Right guys, here's one. I am not a great kicker by any means and I lack confidence when kicking,especially when sparring mma. I do however enjoy catching other people's kicks and using them to take them down etc. I use knees, love the clinch but just don't enjoy using kicks apart from leg kicks. Are things like body kicks actually safe/useful when fighting in mma? Are head kicks actually a little more useful? Just looking for thoughts really. I like getting in close, clinching/take downs etc so I don't think kicks work all that well for me. That is all.
Are you taking safe as in legal or safe as in your not going to be taken down from one? More body shots you can land before you go down the ground is always going to help, if you get a chance to see the DVD from the Wrexham championships, I think someone dropped from a roundhouse to the head in the first 10 seconds! So yeah useful if you ask me
Yeah I meant safe as in not getting taken down from it safe. I suppose you just need to be really quick ,pull the kick right back so you don't get it caught. We all have strengths, kicking to the head/body isn't mine. I do love leg kicks though
yeah speed is the key do you have a bag at home? Put some tape on it mark your knee height, waist and shoulder and then drill some kicks on it roundhouse works well for snapping back and forth good for doubling up shin conditioning as well. If no bag at home place some targets on the bag in gym. (visual markers like the bag brand etc, some tear from over use etc) Another one is to practice kicking low, middle & high and drill out 15 sets each set getting faster and harder each time Snap kick is a good one if they charge on you of course you could dummy and launch a knee. At the end of the day you have to use whats best for you
Like John said body kicks are sweet if you can land them. I've had more problems from getting a good kick in the ribs than most things I can think of. I do leg kicks mostly and they get me good results but you said you love em so thats pretty much wasted really! I don't like head kicks. I was at the Wrexham night with John and that kick was sweet as but I don't think its worth the risk if you mess it up. Mind you there was a beautiful backfist someone landed at south coast once when he spun out of a missed head kick. I dunno, they're useful so long as the opponent either doesn't expect it or they're too gassed to do anything. Try it I guess. Worse that can happen is you mess up and get a nice shot to the face but its part of the fun!
I will typically keep the kicks low - to the thigh and sometimes to the body. I prefer to kick the legs until they start dropping the hands. Then right cross.
I don't see the body kick as a particularly useful tool in an MMA toolbox. The head kick coming out of nowhere and having the potential for a knockout is better. You're a kick-catcher though like my wife is, so the doubt in throwing kicks is in your head. From what I've seen there aren't that many of you so if you're fast enough to catch them you are fast enough to throw them and not get caught.
a great leg kick is low and at a 45 degree angle facing the floor,on the otside of the leg just below the kneecap there is a superficial nerve, hit this rght and it should be over, kicking in this manner gives you leverage if you forget to retract the leg which many do, its still hard to grab, most of your body weight is coming down on the enemys leg also you get great speed and power from the leg coming down
If you don't feel you need to kick then don't. That's the beauty of MMA. Look at people like Randy Couture and BJ Penn. Kicking just doesn't really figure in the way they fight. Penn's book on MMA doesn't have a single offensive kick in it (IIRC...if it does it's very minor). Perfectly acceptable to have an MMA approach without kicks. Body kciks rarely seem to be that decisive. I always seem to catch elbows and raised knees on the way in. Don't be too hung up on being able to do everything. So long as you can counter when people try and kick you (which it seems you can) then there's no real pressure to be a kicker yourself as far as I can see.
sorry pal low kick is the p nerve in the authentic MT, on the out side just as i said not the knee actually the side of the calf, you can kick the thigh and the inside of it as well, some guys can take a beaten on there thighs, very strong from deadlifts, but no one can take that kick to the p nerve
One day Lou you and Frodo will come down to Wrexham to have a little spar. My wife was taught by a women and although she shares her favourite with you, long knee, she can kick proper hard. You just need a women's touch. Might even get the instructor down to play with you, all similar size, age and weight.
Moi's a big boy now but I'll throw something in here anyway. What he doesn't know about muay thai really ain't worth knowing. I've never heard anyone say "kick them in the knee". This is just something that came to my head though adn I'm happy to listen to your view, on your average human the knee is conected to the shin. If you aim to kick the knee checking the kick with the shin is quite easy I imagine.
You where peeping when you stayed the night? Big? Huge! I wish. I've seen so many people get taken out being checked. Guy's a silly billy
I could have done with a chuckle but I wasn't that desperate for one. I try and be nice and support you and you shoot me down! yah it hurts!!! But then I didn't use my chi to block the pain and transfer it onto a seagull that was crapping on the gym at the time.
