Always looking for your videos, specially after browsing AliExpress, where some of your videos are used to advertise crappy Chinese self defense tools 😅
I practice the teep at work all the time. I'm a server and we have doors between the kitchen and the dining room. When I'm carrying stuff, I teep the door open. One of the doors is a "one-way" meaning if I'm on the wrong side, I have to bounce the door to open it. Which I use the teep for. And sometimes add a heel hook to open the door more. Doesn't even have to be high, just a low, leg level kick is enough and I build the muscle memory.
I like throwing a front kick and re-chambering into a high round kick, so basically a modified question mark kick. I've never attempted to do the opposite, by throwing a low round kick and re-chambering into a front kick like demonstrated in this video, but I am very excited to try it.
I extend a front kick after a turning spinning or rear leg hook kick. Say what you want about taekwondo guys (I say it too) but extreme body control through the kicking process is a great skill when people rush you after a kick. It adds a bit more injury to insult when your opponent leads their head or chest forward into a kick from an unorthodox position.
One of my favourite kick combinations that lands 90% of the time is like a reverse question mark to the body and all-in-one flow, no rechamber. I do exactly what Mike does here but without the touch and in a single move. I exaggerate a round kick with a fractionally more angled bend in my knee and go for what looks like an upper leg kick. That slight chambering of the kick means it comes in slightly shorter than my normal leg kick, which gives me just enough space to execute the second half of the kick without contacting the leg. Just before leg contact, I rotate the knee vertically to turn it into a front kick and push the hip through. It gives me unexpected extended distance and a completely different kick angle to deliver a strong front kick to the torso when the defence is set for a low leg kick. Do it over time, and it will boost your hip flexibility, too.
You can also turn a front kick into a side kick. You first lift your knee vertically straight up as you chamber, then as you kick you can pivot and roll you knee over and get a side kick.
Used to think this kick was my invention )) It can actually be surprisingly effective in sparring for the following reasons: 1. You are much less likely to break your toes or tip of the foot when kicking someone's elbow. Side of the foot is a much thicker bone and less injury prone spot. No dozens of small fragile joints, like in the tip of the foot. 2. You can cover significantly longer distance and generate more force by pivoting. 3. It really surprises your opponent, when in the last split second a typical front kick turns into a longer and stronger side kick. Works even on bigger and better opponents. With all these advantages, I still don't think that it's a suitable kick for competition or fighting. It takes slightly longer and you can't afford it if someone is going 100% It's a cool kick to stop a sparring partner charging you or even dropping them, if you catch them on one foot, but it's not a fight stopper. Tough guys would just ignore getting a kick in the stomach
@@dmfaccount1272 One of the good reasons is to avoid walking around on crutches for 6 weeks or a permanent injury which stops your training forver :) An opponent only needs to move one of the elbows slightly for this to happen. Other reasons I mentioned above
I was also a believer that sidekick was one of the best kicks. It's so "martial artist" and it's always shown with so much power. However, put the same effort in learning the front kick, and you'll realizing it gives such huge power, it's simple, and don't have to change your stance.
I think both the side kick and front kick are the most realistically effective kicks out of all of them The front kick might be better at some things and the side kick better at others
In the example that Mike showed, if you replace the front kick by the side kick you don't have to change your backfoot so it's kind of a question mark kickbut with a low kick then a side kick ( to the body / face )
The front kick most especially using my lead leg is the kick the I practice most as a self-defense practitioner since it's the simplest and most effective for self-defense scenarios where a well-placed and well-timed front kick with sturdy shoes on is quite effective for intercepting and stopping your attacker from barging forward towards you
This is a straight up Olympic TKD drill. I love to see coaches outside the TKD community using these types of set ups and chambers. Great to see different views on the same techniques! I would really check out lead leg TKD kicking drills if you haven't yet! Keep it up Mike!
I like the front-kick. a few ways that I use it is if the opponent goes to step forward with a jab then I give them a quick front-kick to the solar plexus to mess up their step so their jab falls short and can't reach me. I also use it to set up my superman punch by flicking a rear leg front-kick forward once or twice then faking the rear leg front-kick and coming through with the superman punch. I also do this move where I front-kick them once or twice then I do a switch step and act as if I'm gonna do a switch-round-kick so they go to check the kick then I just front-kick them again when they are balanced on one leg. I don't use these moves too often but they work fine when I do use them I guess.
That second set, touch-go (low kick go front kick) is great. We train it especially if your opponent checks the kick, to then teep them while theyre on one leg
Anderson and Machida have a heavy traditional martial arts base, they're not the average MMA guy that only learns Thai boxing. Muay Thai in general usually has terrible front kicks compared to Karate guys (there are exceptions of course though). People rag on Seagal when he helped Anderson and the Machida brothers, but the man had 30 plus years of Karate experience, so it makes sense that he helped him refine (not "create") the setups/mechanics of the kick.
