How do kicks come into play for your fighting?

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 5/27/2008 10:56am

Originally Posted by The Question

That legkicks are necessary goes without saying. They are low risk and high percentage. Throw them a lot.

So many people need to understand this it hurts.

**alex** · Posted On: 5/27/2008 4:22pm

i punch like a fucking girl so i pretty much just kick all the time

**Happy Panda** · Posted On: 5/27/2008 7:14pm

Originally Posted by MrHuggables

Everytime I try a kick at the beginning of a fight, it seems the opponent is able to counter and catch the kick and typically take me down, and as I'm a far better striker than wrestler this is usually bad news for me.

This is my situation. I rarely kick at all because I'm deathly afraid of being taken down. My advice would be to work on your takedown defense (obviously), which is what I'm doing too.

It would also be a good idea to feint the kick when you know they want to counter, then hopefully they'll leave themselves open for your hands.

**G-Off** · Posted On: 5/27/2008 7:40pm

Too many strikers rely on their kicks too early. Even if you suck at punching, throw a few and then follow up with kicks at the end of your combos when it's harder to look for and catch them.

**Vince Tortelli** · Posted On: 5/28/2008 2:07pm

Originally Posted by The Question

That legkicks are necessary goes without saying. They are low risk and high percentage. Throw them a lot.

This is pure arm chair quarterbacking from a guy who has never done Muay Thai or kickboxing in his life, so take it as you will:

It seems to me that leg kicks can leave you open for a reverse punch/right cross counter if you don't set them up with a jab or something (and sometimes even if you do.) Look at Wanderlei Silva's last fight, he took Jardine's leg kick square on the thigh, didn't even try to check it, just ignored it and went full bore ahead with looping punches.

**Kintanon** · Posted On: 5/28/2008 2:16pm

That's because Wandy has legs like fucking rebar and concrete. Unless you are comfortable with taking a baseball bat to the thigh you should not fight like Wanderlei.
This whole thing frightens me. The Question is being both sensible and incredibly correct. I'm starting to wonder if he's truly as big a troll as he appears to be or if it was all just a trick.... Sneaky bastard.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 5/28/2008 2:26pm

Vince the real reason is because Jardine's form sucks. There is a reason they call him an "unconventional" striker. That's another word for someone that hits hard despite bad form. These people usually have big holes in their game that go unexploited for a long time because they have a good chin or are really aggressive. Chris Leben comes to mind.

**Vince Tortelli** · Posted On: 5/28/2008 2:30pm

Point taken. Although I believe I have seen other people get rocked while trying to throw leg kicks too....I'm not going to debate striking mechanics, because I don't know enough to even be intelligent, it just seems to me that leg kicks are sort of like body shots...good to use, but they need to be set up, and you can't start off a striking combination with them. (For instance, Sherk landed several leg kicks on BJ Penn, but it was always after Penn had moved out of reach of Sherk's punching combinations.)

**The Question** · Posted On: 5/28/2008 2:43pm

Originally Posted by Vince Tortelli

Point taken. Although I believe I have seen other people get rocked while trying to throw leg kicks too....I'm not going to debate striking mechanics, because I don't know enough to even be intelligent, it just seems to me that leg kicks are sort of like body shots...good to use, but they need to be set up, and you can't start off a striking combination with them. (For instance, Sherk landed several leg kicks on BJ Penn, but it was always after Penn had moved out of reach of Sherk's punching combinations.)

WhiteShark: Everything needs to be set up.

Throwing any strike leaves you at risk for getting caught with something on the counter. The right cross is a textbook counter to the leg kick. Typically, the kicker can avoid this by stepping off angle ie, moving from directly in front of the kickee. This not only takes you out of his punching range, but adds power to the kick. Of course, bear in mind you might be stepping towards the opponent's power side, but that isn't really all that relevant.

Alternatively, you can just parry the cross when it comes. Starting with punches usually keeps you safer too.

Regarding not starting off a combo with a leg kick:

You can if you want to. It's not that big of a deal. Many people will start a combo with an inside leg kick and follow up with a right cross and so on. The inside leg kick is much easier to throw, even lower risk, but you can't really hurt someone with that.

Also, let's not forget that you can counter a right cross with a leg kick. Right cross comes, throw leg kick. The repositioning of your body to throw the kick will put you outside the punching range. Personally, I love doing that ****.

Sean Sherk is not the best person to watch to learn about kicks. Neither is Jardine. Paul Taylor would be a good guy to watch, be he keeps losing because he can't actually grapple or defend takedowns.

**M.C.** · Posted On: 5/28/2008 3:21pm

Just a little side note, I was unsure if kicking an elbow was such a painful experience as I thought it was so I took a little refreshment today while sparring and yes, it is as painful as I remembered it.
So if you kick try not to hit the elbow.