PDA

View Full Version : Blocking kickbox Kicks with your legs



TzuChan
05-16-2001, 10:55 PM
Hello, I have this cool situation, I am starting to practice WC while my friend does kickboxing for about two months now. I told him WC was so much better then the **** he did, but he still wants to do kickboxing. And the thing is every wednesday we do some friendly fighting, now when we only use our fists I am pretty much able to see what he will do by just watching his shoulders. But when he kicks me I can see it coming but don't know how to block it exactly. It sais that you should block a kick at the origin so ASAP. But how should you block it if he just launched the kick ? In kickboxing they just wait for the kick to arrive and block it with their own legs (the "boney" part bellow the knee, don't know what it's called in english). But that hurts like hell sometimes and I know that that is not the way you are supposed to block effectively since the kick reaches it's full power. But how should I block it then ? Should I kick him on the leg when it starts, should I kick him with my knee, foot, the bottom of my foot, when exactly etc...

I hope you'll help me out :D

You practice Wing Chun ? COntact me on my icq ! 71470721(my name there is "vision")

Martial Joe
05-16-2001, 11:29 PM
Use the bottom of your foot.Move in.It realy depends on what hes doing.But overall id say use the bottom of your foot and move in and jam him.You can realy mess him up if you use your arms and legs at the same time.Or one after another.

anyway,what kind of kicks are we talking about.Round house?front kicks? side kicks?

Vankuen
05-17-2001, 03:11 AM
I train in many environments, both with my wing chun as well as other gung fu...and one of the things I've found useful that has no stylistic boundries is simply "avoidance" or just not being there when your opponent kicks.

Another way of looking at it is not to be at the most powerful point of the kick, which is the intended striking surface, be that the instep, shin, sole of the foot, etc. So if you face a very fast kicker and can tap into his rythm, you can jam his kicks simply by moving in and eliminating his space to generate sufficient power. In this fashion you dont get hurt, you move into range, and are able to counter pretty much simultaneously.

Obviously different kicks and situations provide for variables that must be accounted for. There is no one end all solution, so you just have to adapt and overcome with what you know.

You basic choices are to jam with your own kick or punch (depending on the height of the oncoming kick), simply move out of range (this will eliminate a good counter though), move into range to dissolve the kick, or simply to attack simultaneously with a superior move.

Just try different things when you spar, but remember that what works with one person may not work with another. Play around with your tools and strategies now while you can...so that way when the real thing happens...you wont have to worry about things like this so much.

"From one thing know ten thousand" - Miyomato Musashi, Book of five rings

davy
05-17-2001, 09:23 AM
Hi Tzu`Chan,

I see you're from Belgium: maybe you're training with one of the most advanced students of my sifu... Who is your teacher?
I don't have a lot of experience in WC, anyway the only things I learned about defending against kicks is that: for example, against a low round house you can move from your front stance to a side stance. Against a high roundhouse, I only saw my sifu and some of his advanced students doing it: they used double larp sao and footwork... (anyway this requires a sifu to be learnt)
Anyway, don't be so in a hurry: you'll learn that by the years.
Another point is that I find it annoying to hear you saying that KickBoxing sucks: everyone has his own choices, and anyone seeks something different. So: Just practise what makes you feel at ease.

atsai
05-17-2001, 11:02 AM
Here's a short article that I found useful. It's mostly about tkd kicks though--but they're identical anyway, right?

Countering kicks by a Robert Chu student... (http://www.wingchunkuen.com/journal/columns/nguyen/opinion02_kicks.shtml)

He mentioned in the article that becuase it was a friendly sparring, actual full contact wc counter kicks to the supporting leg or groin is out of the question...

<TABLE BORDER="3" CELLSPACING="1" CELLPADDING="1"><TR><TD><form><INPUT TYPE="button" VALUE=" Art T " onClick="parent.location='mailto:arttsai@mediaone.net?subje ct=from kfo...'"></TD></TR></table></form><HR Width="97%">"You fight like you train." --Motto, USN Fighter Weapon School (TOPGUN)

benny
05-17-2001, 01:34 PM
IF YOU HAVE ONLY JUST STARTED I WOULD NOT ADVIZE useing your legs as it will usually develop bad habits if you havent trained long enough in the stance and your hands are really good. you find most people try to do every thing so quick that you dont get the solid stance that is needed to stand on one leg in a fight and not fall over or have you telegraph the move.i muck around with a friend that kickboxes and i find just jaming or gaurn sao or jum sao depending on the hieght. just remember to punch at the same time.
best is to stand so close that he cant kick while still being in ving tsun range ;)

JasBourne
05-17-2001, 04:04 PM
If the kick is aimed at the high or middle gates, best bet (assuming you have no time to evade) is to align your center line to the strike line of the kick and do a double jut or gaum. Make sure you meet the leg before the strike point (don't pull back), and that you use the meaty underside of your lower arm, the area between the mid-point and the elbow. If you jut or gaum correctly, you will interrupt the kick before it can release energy, and you won't feel a thing. Followup immediatly with strike(s), as your opponent will be off-balance and open for a split second, and you will be in perfect range.

