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How to block kicks?
Frank Benn
Making It Miss Stop a Kick Jamming His Kick Blocking Kicks With Forearms Taking Him Down When He Kicks Counter-Attacking A Kicking Opponent Develop Your Instincts Here are some tips on how to block a solid kick. First of all, before looking at blocking a kick, let's look at some other alternatives.
Making an opponent's kick miss is in many ways better than blocking it. When he misses -- thinking it was going to connect -- this will throw him off balance, which can yield opportunities for counterattack. If I had a nickel for every time an opponent of mine threw a heavy round kick, missed, and spun out of control . . . well . . . I'd have a lot of nickels.
Range & Timing
Range is a major consideration when dealing with an opponent who likes set up hard kicks. To be successful, he needs his kick to meet up with his intended target at the apex of its velocity, at the right range, and with the desired striking area (say, his shin). Knowing what HE needs to happen for it to work makes it easier for YOU to make him miss. It's good to remember that striking is like making a free throw in basketball. A strike has few chances of hitting well, and a thousand chances of missing. Sure, it's great when that shot scores. But a person well-versed in making his man miss can exploit this in more ways than I'll get into here. This ability to exploit the opponent when he misses is particularly important when dealing with a kicker, since when he kicks he is using his means of bodily *support* and *mobility* to try and hit you. Lots of ways to exploit this.
Damage control.
Blocking a kick in many cases still means you are absorbing the blow. This can add up, if you keep "blocking" hard kicks and it begins to hurt. We'll look at destructions later on.
The other side of throwing off his range is to jam his kick. There is an important element of timing involved in doing this. So, at one extreme (mentioned earlier) you are out of the range of his kick and he misses, while at the other extreme his kick never gets the chance to mature into something with much if any damage potential. Jamming is different from destruction, since the opponent's weapon isn't damaged in the process. You're just taking away his range, and snuffing out the flame before it turns into a forest fire. The easiest kickers to jam are the ones who tend to chamber their knee before extending their kicks (TKD, most styles of karate, etc.). Against a side kick or hook kick, go straight in at the chambered knee (HANDS UP as always, elbows in, usually lead knee raised) or angularly toward his back. Against a round kick, you can move inside it with your lead knee up, plant and land that cross. If it's a real fight, be prepared to grab and keep hitting from there. Just remember when jamming a kick that you have to be able to correctly judge what he's doing, and then go in with confidence. Doing this halfway and hesitating can get you nailed.
As I said earlier, kicking is a precarious thing. During the execution of a kick, he's undermining his own base and mobility. The aspect of his mobility most at risk is his ability to change direction, by the way. Against a round kick at or above the waist, you can step inside it and scoop the leg (ELBOWS IN, HANDS UP), reap the other leg while holding his kicking leg, push the leg over as you pass the open guard, knee on stomach, punch punch punch, lights out. Or, for you wrestlers out there, step back, turn, and dump him (aka "running the pipe"). Against a mid to high level front kick, you can scoop it as you move inside or out. Inside, and you can reap inside or outside of his supporting leg, follow through to knee on stomach, etc. Outside, and you've got a tree top single leg that he basically just handed to you. Against a back kick (linear mule-type kick) or spinning back kick (leg follows an arc), raise the arm somewhat on the side the kick is coming from as you move directly in on him and at a slight angle toward his back. For example, he is spinning to kick you with his right leg -- step in with your left foot forward and slightly to your left so you are converging on him toward his back. Make sure if he hooks the leg high that the position of your right arm funnels the kick around and behind your back and under your arm. Now, grab him and continue turning clockwise, and his own momentum will take him down, right onto his back. These counters come from my own experience from both ends of this type of exchange -- e.g. I've knocked people out cold with the spinning back kick, but at the same time I am aware of its inherent weaknesses.
Against The Chambered Knee or Shuffling Advance
Against people who chamber the knee or tend to shuffle in for lead kicking attacks, you can jam his kick with a quick lead side kick to the knee. This will not hurt him or floor him, but it will halt his impetus and put him off balance for a moment. It will also discourage him from just leaping in on you with confidence. In addition to the lead leg, I've also managed with good success to stop kick rear leg attacks. Generally, though, the stop kick is reserved for lead leg attacks and lunging entries. It takes a lot of practice to become good at this.
