Defend Yourself From Kicks while on the Ground (video)

(Click the picture to go the video page if you cannot play the video below.)

In the event of an attack, there is a high likelihood that members of one or both parties WILL go to the ground, for whatever reason-slip and fall, takedown, throw, or as a result of a strike.

Black Belt Magazine’s Facebook page has posted this video as their technique of the day . Their description: “In this vid. clip, Yanilov demonstrates a series of krav maga defenses against variations of the front kick.” Video after the jump.

How to Improve Your Kicking Skill - Part 1

Just how do you improve your kicks in the martial arts?

I received a question on Twitter reference improving kicks, and thought I'd post the answer to share with all of you. Cause I'm nice like that!

About developing kicks:

1. They are unnatural: An example of a "natural" kicking motion is, walking along a road and seeing a can, then kicking it down the road. Natural. Learning to knock someone out with a 540-degree roundhouse kick. Not natural. Most of the kicks in the martial arts (and all martial arts) are "unnatural," in that the motion has to be learned - they are not the types of mechanics that are used in everyday life, so they have to be taught, and we have to build muscle memory. That takes time.
2. You're not born ready: Along with mechanics (technique), you need conditioning and attributes, like muscle endurance, strength, and flexibility to be an awesome kicker. That takes time.
3. Even if you can do them, can you use them? Kicks are not a static exercise for most of us; they have a purpose, namely to impart some accelerated mass at a particular point in time and space-meaning to blast someone, and do some damage! So you need to learn the distance required to throw a particular kick in your arsenal, and then you need to learn the timing required to hit at the point of maximum power. For example, a baseball bat is weakest at the beginning end of the swing. We need to learn to time our swing to hit the ball at the point of maximum power. Kicks are the same. That takes time.

Style Vs. Style: Kickboxing and Taekwondo – UPDATED

Via OnlineFightVideo.com, an interesting style matchup.

What can we learn from KB vs TKD?

While we should (but won’t) all agree that the style debates are old and irrelevant, I’d like to take a different tack: what can we learn from this? I’m going to ask that you add your thoughts into the comments, and I’ll try to summarize in this post in a few days. Wide open…

UPDATE:

My comments:

Thanks for the comments on this one. I thought it was interesting in that the TKD guy seemed to be in more control. Specific thoughts:

1) Fried chicken tub hats with steam don't really help your fighting ability, but do make for an interesting entrance.

2) The KB fighter was at a definite disadvantage on the outside. It would have been to his benefit to close, move laterally, and punch more effectively, as opposed to clinching, which moves them back to the kicking range on breaks. Bad tactics.

3) KB boy also tried to match kicks with TKD Timmy (not sure of his name, but this works). Not smart.

4) The groin can be a very, very good target against a high kicker. So can the legs. The best tactic against a high kicker is to target the lower body, which makes the kicks come way down quick, or the testes will be moved up into the trunk. I actually thought leg kicks must have been against the rules until both fighters started using them at roughly 2:00. Why wait?

5) High kicks can be extremely effective, but must be used sparingly. Neither fighter developed a pattern of techniques that created openings. They are also risky. Several high kick misses put TKD Timmy on his hands and knees and back, and as Worg says, you go there on the street, you're F***ed. True!

6) Both fighters had their hands low in range, and that's just stupid.

7) Neither fighter used an effective lead. I think I saw one good jab in the entire fight. Against better opposition either of them would be toast with their wide punches and kicks.

8) Both of these guys help us explain why MMA is so popular. When the clinch happens, as it does so frequently in boxing, kickboxing, and even TKD, it becomes boring for spectators. MMA starts at that point, in my opinion. It forces action, instead of being a delaying tactic.

9) The spinning backfist should be used more. Even without aiming, it's a force to be reckoned with - it has to be defended or you will get knocked out. It can be thrown blind and still be effective.

10) As Mr. Zimmer said so well, “I think that the style does not make as much difference as the fighter... from any discipline a good fighter can learn about other disciplines and overcome stylistic differences.” Well said. I’ll leave it at that!

Everything works… sometime

A nice find at MMAConvert, a one-kick knockout with a spinning head kick.

There’s been a debate for as long as martial artists get together and trash talk or speculate, as to whether high kicks are effective or a waste of time, or just dangerous to use. My take has been that we need to learn as much as we can, and prepare for as much as we can.

The facts are that this move is rarely seen in MMA, or fights, because it’s a classic, risky, low-percentage technique. The payoff can be high, but so can the costs if you miss. Should you use it? Not if it’s expected.

One final point, the reason it worked was because it was set up with what appears to be a leg kick feint, which drew the guard of the opponent down, creating a perfect head kick opening. You’d be best to plan to emulate that idea – set up your surprise with a good lead, fake, or feint.

What do you think? What are some other examples of high-payoff, but high-risk moves for self-defense or sport?