@@lunafreed I never said that. Context matters here. Anderson's legacy was already solidified before he ever trained with Seagal. But what Seagal legitimately DID do is help REFINE the setup and delivery of the Mae Geri (front snap kick) with Anderson, in private lessons from 2009 to 2010. That's why both Chinzo and Lyoto Machida have explained on their own youtube channel that Seagal does have legitimate power and skill in his methods. Vitor never saw the kick coming, that's why it was so devastating; the little details make all the difference in the world. People later on got things twisted, and were ragging on Seagal for "claiming he taught them how to front kick", but that's nonsense. The goal there was to refine a basic kick to the point of making it non telegraphic and with precision power.
It be nice to see a "diamond on the rough" type of segment. Take some common tma movement and give us your perspective on what it is. It might make a really cool series on UA-cam Shorts.
I find that double front kick is a good combo too. Quick snap with the first one followed immediately by a deeper extended kick really laying it in. And yeah I definitely land front kick on people *way* more often than any other kick.
This is my favorite self defense channel. I wish I lived in your area so I could come train with you guys. The environment/ atmosphere, and attendees all seem awesome. I appreciate the quality of content, collaborations, and all the work that must go into this. Lastly thank you for your public service as a police officer- it's a thankless job, and it's importance is vastly understated.
I like the approach of seeing front kicks on a scale from teeps to snaps. That and using roundhouses as a setup makes it feel more like how a boxer may set up a one-two.
Lerdsilla uses the front kick as a counter to everything, to the point of just sitting his foot on their hip. Pushing off their center of mass pretty much stops any forward motion.
I'm so glad you highlighted the "little hop". Without it (from what I saw of participants), you'll either (toes forward to favour front kick) twist-stress the knee joint on the round house, or (toes 90 degrees to favour round house) stress the meniscus on the front kick. Good job.
I started with mma and recently started with more traditional Muay Thai and I can tell you that the teep/front kick has completely revolutionized my striking. Such an underutilized kick that when someone gets good with can dictate a fight
It's insane - my friend and I have been watching MMA for years & we are casual enthusiasts. He's been mentioning this for so long now, so I was surprised to see a video about exactly this subject!
Magomed Ankalaev, has really good timing on his front kicks. As did Silva in his prime and Machida. One thing my coach use to have us drill, is front kicks from jab range (head height, right under chin). Its a pretty good chance of landing, because it's pretty well hidden. It needs good flexibility and some feinting. But if your leg gets caught, it's almost always a a trip to the floor. I'm glad you covered this bro.
One of my favourite kick combinations that lands 90% of the time is like a reverse question mark to the body and all-in-one flow, no rechamber. I do exactly what Mike does here but without the touch and in a single move. I exaggerate a round kick with a fractionally more angled bend in my knee and go for what looks like an upper leg kick. That slight chambering of the kick means it comes in slightly shorter than my normal leg kick, which gives me just enough space to execute the second half of the kick without contacting the leg. Just before leg contact, I rotate the knee vertically to turn it into a front kick and push the hip through. It gives me unexpected extended distance and a completely different kick angle to deliver a strong front kick to the torso when the defence is set for a low leg kick. Do it over time, and it will boost your hip flexibility, too.
this works extremely well ( better i think) with a sidekick. especially if they pull their leg back so you miss with the leg kick. the sidekick allows you to turn your foot more on the leg kick, avoiding the half assed positioning due to trying to do a good leg kick into a front kick you had mentioned. nice tutorial.
Thanks Mike this is really helpful I've been working on learning a very similar principal with the sidekick and alot of the little details are super useful
Damn.... front kicks are a real integral part of my game, I throw that all the time. Never realized that all the decades of kicking air is what makes the difference.... ahhaha
1:12 - Reminds me a lot of Rico Verhoeven's front kick. He often starts his kick whilst still executing his jab, making the kick land at the retraction of his punch.
I was taught being able to throw it from standing feet shoulder width apart effectively and hard creates a solid foundation, and seemingly naturally nutures even harder kicks in ideal foot positions and fosters strong foot work. Interesting thought at the least.😁 Thanks for another video 🙏🙏🙏
Love this. Always wondered why it's under used in MMA. Seems like a front kick with the heel to the solar plexus would drop some dudes. It's kind of like how many MMA dudes throw overhand and looping punches all the time and not short straight boxing style punches. Seems to me the front kick is the quickest to the point kick and has a lot of power.
Conditioned people are not bothered with front kicks to the stomach. It becomes an annoyabce if you get hit 2 3 times in a row, but thats it. In mma, i guess you could get taken down easily if you try it.
@@Alekth85 Yea I figure they don't want to get taken down but just seems if a guy really sat on one at the right moment he could do some real damage. Lot of power. I mean a shot to the solar plexus with your hand can shut a person down as can a liver punch. I especially don't understand why you don't see it when you're fighting someone you know the takedown is a mute point. McGregor for example does not like to get hit to the body. Even those push kicks of Nate's were hurting him. Nate meanwhile a Gracie black belt in BJJ would love it if Conor tried to take him down so why not cut loose a little more with the kicks? I guess another thing you have to worry about is getting countered and with his power that's a big risk.