Sectoring Your Defense For Blocking Kicks
If he kicks below the waist and you want to block it, then use your lead knee. Simple as that. If you're a left lead, then bring your lead foot in and raise that left knee and angle it into the direction of the incoming kick. This, of course, presupposes that you want to block it at all, which we've already covered. Watch that he doesn't catch you on the outside of a relaxed raised shin. He could fracture your fibula. If he's kicking above your waist, then your elbows do most of the work. In some cases you will block with the forearms, but DON'T REACH FOR A KICK TO BLOCK IT. This goes for low kicks as well as kicks above the waist that would have fallen short anyway if you'd just let them go by. Whenever I see a beginner level striker reach for a kick to block it with his forearm, it makes me wince at what a habit like this can lead to. Conan Silviera learned this lesson from his fight with Maurice Smith -- i.e. don't reach for a low kick, because he might draw your guard down and send the next kick upstairs.
Knees and elbows are your destruction tools against kicks. When he kicks with a low roundhouse, raise your lead knee to the level of his kick and target his instep and ankle, top of his foot, or upper shin below the knee. These types of destructions are very painful and discouraging. Remember, the game is largely psychological. When you land a good destruction on that limb, he won't be as confident in using it to attack in the future. This also gives you an edge in being able to eliminate his major weapons, and from this you can correctly anticipate what he has left. e.g. You catch his rear ankle or instep with a destruction, and now you can rule out many of his power kicking options, since that leg is now throbbing and tender, etc. When he kicks you above the waist, catch him with your elbow in the same locations on his attacking leg as you would with the knee on a low kick. REMEMBER TO KEEP GOOD ARM POSTURE. Let his kick come to you. Direct your elbows into his round kick without looking in that direction, chin tucked, etc. Moreover, downward elbow destructions work very well against incoming side kicks and front kicks. Against a high kick (at or above the shoulder), usually you wouldn't try to destroy the limb. Just let it go by. It's easy enough just to lean away from it and let it miss. In some cases, you can raise your lead elbow as you lean away and just let his instep bounce off of the point of your elbow. That'll be the last one of those he will throw for a while.
Many traditional martial arts teach practitioners to block kicks with their forearms. This is not what one of your better options. There are several reasons why this is so:
1. The trauma to your forearm bones and muscles can add up. We are talking about *hard* kicks here. I've seen at least one guy try to block a hard kick with his forearm, and he got a broken forearm out of the deal. Don't let the hard parts of him crash into the soft or smaller parts of you -- this is a general rule for fighting. Instead, target the softer parts of his kicking limb with a hard part of you.
2. It takes energy out of you to absorb so much mass in motion. This is similar to the effect body shots will have on you in boxing. Next time you spar, notice how much more tired you get from absorbing the brunt of a kick (even while blocking) than you would be from jamming, destroying, or making it miss altogether.
3. It slows down your follow-up to absorb kicks in this way.
4. It throws out your arm posture -- as in a downward forearm block. This can open up your defense for his follow-up -- e.g. he feints a low kick, and down goes your forearm to try and block it, which opens you up as he continues to attack in combination.
5. It can throw your entire body off-balance.
Counter-Attacking A Kicking Opponent
Learn to develop a twitch reaction to the opponent's kicks. When you raise your lead knee to block a low kick, for instance, cultivate the habit of following it up with a rear leg power round kick of your own. Against low kicks, it's like you're blind and your lead knee is a feeler. When it feels something hit it, that is your cue to lash out with a powerful follow-up -- because you know he's right there in range. If you are fast enough, you can kick out his supporting leg while he is in mid-execution of a round kick. Against a right round kick, for example, you would round kick with your left leg against the back/inside of his supporting knee. He'll drop like a stone. The key is to be confident when you counter. Hesitate, and you'll get nailed. When you jam the opponent's kicks -- whether high or low -- get in the habit of following up with your hands. People at all skill levels are notorious for losing their upper body composure when executing kicks. Wide open for your counter. Throw some bombs, and watch him drop.
The information here will help anyone who wants to know how to deal with solid kicks intelligently. Aside from the technical information, my advice would be to pay close attention to some of the other tips inserted along the way and apply them in your sparring. Develop your reaction, co-action, and pro-action to the point where it is instinctual. Other tips such as consciously developing your confidence in jamming kicks, etc., will pay off for you in the long run. Ultimately, you'll develop a "sense" for dealing with incoming kicks, rather than a "perceive/process information/conjure appropriate response" sort of method, which will tend to find you a day late and a dollar short. In general, this "sense" takes on two abstract forms: The ability to "home in" on a kick in the right way when you intend to destroy it, and the "sense" of how you can make it miss. Regardless of what you are doing technically, the "feel" you develop for each of these two approaches is recurrent.
Frank Benn in rec.martial-arts newsgroup 1999
