Comment - Same Side Counterattack

[Judah Maccabee]

I was watching a K-1 kickboxing clip called "Zambidi vs. Masato."

In this clip, Zambidi loses by unanimous decision, but during the match, he had what looked like an effective counterattack strategy, so I wanted to get some feedback on it.

Every time Zambidi took a kick to a side, he immediately counterattacked with a body-hook on the same side. So if Masato kicked him with a right roundhouse, Zambidi would leg-check with his left, then slide in with a body hook.


I've been shown technique where you counterattack with the leg you blocked with, but never seen it done with body-hooks.


Comments?

[j416to]

Zambidis is pretty short, so he often leads with a body shot, to force his opponent to open themselves up to a punch in the head.

[meng_mao]

I've been shown technique where you counterattack with the leg you blocked with, but never seen it done with body-hooks.


Comments?

How do counterattack with checking leg?
Do you check and immediately strike in with it?
This seems weak.
Or do you plant and then kick?
This is slow.

What Zambidis does is sort of like a superman punch, in that he gets some momentum from setting down the checking leg. Pretty fast and strong.

I'm a little concerned that a taller opponent would get clocked on his way in, but Zambo seems small enough to get inside and throw this safely.

[Judah Maccabee]

How I've been taught to leg-check and counter-kick is to check, then as the lead leg comes down, you push off of it forward slightly then as your rear leg shuffles in to catch up, you throw the lead leg for a roundhouse or a side kick, depending on where the opponent moved. You're right that it's relatively slow, but against a fighter who has a lag on the recovery or who overcommitted to the kick, it can do some damage.

[ojgsxr6]

Link please.

[j416to]

Steve

Here's one way to analyze this situation:

1) Best Solution: Leg check your opponent's round house kick, drop your front foot, knock your opponent out with a right cross.

2) Best Solution if you're short like Zambidis: Leg check your opponent's round house kick, drop your foot, body shot your opponent to make him drop his hands and/or height, knock him out with a right cross.

I wouldn't spend too much time prefecting your leg check-front leg kick combination since as you said, it only really works "against a fighter who has a lag on the recovery or who overcommitted to the kick." And as you begin to fight better and better opponents, you're going to find the effectiveness of this strategy diminishing, more and more.

Good luck!

[Abe Frohman]

How I've been taught to leg-check and counter-kick is to check, then as the lead leg comes down, you push off of it forward slightly then as your rear leg shuffles in to catch up, you throw the lead leg for a roundhouse or a side kick, depending on where the opponent moved. You're right that it's relatively slow, but against a fighter who has a lag on the recovery or who overcommitted to the kick, it can do some damage.

This is pretty much how I have been taught as well. I will mess around a bit with this in class tonight and see if I can do something like it without getting rocked.

[Ryno]

Steve

Here's one way to analyze this situation:

1) Best Solution: Leg check your opponent's round house kick, drop your front foot, knock your opponent out with a right cross.

2) Best Solution if you're short like Zambidis: Leg check your opponent's round house kick, drop your foot, body shot your opponent to make him drop his hands and/or height, knock him out with a right cross.

I wouldn't spend too much time prefecting your leg check-front leg kick combination since as you said, it only really works "against a fighter who has a lag on the recovery or who overcommitted to the kick." And as you begin to fight better and better opponents, you're going to find the effectiveness of this strategy diminishing, more and more.

Good luck!

I completely agree with this. A particularly bad habit that most fighters have is that as they throw a rear leg roundkick, they tend to drop their rear hand. As the kick comes around, this becomes their lead hand. As it drops, their jaw is totally exposed from the front. Check the kick, drop your leg forward to get some momentum, straight right. KO.

[warnerj5000]

I completely agree with this. A particularly bad habit that most fighters have is that as they throw a rear leg roundkick, they tend to drop their rear hand. As the kick comes around, this becomes their lead hand. As it drops, their jaw is totally exposed from the front. Check the kick, drop your leg forward to get some momentum, straight right. KO.

not exactly the same as Steve's avatar picture, but close-
guy throws the kick, drops lead hand.
counter-attack big punch to the head (from same side as kick), KO.

[Judah Maccabee]

Bit of a topic shift:

What do you guys think of training a fighter for their strong side to be the lead? Their jab and lead hook hand would be supah powahful.

Thoughts?