Evander Holyfield got clunked by Vitor Belfort who threw one of those looping overhand punches. It worked because it's sloppy and wrong and usually people fighting Evander Holyfield don't throw undisciplined slop at him, so it worked.
Man Mike I love your in-depth explanations for why you're doing everything you're doing and the various considerations therein. At my gym, we generally just train combos and spar with little thought given to the theoretical reasons why we do one move over another. Its so important to build this theoretical knowledge because the more you know why you're doing various moves, the more you can dynamically alter them as the situation requires.
Referencing the base foot compromise issue at 6:20, another alternative to the hop…… is the side kick ;) Roundhouse base foot position and side kick base foot position are almost identical. So you can touch then side thrust kick.
I love the front kick! I use too keep my knee up high to protect myself and when he moves forward i kick to both stop, score and push him back. If you are good on sniping you can hurt the liver and also push on the blatter which is extremely uncomfortable and distracting. It's a really awesome skill to work on for kickboxing.
Growing up In my karate school we learned both snap and thrust front kicks. Later learning the Muay Thai version made for an interesting revelation. If the foot travels in a quarter circle arch towards the target, there is a good chance your kicking foot will run into the point of the opponent’s lead elbow, and it can cause some serious pain. The Muay Thai version where the foot comes way up. Then travels in an almost straight line to the target, reduces the chance of injury to your own foot, at the cost of some speed.
same theoretical background we have in hunggar and we show also on instagram and tiktok💪🏻 but i totally agree the point with traditional martial art and mma with sparring and the air kicking
I use it a lot when practicing but I don't know if I'll ever use it in an actual fight. For me it's more a warding blow to push them back. I wager MMA fighters don't use it much for fear of single or double leg takedown. Seems quicker to shin kick the person.
Yo! The hop made all the difference. I paused it after the first clip and drilled it with my gf in the living room. We made it work but it felt "clunky". That little hop tho? Immediately the body mechanics felt way less weird.
Great video on the front kick. One of my favorite kicks! The overall explanation was excellent, especially about traditional martial arts vs MMA and finding a balance.
at 6:00 to 6:10 ish when you turn the leg a lil bit to do the round kick, im assuming you could follow that up with a side kick, perhaps performed by a sidekick? a sidekick side kicking a kick to the side?
Cuz they r always loading up for a muaythai roundhouse or a big pushing teep. We have had some nice front kick KOs in mma, def a grt kick to use. Old days, some karate guys used them all the time.
Machida`s front kicks are an obvious one to follow. Also uses it in a teep mode. karate nerd here and when sparring with a Kung-Fu mate he uses it all the time to drive me bonkers. Infact I ran into one in a local comp and broke a Rib. Playing with front kicks at a slight rounded angle is also nice. Stabby floating rib shots you can hide under a straight punch :)
Ooooo...well done Mike, I like this one...a LOT. Plus, it’s already got my creative juices flowing: how about tap-oblique. Jeff Chan does a beautiful close-range oblique to the sternum etc. which would work brilliantly with this. Much harder to predict than a front snap-kick, or regular teep. 👌 PS. I don’t like those inside leg kicks using your metatarsals bro...great way to get your toes broken since that’s super-easy to check. But what do I know? 🤷♂️
I wonder if this would work if the round kick were thrown higher. I ask because in my school we use oldschool American kickboxing rules for valid point areas (no leg kicks). I'll try it in sparring tomorrow and see how it goes.
I think front kicks are a little less prevelant in mma because they're way easier to throw faster from a more narrow stance in muay thai and kickboxing. When i get into a wider stance mma/boxing stance it's significantly harder for me to do a teep or front kick
The front kick is just absurdly easy and effective. I've been saying for years that if somebody can develop a good 1-2 and a good front kick, they're already going to be better at fighting than the majority of people even if they learn nothing else (though some wrestling experience would also help a lot lol).
Almost 2 years ago, I broke my big toe when I frontkicked my sparring partner by accidently hitting his ellbow. Unfortunatly it was the last time i ever used the frontkick cause I'm too scared it happens again.
I think a lot of mma guys don’t use front kicks because most of them have wider boxing like stance. I I like front kicks a lot but when I use them I normally have to square my stance up a little 🤷♂️
I think people neglect it because they're petrified of being taken down. Teep to the face can be practiced on the bag and pads. It can also be trained in sparring as long as students are advanced enough to pull it and keep it controlled. I always pull my head kicks during sparring. Being able to control kicks makes it easier to throw hard too
i trained kung fu for 6 years, this is the kungfu technique for front kick. To improve it, you have to train you mobility and flexibility, if you master the side split for both legs, you can simply kick from any position.
While if it lands is really good I am more afraid of throwing front kicks than other types of kicks because it lands with the foot in an area that can be blocked with an elbow, which is painful. I got blocked sometimes that way and I also try to do it when being front kicked, specially with the snap one. On the other side I throw the roundhouse kick to the head, where an elbow block is not frequent or I make contact with the shin, where the possible elbow block is not a big deal.
