Kazuki Osaki vs Toki Tamaru: Post Fight Study
Converted my twitter thread into a substack article
Interesting looks from both Kazuki Osaki and Toki Tamaru.
The Tamaru Jab
Toki Tamaru’s southpaw jab is phenomenal. And his jab looked very sharp against Kazuki Osaki, since Osaki likes to pressure. Tamaru sneaks his jab by taking the inside angle (video 1) of the open stance match up. Not a new idea, but used by Tamaru throughout this fight (video 2).
Video 1: Tamaru taking the inside angle
Video 2: Tamaru’s jab throughout the fight.
The Tamaru Pivot
Something you don’t see often from kickboxing is the use of pivots. Tamaru has a beautiful pivot he uses when he sees the opponent covering up or moving at him in a line. Tamaru also pivots out after throwing his lead hook. Some people who are obsessed with semantics call this a check hook.
Video 3: The Tamaru pivot off Osaki’s guard
The Tamaru High Kick
Tamaru made great use of the left high kick to the open side. This doesn’t need to knock out or even hurt the opponent, it can be used as just an off balancing tool and point scoring (video 4). High kicking towards the open side in order to off balance the opponent is something Jean Charles Skarbowski recommends doing in his instructional “Advanced Muay Thai Masterclass” (video 5).
Video 4: Tamaru left high kick to off balance Osaki
Video 5: Jean Charles Skarbowski teaching how to kick the wrist on the open side. In a closed stance it has to be a switch kick in an open stance it can be a a kick to the wrist with the rear leg.
Osaki Bodywork
Osaki brought himself back into this fight by going to the body. There were two contexts in which Osaki would look to hit the body:
When Tamaru would cover up
When Tamaru would look to pivot
Video 6: Osaki punching the body
Video 7: Neat look from Osaki when Tamaru would cover up
Video 8: Osaki using the lead hook to rear knee.
This is a fun fight to watch for its high pace and also some cool ideas from both fighters. Check it out since it’s free on YouTube.
Video 9: Full fight link
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Great read, love having the clips thrown in there