The steel/cheese analogy is spot on. I wish I wasn't in the cheese side lol.
In the context of your question, it's not just physical condition at play, it's also the fact that his opponent instinctively always take the good angle, when he takes a blow, it never lands exactly where haggerty wants to land it, just enough to make the difference between fatal and "annoying"/bearable
On a middle kick for instance, if you move one actual human foot/a foot and a half forward/toward the attack, it's no longer the bottom part of the tibia near the malleolus that hits https://pic8.co/sh/AvOlKO.jpeg it's the middle of the tibia/upper part near the knee, which is much less effective
What I don't get is why blows look much more violent in Thaï boxing than in other combat sports. Also, can they do headbutts in this format?
No headbutts are typical of lethwei, which is the ancestor of muay thai, which in turn is the ancestor of thai boxing
Thai boxing is essentially a western inspired format for muay thai, there are often removed options, such as some elbows for instance or knees, depends on the country where the tournament is happening
I don't think blows are necessarily more violent in thai boxing than in british boxing for instance, at least when it comes to punches with gloves, as a matter of fact british boxing is more dangerous in terms of brain damages, since there a lot more strikes landing in there
For olympics boxing you're barred from KOing your adversary if memory serves.... So yeah, it's less "en force", since it doesn't pay, and in savate (french boxing) you can't throw your kicks in one go like in muay thai, you have to "arm and shoot", raise the knee and kick, it's always in two steps, so it gives you a different form in the end, with a less "brutal" approach https://youtu.be/XH20I5GhEH0?t=202 and you have shoes
Also, thai boxers strike with the tibia, which isn't necessarily the case for other disciplines such as tae kwon do, and some karate, where you'll strike with the foot mostly in the case of mawashi
While in tae kwon do they wear body armors and helmets, you have some brutal KOs too, like you are left wondering if the guy is still alive after that
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