Except for Silva and Machida. I guess that’s to be expected, both have karate backgrounds. It’s a bit like a jab to the body that Mayweather used so well. Very underrated but very effective. It saps your energy like no other.
Interesting to hear that frontkick meta prediction. After seeing a few work, I was like: "Damn, this is underutilized!" I guess that's what we've all been thinking! 🤷🏻♂️
@@hard2hurt I just don't understand why you said it. If it was supposed to be a joke it wasn't funny, like at all, and it did in fact make you look stupid.
yo can you help with understanding how not to get hurt while kicking? I'm not sure if you have already done some sort of conditioning or something but I was sparring a couple days back in the gym and this guy step bup back kicked me and I intuitively checked it with my shin and now it hurts when I walk.
Maryna Moroz at UFC 272 is a great example of how MMA fighters can have absolutely horrible striking technique and still win fights. The thing about focusing so strongly on having solid technique, however, is that we don't rise to heights of our expectations when the SHTF. To the contrary, we default to our lowest level of training. Which means that you want your lowest level of training to still be pretty high. Whether an artistic martial artist or a sport martial artist, all it takes is a few changes to training to fill in the gaps (e.g. "traditional artists spend too much time kicking the air and MMA guys spend too little time kicking the air"). I think this is perfectly demonstrated by Rokas (Martial Arts Journey) spending a year training MMA only to discover that his Aikido actually does work... just not how he was training it before training practical application. Speaking personally, the only two kicks I've used in real street fights are the front kick and the front-leg inside / outside crescent kick. Both worked as intended and in one instance the other guy went to the hospital with badly broken ribs. As far as the side kick, here's a setup my TMA Master used when he was a ranked kickboxer: Either a front kick or fist bump to the bottom of their lead elbow, to make that arm pop upward, followed immediately by a sliding side kick to the ribs. The side kick - which is not the same thing as a side teep, folks - works best from a fully bladed stance, such as immediately after throwing a round kick. But, you have to actually be able to stop your round kick in the air, rechamber your foot, and throw the second kick without losing your balance or control for that side kick to have any real power. In this regard, punching and kicking the air is no different than shadowboxing.
Check out the complete Front Kick Focus course at hard2hurt.teachable.com
Always looking for your videos, specially after browsing AliExpress, where some of your videos are used to advertise crappy Chinese self defense tools 😅
What a nice looking school
I practice the teep at work all the time. I'm a server and we have doors between the kitchen and the dining room. When I'm carrying stuff, I teep the door open. One of the doors is a "one-way" meaning if I'm on the wrong side, I have to bounce the door to open it. Which I use the teep for. And sometimes add a heel hook to open the door more. Doesn't even have to be high, just a low, leg level kick is enough and I build the muscle memory.
Diggit, coach!
front kicks > sidekicks
I like throwing a front kick and re-chambering into a high round kick, so basically a modified question mark kick. I've never attempted to do the opposite, by throwing a low round kick and re-chambering into a front kick like demonstrated in this video, but I am very excited to try it.
I kinda do that I throw a low front kick and re-chamber it in to a high side kick
I extend a front kick after a turning spinning or rear leg hook kick. Say what you want about taekwondo guys (I say it too) but extreme body control through the kicking process is a great skill when people rush you after a kick. It adds a bit more injury to insult when your opponent leads their head or chest forward into a kick from an unorthodox position.
One of my favourite kick combinations that lands 90% of the time is like a reverse question mark to the body and all-in-one flow, no rechamber. I do exactly what Mike does here but without the touch and in a single move. I exaggerate a round kick with a fractionally more angled bend in my knee and go for what looks like an upper leg kick. That slight chambering of the kick means it comes in slightly shorter than my normal leg kick, which gives me just enough space to execute the second half of the kick without contacting the leg. Just before leg contact, I rotate the knee vertically to turn it into a front kick and push the hip through. It gives me unexpected extended distance and a completely different kick angle to deliver a strong front kick to the torso when the defence is set for a low leg kick. Do it over time, and it will boost your hip flexibility, too.
You can also turn a front kick into a side kick. You first lift your knee vertically straight up as you chamber, then as you kick you can pivot and roll you knee over and get a side kick.
Can turn a front kick into any kick that’s why it’s so good!
Used to think this kick was my invention )) It can actually be surprisingly effective in sparring for the following reasons:
1. You are much less likely to break your toes or tip of the foot when kicking someone's elbow. Side of the foot is a much thicker bone and less injury prone spot. No dozens of small fragile joints, like in the tip of the foot.
2. You can cover significantly longer distance and generate more force by pivoting.
3. It really surprises your opponent, when in the last split second a typical front kick turns into a longer and stronger side kick. Works even on bigger and better opponents.
With all these advantages, I still don't think that it's a suitable kick for competition or fighting. It takes slightly longer and you can't afford it if someone is going 100%
It's a cool kick to stop a sparring partner charging you or even dropping them, if you catch them on one foot, but it's not a fight stopper. Tough guys would just ignore getting a kick in the stomach
Shhh… I like that others don’t utilize these moves it helps me.
