axe kick question

**shs101** · Posted On: 8/04/2012 9:04pm

I'm fighting a Thai fight amatuer and theres no head kicks allowed. I have a oddly effective axe kick I use to land in tkd and recently been landing it on Thai sparring. But now I have to switch things up. My question is ive heard of people doing an axe kick to the shoulder and even the leg? Can anyone confirm this and its effectiveness? Also is there any kind of axe kick just for a distraction to set up punches? Just trying to see others thoughts thanks!

**donoraen** · Posted On: 8/04/2012 9:30pm

How often do you practice axe kicks that aren't to the head? A match isn't really the place to be trying new things. That being said I have seen axe kicks to the coller bone (debatably a dick move as you can end up breaking said bone) and to the sternum do some damage.

**Sidekick007** · Posted On: 8/07/2012 3:36pm

Originally Posted by shs101

I'm fighting a Thai fight amatuer and theres no head kicks allowed. I have a oddly effective axe kick I use to land in tkd and recently been landing it on Thai sparring. But now I have to switch things up. My question is ive heard of people doing an axe kick to the shoulder and even the leg? Can anyone confirm this and its effectiveness? Also is there any kind of axe kick just for a distraction to set up punches? Just trying to see others thoughts thanks!

I have only done this once in sparring, but it worked really well.

Sometimes Muay Thai people will keep their front leg stuck out a little, as if to bait the kick so that they can check it or counter it or whatever. I did a front snap kick straight in at the chest, around the sternum. He tapped it down, and when he did, I leaned forward a little to get the distance and axed it straight on top of his exposed quad. His reaction was priceless.

**Permalost** · Posted On: 8/07/2012 5:13pm

I'd be careful about hitting your maleoli/ankle bones on hard elbows or knees.

**lordbd** · Posted On: 8/07/2012 5:21pm

I don't know what your refs will be like, but I took part in a TKD tournament years ago where the non-black belts (e.g. me) couldn't do head kicks (LAME). I threw two axe kicks:

-one to the shoulder: got a warning about "stop trying to kick to the head" (and no, reasoning with the ref didn't work)

-one that didn't hit at all but was just a feint to set up a roundhouse/body-punch combo: again I was stopped and told not to kick to the head (reason failed a second time)

So you might cause more trouble than its worth trying an axe-kick anyway.

**alex** · Posted On: 8/07/2012 6:44pm

i wouldnt bother trying for a head axe kick because

a) the ref will rip into you even if you are trying to hit the shoulder, and
b) if you hit him in the face you'll probably get DQed

to the leg? i guess, never really seen anyone pull that off though.

**Vorpal** · Posted On: 8/07/2012 7:58pm

Axe kick? The man you want to talk to is Andy Hug:

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 8/07/2012 8:40pm

Originally Posted by shs101

I'm fighting a Thai fight amatuer and theres no head kicks allowed. I have a oddly effective axe kick I use to land in tkd and recently been landing it on Thai sparring. But now I have to switch things up. My question is ive heard of people doing an axe kick to the shoulder and even the leg? Can anyone confirm this and its effectiveness? Also is there any kind of axe kick just for a distraction to set up punches? Just trying to see others thoughts thanks!

I almost always aimed for the collar bone/shoulder whenever I threw axe kicks in competition.

Yes, I was an asshole and no one liked me.

**searcher66071** · Posted On: 8/08/2012 8:07pm

If you have been throwing it to the head and now want the shoulder, you are talking about re-conditioning yourself to put it there in a stress situation. The axe-kick is my "go to" kick when things get messed up in a fight. I train it for head only and I am not sure I could throw it to the shoulder without some serious concentration. And I just don't really care to concentrate that much during a fight.

And yes, Andi Hug was the man to learn it from. May he rest in peace.

**lordbd** · Posted On: 8/08/2012 10:03pm

Originally Posted by searcher66071

If you have been throwing it to the head and now want the shoulder, you are talking about re-conditioning yourself to put it there in a stress situation.

I disagree. I used to axe-kick to the shoulder all the time after training it for the head only. Sometimes it was called "missing" and sometimes "aiming at the shoulder" but I never felt like I had to train to axe-kick shoulder v. head differently.

IMO the issue is more about 1) does the kick work for you in general and 2) how will the ref handle it