Leastways that's how I learned it.

<IMG SRC="http://machagrande.com/images/aMao1.JPG" border=0 height=116 width=100>

remo
05-17-2001, 04:18 PM
Art T,
Good link, good article, thanks.

Tzu' Chan,

When sparring with Karate/TKD or kickboxers and they attempt to throw the spinning type kicks, i.e., roundhouse, back kick, or spinning heel, etc., use your lead leg to place your heel on their thigh or more preferrably on their high upper thigh at the hip joint (for the back kicks, put your heel into which ever side of the glutamous is coming at you or their lower back.

I'm saying, "put" your foot there, you will see almost instantly that this defense can be very painful to the attacker, so please be careful. :eek: All that's really required is you relax and speed up your leg movement, the weight of your leg alone is usually enough to more than stop the attack. :cool:

Hope this helps, happy sparring. ;)

"We forge our bodies in
the fire of our will." Han
from 'Enter the Dragon'

TzuChan
05-17-2001, 06:42 PM
Great advise from all of you , THANKS ! But hey the thing about kickboxing, the way he learns it really sucks, his teacher is an ex-hooligan, he talks about nothing else but kicking peoples asses on the street. So that's just a bad bad bad teacher :)

Hey davy, what is the name of the guy you think is this superb sifu ? I'm wondering :)

You practice Wing Chun ? COntact me on my icq ! 71470721(my name there is "vision")

Inquisitor
05-18-2001, 08:41 AM
Here are a few things I've noticed when sparring kickboxers and people who are only familiar with McKwoon "fighting" (aka sparring with full gear):


Unlike kungfu, which stresses the use of kicks mostly as a tool for maintaining distance, closing range, or attacking at long range, many of these types of "martial artists" like to kick when you are as close as a foot and a half to less than a foot away from them. They pick up on the bad habit of trying to kick your opponent in the ribs/stomach. If your friend tries to do this, there are several things you can do to counter. My personal favorite is simply running into the person and bowling him over (the force of the kick will be negated due to your proximity). Oftentimes these people get so scared that you're actually trying to take them down (as opposed to run around and take potshots at them like they are used to) that their only reaction is to put their hands up. Another personal favorite is to close the gap and, rather than use the brute force method of pushing him over, use a simple sweep/push takedown (where you move the person's leg with your foot/leg in one direction while pushing/hitting his body in the other direction, causing him to fall). As I said before, there are several things you can do (and many others have pointed out, such as the simple stop-kick) to counter what is perhaps the most widespread and most dangerous mistake that the majority of these people commit. Be very careful about trying these type of moves out on an experienced fighter. They know how to keep their cool and attack you with their hands if you get too close while they are kicking...
The real key to countering any type of kicking is to watch the distance. All kicks are relatively easy to avoid and/or "block" at a long distance... At medium range, kicks can be either countered or you can close the distance to negate the force. At short range, you really shouldn't have to worry about kicks (with the exception of scoop-type kicks to the groin).

I did a lot of generalizing in this post, so there may be some things that do not hold true in certain situations, etc etc etc.

lotusleaf
07-23-2001, 12:41 AM
I'd say practice your footwork so that you won't have to be there when the kick is applied

rogue
07-23-2001, 05:36 AM
Against a good kicker, watch out for the second kick after you block the first.


Rogue, you're an @ss!! Watchman

Adventure is just a romantic name for trouble. It sounds swell when you write about it, but it's hell when you meet it face to face in a dark and lonely place.
Louis L'Amour

BTW, did I mention that Rogue was an @ss? Watchman

IronFist
07-23-2001, 06:23 AM
If he's studying Muay Thai he'll learn how to block the kicks with his shin (thats the bone below the knee in english:) ) Ask him to show you.

Don't tell him your art is better than his. You wouldn't want him to say his was better than yours, would you?

Iron