Kick Catching for Throws and Takedowns

Wednesday, 9 January 2008

Kick Catching for Throws and Takedowns

I’m sure you have seen many times when two people fight, one goes for a kick, and the other defends by hooking the leg/foot with his hand/arm, and then sweeps the supporting foot to take them to the ground. But how do you catch and hook the kicking leg?

The first method is by using an over leg catch. When the kick comes in towards you, you catch the leg by circling your arm around the TOP of his kicking leg/foot. Then as soon as you have control of the leg you sweep the supporting one. This is the quickest method of catching, and requires little training in order to pull it off.
The second method is by using an under leg catch. As the kick is shot in towards you, you circle your arm UNDERNEATH the kicking leg/foot and when you have full control you sweep the supporting leg. This is probably stronger than the over leg catch.

Over Leg Catch
Advantages
It’s the fastest catch.
Good control off the leg once caught.
An Achilles lock can be applied easily with this catch.
Disadvantages
Good control of the leg but not the best, as the arm is not strongest in this position.
Strong possibility of taking the kick when hooking over the kicking leg.
The hooking arm becomes nearly unusable apart from holding the leg/foot.

Under Leg catch
Advantages
Strongest control of the leg when caught.
Because the arm hooks under the kick, the blow of the kick is taken only on the hooking arm.
The hooking arm can also be used to guard even when holding the leg.
The under hook allows for the caught leg to be pushed up, taking the opponent off balance and to the floor.
More leg locks can be applied using this catch.
Disadvantages
It’s slower and harder to catch the kicking leg in this way requiring more practice.
More leg locks can be applied, but are harder to obtain from this position.
There is a chance that the kicking leg can bounce off the hooking arm and towards the head area.

As you can see there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods of catching. The key is to be able to employ both methods in the safest way possible. These methods should be studied vigorously.