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An observation I've made is that most MMA matches nowadays tend to only see the muay thai roundhouse kick (well, and the soccer and stomp kicks) used with any frequency. I'm really curious as to why that is, since from personal experience, front kick, side kick, and axe kick can be applied quite well in full-contact, free-form sparring. Do MMA fighters not want to risk having their kicks caught? Even so, a single good kick of any of the above hurts enough to be more or less worth the risk (in my opinion). Or is it just a matter of time before MMA starts incorporating more kicks?
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boxing is where its at
I think we'll see fewer kicks.Originally posted by Heroic Wolf View Post
But I think the kicks that are thrown will be set-up better, and will land harder and more often.
Kicks, lately, seem to get the kicker knocked out.
Punchers are closing the distance and punching the chin more often as a response to kicks.
I think this will lead to kickers spending more time setting up their kicks.
Kicks suck.
It's all about the hands. -
HW, you have to remember that those kicks might work great within the realm of the context in which they're being used (I'm assuming TKD/point-karate/American full-contact), but once other elements are added/combined, things change. One cannot box in mma the way one boxes in boxing. Nor can one grapple in mma the way he would in a submission grappling, sport bjj, judo or wrestling tournament without striking. The same holds true for kicking the way it's performed in the above TKD/pk/afc formats.Comment
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Who do you guys think has the best kicks in MMA?.Comment
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Cro Cop's rep has suffered in the last couple of years, but he's got something like four KO's by head kick (including one against Wanderlei) and a couple more TKO's by body kick. That's got to count for something.Comment
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Heroic,
The reason you see mainly Muay Thai Round kicks in MMA events is because they are very effective and they work. You can throw them with a lot of speed and power. The way you train your Muay Thai kicks you are taught to follow through with all your kicks giving maximum power. This way if you miss your target you simply follow through with the kick and spin and you can throw the elbow or back fist really natural. Not only that but if yo umiss and have to follow through with the kick you are able to spin all the way around and be facing your opponent again a lot faster than if you pulled your kick allowing your opponent the opportunity to shoot in without much defense.
You do see front kicks and side kicks with regularity as well as medial lift snap kicks...(kicks to the inside of the knee). It also depends on the fighter and their background as well. If they have wrestling, judo or jiu jitsu base then you will not see a lot of kicks from them.Comment
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Crocop was notorious for his kicks when he was in Pride. He's destroyed many opponents with those kick and a swift kick to the head from him pretty much means Game Over (exception of Mark Hunt who has a neanderthal skull).Comment
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Lots of insightful comments from all
Right now I need a strategy to perform better when sparring one of my taekwondo friends. As of right now, whenever I try to get to punching range and use my boxing, I end up eating a few hard kicks to my midsection. Normally I wouldn't be that concerned, but my friend got 3rd at (junior) nationals in taekwondo, is 70 lbs heavier than me, and leg presses 800+ lbs; therefore, even though he doesn't know thai kick, it still hurts me a lot 
I've tried grabbing his kicks before to "make him pay for kicking me", a strategy Randy Couture used successfully vs Maurice Smith, but that doesn't seem to be working either...
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When you grab his kick you don't just stay there. Once you grab the kick you've got about 1 second to throw a punch or kickout his other leg. Try to constantly be moving and circling so you don't eat too man straight on kicks to your body.Comment
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There's a kid in the junior nationals who can leg press 800lbs??Originally posted by Heroic Wolf View Post
WTF are people feeding their kids?!?Comment
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My friend currently isn't trying out for taekwondo nationals since he doesn't want to spend money entering into the tournament, but ya, he can leg press 800 lbs with the correct going down to 90 degrees form. But I meant 800 lbs with BOTH legs and on a leg press machine/rack, I didn't mean squatting 800 lbs. Hopefuly that clears up the confusion xDComment
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Heroic,
If yo uwant to avoid your friends kicks and move in on him then you really need to work your foot work and closing the distance. Footwork is the key to winning most fights but most people over look the importance of footwork.
If he throws any angle type kick like a round kick, crescent kick etc. then you need to zone off away from it. Do not just stand there and take it. If he throws a linear type kick like a side kick or front kick then you will need to zone off away from the kick. As you can see zoning off is the key here. If you do not zone off away from the kick then you can always back straight up.
You have to remember your footwork patterns: Male Triangle, Female Triangle, circle left, circle right, 1/4 turn, forward and reverse footwork. If you practice these different patterns on a daily basis and then work the different footwork in sparring you will find yourself improving very quickly.
It is VERY important that you understand that footwork is not intended to move you completely out of range of your opponents attack. It is intended to move you just far enough out of the way. As my LAMECO instructors taught me... footwork should move you just beyond the end of his weapon. You should feel the wind of his attack if you use footwork correctly. Think about it, if he attacks and you move completely out of range then you have to try and close the distance every time you want to hit him.
When you zone off from his kicks you are actually moving closer to him because you are moving at an angle towards him and away from him. Which means in order for him to hit you he will have to turn his body around to hit.
You need to know where your kicking range is as well as his. You will also need to know where your punching range is as well as his. The way you do this is easy. Start out standing right in front of each other and stick your leg out like you are doing a front kick or round kick if you can touch him then you are in kicking range. Now take one step back and try again. If neither of you can touch the other one then you are out of kicking range. So in order for you or him to land a kick you will have to take a step towards the other one. Now when yo uare sparring try and maintain that distance. when you see him step you can kick or zone off from his attack.
I know that is a lot of verbage but I hope it makes sense and hope it helps.Comment
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What's male triangle and female triangle exactly? Could you supply me with a link please? Right now the only footwork I'm familiar enough with to implement in live sparring is basically circling around them and then moving in in a straight line or moving away from my opponent in a straight line, which kind of makes me vulnerable to back kicks
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Are you backyard sparring your friends again :-\?Comment
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You guessed it! Except now, only my taekwondo friend (mentioned above) wants to spar me, everybody else doesn't really like the thai kicks (mine aren't that good, its just that they have surprising power for those used to non-thai roundhouses.Comment
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