Why would you turn a kick that works into a kick that doesn't work?
@@dmfaccount1272 One of the good reasons is to avoid walking around on crutches for 6 weeks or a permanent injury which stops your training forver :) An opponent only needs to move one of the elbows slightly for this to happen. Other reasons I mentioned above
Steven Segal taught Anderson Silva his front kick man how could we forget
Man, Steven Segal is such a living legend! He created martial arts AND blues guitar! Dude's a GAWD!
Icy Mike actually learned this technique from Steven seagull
Segal uses this kick to close the fridge after getting ice cream…
Some say his nose hair is so sharp they use it to shave razors
@@mr28086 that's the funniest one I've seen yet
I was also a believer that sidekick was one of the best kicks. It's so "martial artist" and it's always shown with so much power. However, put the same effort in learning the front kick, and you'll realizing it gives such huge power, it's simple, and don't have to change your stance.
I think both the side kick and front kick are the most realistically effective kicks out of all of them
The front kick might be better at some things and the side kick better at others
In the example that Mike showed, if you replace the front kick by the side kick you don't have to change your backfoot so it's kind of a question mark kickbut with a low kick then a side kick ( to the body / face )
So it has its uses
The teep is Muay Thai's longest weapon; the spear.
Old Muay Thai adage:
Knee beats elbow
Punch beats knee
Kick beats punch
Teep beats kick
Teep beats everything
The front kick most especially using my lead leg is the kick the I practice most as a self-defense practitioner since it's the simplest and most effective for self-defense scenarios where a well-placed and well-timed front kick with sturdy shoes on is quite effective for intercepting and stopping your attacker from barging forward towards you
This is a straight up Olympic TKD drill. I love to see coaches outside the TKD community using these types of set ups and chambers. Great to see different views on the same techniques! I would really check out lead leg TKD kicking drills if you haven't yet! Keep it up Mike!
I like the front-kick. a few ways that I use it is if the opponent goes to step forward with a jab then I give them a quick front-kick to the solar plexus to mess up their step so their jab falls short and can't reach me. I also use it to set up my superman punch by flicking a rear leg front-kick forward once or twice then faking the rear leg front-kick and coming through with the superman punch. I also do this move where I front-kick them once or twice then I do a switch step and act as if I'm gonna do a switch-round-kick so they go to check the kick then I just front-kick them again when they are balanced on one leg. I don't use these moves too often but they work fine when I do use them I guess.
That second set, touch-go (low kick go front kick) is great. We train it especially if your opponent checks the kick, to then teep them while theyre on one leg
"MMA guys struggle with the front kick"
Anderson Silva/Chito Vera - "And so we took that personally"
Add in Machida
that was kinda the whole point of the video. That they still find success with it
Anderson and Machida have a heavy traditional martial arts base, they're not the average MMA guy that only learns Thai boxing.
Muay Thai in general usually has terrible front kicks compared to Karate guys (there are exceptions of course though). People rag on Seagal when he helped Anderson and the Machida brothers, but the man had 30 plus years of Karate experience, so it makes sense that he helped him refine (not "create") the setups/mechanics of the kick.
@@AztecUnshaven you seriously think that Seagal had a part in Anderson's Legacy?
@@lunafreed I never said that. Context matters here. Anderson's legacy was already solidified before he ever trained with Seagal. But what Seagal legitimately DID do is help REFINE the setup and delivery of the Mae Geri (front snap kick) with Anderson, in private lessons from 2009 to 2010. That's why both Chinzo and Lyoto Machida have explained on their own youtube channel that Seagal does have legitimate power and skill in his methods. Vitor never saw the kick coming, that's why it was so devastating; the little details make all the difference in the world.
People later on got things twisted, and were ragging on Seagal for "claiming he taught them how to front kick", but that's nonsense. The goal there was to refine a basic kick to the point of making it non telegraphic and with precision power.
It be nice to see a "diamond on the rough" type of segment. Take some common tma movement and give us your perspective on what it is. It might make a really cool series on UA-cam Shorts.
I find that double front kick is a good combo too. Quick snap with the first one followed immediately by a deeper extended kick really laying it in. And yeah I definitely land front kick on people *way* more often than any other kick.
This is my favorite self defense channel. I wish I lived in your area so I could come train with you guys. The environment/ atmosphere, and attendees all seem awesome. I appreciate the quality of content, collaborations, and all the work that must go into this. Lastly thank you for your public service as a police officer- it's a thankless job, and it's importance is vastly understated.
I like the approach of seeing front kicks on a scale from teeps to snaps. That and using roundhouses as a setup makes it feel more like how a boxer may set up a one-two.
the touch-go concept is interesting though! Reminded me of faking a roundkick and switching to a teep when the roundkick is halfway thrown
Lerdsilla uses the front kick as a counter to everything, to the point of just sitting his foot on their hip. Pushing off their center of mass pretty much stops any forward motion.
