strike) - the Thai boxer takes step(s), jumps forward and off one leg and strikes with that leg's knee.
* Kao Tone (Straight knee strike) - the Thai boxer simply thrusts it forward (not upwards, unless he is holding an opponents head down in a clinch and intend to knee upwards into the face). According to one written source, this technique is somewhat more recent than Kao Dode or Kao Loi.[citation needed] Supposedly, when the Thai boxers fought with rope-bound hands rather than the modern boxing gloves, this particular technique was subject to potentially vicious cutting, slicing and sawing by an alert opponent who would block it or deflect it with the sharp "rope-glove" edges which are sometimes dipped in water to make the rope much stronger. This explanation also holds true for some of the following knee strikes below as well.