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Armchair Strategist's Martial Arts Pages |
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Some defences against thrusting kicks
Thrusting kicks (side kicks, front kicks etc) travel towards you in a linear fashion. Here are some diverse examples of counters.
Example #1 -Simple but nasty
Evade the kick by shuffling away from the line of attack.
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Bring
your rear hand down across your body as you do this in a
sweeping action, partly to deflect the kick in case your
evasion isn't far enough and partly to 'catch' the kick.
By catch I don't mean grab. Rather hook it ('Crane's'
beak is good for this though a slap is adequate) to
obstruct and carry it past you -delaying the kicks
retraction. This gives you a longer 'window' of
opportunity to land your counter-kick. An ideal counter is a kick to the groin such as the roundhouse kick shown. This works better against a side kick because by turning the supporting leg away from you, he is presenting a cleaner target -the roundhouse is less likely to hit the thigh of his support leg. Side kicks also work and have some advantages although they are slower in this instance. |
In sparring you can substitute a knee collapse or low roundhouse to the thigh in place of the groin kick.
Example #2 -clashing side kick
| A scrappy but
effective technique. As he throws a side kick, throw your
own with the opposite leg but knee chambered forward
-i.e. as a front kick would be. The legs inevitably
clash. Yours is the lower one (because of the later
initiation and forward chamber). This naturally deflects
his kick to your inside and saps it of power. Your kick
is deflected by his thigh into his groin. Not one for sparring. |
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Example #3 -Reap the supporting leg
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As he kicks, step
forwards and outwards, ducking down into an almost
kneeling position to the outside of his kicking leg.
Throw your lead palm over your rear shoulder in a
deflecting/covering position. Simultaneously punch with
your rear hand to his inside thigh. Hopefully this will
unbalance him. Immediately follow-up by grabbing around his supporting leg and reaping it whilst standing up -lift & drop. A more effective variation is an uppercut to the groin instead of the punch to the thigh. This sequence isn't easy to apply but it can build confidence in training. |
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