I'm so glad you highlighted the "little hop". Without it (from what I saw of participants), you'll either (toes forward to favour front kick) twist-stress the knee joint on the round house, or (toes 90 degrees to favour round house) stress the meniscus on the front kick. Good job.
Seeing the way you teach is just awesome Mike. Thx for sharing!
I started with mma and recently started with more traditional Muay Thai and I can tell you that the teep/front kick has completely revolutionized my striking. Such an underutilized kick that when someone gets good with can dictate a fight
It's insane - my friend and I have been watching MMA for years & we are casual enthusiasts. He's been mentioning this for so long now, so I was surprised to see a video about exactly this subject!
Magomed Ankalaev, has really good timing on his front kicks. As did Silva in his prime and Machida. One thing my coach use to have us drill, is front kicks from jab range (head height, right under chin). Its a pretty good chance of landing, because it's pretty well hidden. It needs good flexibility and some feinting. But if your leg gets caught, it's almost always a a trip to the floor. I'm glad you covered this bro.
I LOVE the frontkick! Use it for distance, jabbing and even powerfull Kicks. And yes, I do MMA🤙
Man, the front kick, when utilized correctly, can catch almost ANYONE of guard for an easy KO!
Yeah, it is OP when used against someone that isn't that used to it. I've seen it a lot while practicing Muay Thai
@@jestfullgremblim8002 I remember an mma match that ended in a front kick KO. Man, it was BEAUTIFUL!
@@sukmykrok3388 hell yeah!
One of my favourite kick combinations that lands 90% of the time is like a reverse question mark to the body and all-in-one flow, no rechamber. I do exactly what Mike does here but without the touch and in a single move. I exaggerate a round kick with a fractionally more angled bend in my knee and go for what looks like an upper leg kick. That slight chambering of the kick means it comes in slightly shorter than my normal leg kick, which gives me just enough space to execute the second half of the kick without contacting the leg. Just before leg contact, I rotate the knee vertically to turn it into a front kick and push the hip through. It gives me unexpected extended distance and a completely different kick angle to deliver a strong front kick to the torso when the defence is set for a low leg kick. Do it over time, and it will boost your hip flexibility, too.
this works extremely well ( better i think) with a sidekick. especially if they pull their leg back so you miss with the leg kick. the sidekick allows you to turn your foot more on the leg kick, avoiding the half assed positioning due to trying to do a good leg kick into a front kick you had mentioned. nice tutorial.
Thanks Mike this is really helpful I've been working on learning a very similar principal with the sidekick and alot of the little details are super useful
Damn.... front kicks are a real integral part of my game, I throw that all the time.
Never realized that all the decades of kicking air is what makes the difference.... ahhaha
The style labeling will never die
That hop made it so much easier! Thanks for the tip, awesome video 🙏🏾
1:12 - Reminds me a lot of Rico Verhoeven's front kick. He often starts his kick whilst still executing his jab, making the kick land at the retraction of his punch.
I was taught being able to throw it from standing feet shoulder width apart effectively and hard creates a solid foundation, and seemingly naturally nutures even harder kicks in ideal foot positions and fosters strong foot work.
Interesting thought at the least.😁
Thanks for another video 🙏🙏🙏
Love this. Always wondered why it's under used in MMA. Seems like a front kick with the heel to the solar plexus would drop some dudes. It's kind of like how many MMA dudes throw overhand and looping punches all the time and not short straight boxing style punches. Seems to me the front kick is the quickest to the point kick and has a lot of power.
Conditioned people are not bothered with front kicks to the stomach. It becomes an annoyabce if you get hit 2 3 times in a row, but thats it. In mma, i guess you could get taken down easily if you try it.
@@Alekth85 Yea I figure they don't want to get taken down but just seems if a guy really sat on one at the right moment he could do some real damage. Lot of power. I mean a shot to the solar plexus with your hand can shut a person down as can a liver punch. I especially don't understand why you don't see it when you're fighting someone you know the takedown is a mute point. McGregor for example does not like to get hit to the body. Even those push kicks of Nate's were hurting him. Nate meanwhile a Gracie black belt in BJJ would love it if Conor tried to take him down so why not cut loose a little more with the kicks? I guess another thing you have to worry about is getting countered and with his power that's a big risk.
@@Alekth85 you might wanna watch Conor vs Mendes. Conor devastated Mendes body with piercing front body kicks.
Evander Holyfield got clunked by Vitor Belfort who threw one of those looping overhand punches. It worked because it's sloppy and wrong and usually people fighting Evander Holyfield don't throw undisciplined slop at him, so it worked.
Man Mike I love your in-depth explanations for why you're doing everything you're doing and the various considerations therein. At my gym, we generally just train combos and spar with little thought given to the theoretical reasons why we do one move over another. Its so important to build this theoretical knowledge because the more you know why you're doing various moves, the more you can dynamically alter them as the situation requires.
that's how most gyms do things
@@hard2hurt Thats unfortunate. I thought my gym was uniquely bad.
