Guarding When Kicking

A post from Nathan at TDA entitled Why Do We Get Hit led me to write this following article. In it, Nathan describes the various reasons of why we get hit including that without a proper guard when kicking sometimes we can take a blow.

I think that this is a very important aspect of kicking that needs to be addressed. When a kick is executed, most of the time nearly all concentration is put into the kick in order for it to land on the desired target and rightly so. A kick must be given full concentration, however, we cannot forget about our guard.

A lot of times when people throw kicks, there arms suddenly drop down, allowing for a successful counter to be made from the opponent which could result in a knockout. Against a beginner you may be able to get away with it, but an advanced fighter will see this flaw in your game and shall eventually start using it against you.

Although the arms are used to create momentum for a more powerful kick the option is always there to leave at least one hand high covering the face area, defending any counter.

This picture on the left shows the consequences of not holding a high guard when kicking. Shotokan master Hirokazu Kanazawa counters most effectively from a kick via a strong reverse punch straight to the chin. The damage this must have done should be obvious.

The picture on the right shows two Muay Thai fighters going at it. The fighter on the right throws a high roundhouse kick. The fighter on the left tries to counter with a punch but because the kicker has his guard high the strike does not penetrate.

The message I hope is clear, ALWAYS HAVE YOUR GUARD HELD HIGH!

Marks

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