Front kick to the bladder is a beautiful weapon (Only if you're accurate enough to not kick'em in the balls)
That's kind of the beauty of the front kick, if you aren't in competition then kick to the balls is totally ok.
Also the liver
Referencing the base foot compromise issue at 6:20, another alternative to the hop…… is the side kick ;)
Roundhouse base foot position and side kick base foot position are almost identical. So you can touch then side thrust kick.
I love the front kick! I use too keep my knee up high to protect myself and when he moves forward i kick to both stop, score and push him back. If you are good on sniping you can hurt the liver and also push on the blatter which is extremely uncomfortable and distracting. It's a really awesome skill to work on for kickboxing.
Growing up In my karate school we learned both snap and thrust front kicks. Later learning the Muay Thai version made for an interesting revelation. If the foot travels in a quarter circle arch towards the target, there is a good chance your kicking foot will run into the point of the opponent’s lead elbow, and it can cause some serious pain. The Muay Thai version where the foot comes way up. Then travels in an almost straight line to the target, reduces the chance of injury to your own foot, at the cost of some speed.
Huh. I always wondered about this, glad to see Mike addressing this.
same theoretical background we have in hunggar and we show also on instagram and tiktok💪🏻 but i totally agree the point with traditional martial art and mma with sparring and the air kicking
That looks fun to practice, I gotta try it out.
Thank you for sharing ☺️.
My favourite and best kick.
Never forget to add your own sound FX when you do this in practice.
I use it a lot when practicing but I don't know if I'll ever use it in an actual fight. For me it's more a warding blow to push them back.
I wager MMA fighters don't use it much for fear of single or double leg takedown. Seems quicker to shin kick the person.
Looks like an awesome environment
Savate Chasse frontale, awesome especially when applied to knee area with Heavy boot.
Hey, I'm definitely gonna try this in my Muay Thay class. Pretty cool
Love front kicks 💪🏼
Seanchais front kicks are beautiful
Yo! The hop made all the difference. I paused it after the first clip and drilled it with my gf in the living room. We made it work but it felt "clunky". That little hop tho? Immediately the body mechanics felt way less weird.
Great video on the front kick. One of my favorite kicks!
The overall explanation was excellent, especially about traditional martial arts vs MMA and finding a balance.
The explanation was pure speculation and just there so he could get some clicks out of putting it in the title.
at 6:00 to 6:10 ish when you turn the leg a lil bit to do the round kick, im assuming you could follow that up with a side kick, perhaps performed by a sidekick? a sidekick side kicking a kick to the side?
I'm a boxer and honestly the teep is my fav kick lol I guess it's the boxing back ground lol it's the jab for feet.
That slo mo was good as hell, i thought it was an edit for a second
I wish I had skills that came in handy more often lol
Cuz they r always loading up for a muaythai roundhouse or a big pushing teep. We have had some nice front kick KOs in mma, def a grt kick to use. Old days, some karate guys used them all the time.
6:11 the problem is that a side kick would actually work in this instance? 😏 Say it Mikey- "side kicks DO work"
Machida`s front kicks are an obvious one to follow. Also uses it in a teep mode. karate nerd here and when sparring with a Kung-Fu mate he uses it all the time to drive me bonkers. Infact I ran into one in a local comp and broke a Rib.
Playing with front kicks at a slight rounded angle is also nice. Stabby floating rib shots you can hide under a straight punch :)
Ooooo...well done Mike, I like this one...a LOT. Plus, it’s already got my creative juices flowing: how about tap-oblique. Jeff Chan does a beautiful close-range oblique to the sternum etc. which would work brilliantly with this. Much harder to predict than a front snap-kick, or regular teep. 👌
PS. I don’t like those inside leg kicks using your metatarsals bro...great way to get your toes broken since that’s super-easy to check. But what do I know? 🤷♂️
Just realised your wearing a ZNA hoody, mines one of my favourites
Front kick great for firemen breaking down doors
😅
I wonder if this would work if the round kick were thrown higher. I ask because in my school we use oldschool American kickboxing rules for valid point areas (no leg kicks). I'll try it in sparring tomorrow and see how it goes.
Mma stance(s) makes it harder for sure its easy for k1 and muay thai as we stand taller without worrying about take downs only catches and sweeps
One of the components that made Young Conor the Good Conor. He had that piercing front kick he would stab guys with as a setup for other kicks
Front kick is my favorite attack let's go
You're my kind of dude!
@@hard2hurt hell yeah
I think front kicks are a little less prevelant in mma because they're way easier to throw faster from a more narrow stance in muay thai and kickboxing. When i get into a wider stance mma/boxing stance it's significantly harder for me to do a teep or front kick
The front kick is just absurdly easy and effective. I've been saying for years that if somebody can develop a good 1-2 and a good front kick, they're already going to be better at fighting than the majority of people even if they learn nothing else (though some wrestling experience would also help a lot lol).
Watching the lesson, I realized that I have been tossing front kick combos so long I just adjust base foot by pivoting back.
2:15 nice advice ik just where to use it
Almost 2 years ago, I broke my big toe when I frontkicked my sparring partner by accidently hitting his ellbow. Unfortunatly it was the last time i ever used the frontkick cause I'm too scared it happens again.
Same here. I need to get over this fear haha
You must have kicked hard
Dang. Yeah that's why I kick people so slowly when I spar I'm afraid of how bad it'll hurt if they block it with a harder part of their body.
It's not the front kicks fault, you can break all parts of your feet if you kick e.g. roundhouse straight into an elbow also.
I think a lot of mma guys don’t use front kicks because most of them have wider boxing like stance. I I like front kicks a lot but when I use them I normally have to square my stance up a little 🤷♂️
I think people neglect it because they're petrified of being taken down. Teep to the face can be practiced on the bag and pads. It can also be trained in sparring as long as students are advanced enough to pull it and keep it controlled. I always pull my head kicks during sparring. Being able to control kicks makes it easier to throw hard too
Would love to Train With you please open up a gym in NJ 😂
Machida had a nice front kick.
i trained kung fu for 6 years, this is the kungfu technique for front kick. To improve it, you have to train you mobility and flexibility, if you master the side split for both legs, you can simply kick from any position.
While if it lands is really good I am more afraid of throwing front kicks than other types of kicks because it lands with the foot in an area that can be blocked with an elbow, which is painful. I got blocked sometimes that way and I also try to do it when being front kicked, specially with the snap one.
On the other side I throw the roundhouse kick to the head, where an elbow block is not frequent or I make contact with the shin, where the possible elbow block is not a big deal.
It is a good first move.
I like how you don’t give shitty kicks a pass.
Except for Silva and Machida. I guess that’s to be expected, both have karate backgrounds. It’s a bit like a jab to the body that Mayweather used so well. Very underrated but very effective. It saps your energy like no other.
That kick set up is very common in Savate "French kickboxing"
Awesome Video!
Interesting to hear that frontkick meta prediction.
After seeing a few work, I was like: "Damn, this is underutilized!"
I guess that's what we've all been thinking! 🤷🏻♂️
🧛♀️
Leaning back helps to put your hips into a front kick. It is not mutually exclusive with "being in control."
Yeah. That's definitely an accurate interpretation of this very complete explanation of the technique lol.
@@hard2hurt I just don't understand why you said it. If it was supposed to be a joke it wasn't funny, like at all, and it did in fact make you look stupid.
Good shit!
Can you do a video on what to do if someone grabs your leg when you throw a kick?
ive done it
I looked at all of the titles of all of your UA-cam videos but I couldn't find it.
Seems fun, I'd go :)
Zednaught Alpha! 🥰
yo can you help with understanding how not to get hurt while kicking? I'm not sure if you have already done some sort of conditioning or something but I was sparring a couple days back in the gym and this guy step bup back kicked me and I intuitively checked it with my shin and now it hurts when I walk.
Lyoto Machida is 😛🍿
Maryna Moroz at UFC 272 is a great example of how MMA fighters can have absolutely horrible striking technique and still win fights. The thing about focusing so strongly on having solid technique, however, is that we don't rise to heights of our expectations when the SHTF. To the contrary, we default to our lowest level of training. Which means that you want your lowest level of training to still be pretty high. Whether an artistic martial artist or a sport martial artist, all it takes is a few changes to training to fill in the gaps (e.g. "traditional artists spend too much time kicking the air and MMA guys spend too little time kicking the air"). I think this is perfectly demonstrated by Rokas (Martial Arts Journey) spending a year training MMA only to discover that his Aikido actually does work... just not how he was training it before training practical application. Speaking personally, the only two kicks I've used in real street fights are the front kick and the front-leg inside / outside crescent kick. Both worked as intended and in one instance the other guy went to the hospital with badly broken ribs.
As far as the side kick, here's a setup my TMA Master used when he was a ranked kickboxer: Either a front kick or fist bump to the bottom of their lead elbow, to make that arm pop upward, followed immediately by a sliding side kick to the ribs. The side kick - which is not the same thing as a side teep, folks - works best from a fully bladed stance, such as immediately after throwing a round kick. But, you have to actually be able to stop your round kick in the air, rechamber your foot, and throw the second kick without losing your balance or control for that side kick to have any real power. In this regard, punching and kicking the air is no different than shadowboxing.
We need "front kick focus" in Tallahassee!
i was looking for a booking in north florida for april but that trip got canceled. still open second half of the year.
@@hard2hurt I'll shoot you an email tonight, let's see if we can make it happen!
Side kick is also under rated
I am probably just clueless but having trouble finding seminar links. Granted, I am not great at Instagram.
Best fromt kicker I can remember in MMA was Conor at featherweight
Specialists always like to say MMA fighters suck at what they (the specialist) specialize in.
Right.
@6:15 side kick time!
I hope Eli knows you're repping the ZNA merch
may be the risk of the takedown but then again it could be used to bait a takedown