Inside Low Kicks - Hajime Kazumi (Kyokushin Technical Breakdown)

[Azam]

The 'inside low kick' is probably one of the most underrated & under-developed techniques in all of martial arts in my opinion. It has many useful applications but generally isn't given the amount of time needed. This thread is just for those of you who want to work on your inside low kicks & improve them, as well as discuss all things 'inside low kicks.'


So I thought I'd just post some technical knowledge I have of the 'Inside Low Kick' (from a Kyokushin karate perspective) by analysing the master of 'Inside Low Kicks' himself & probably one of the most prolific inside & outside low kickers in the history of Kyokushin Karate - Hajime Kazumi.



The inside low kick in my eyes, is one of the most versatile kicks that can be learnt; it has many different applications which take a lot of time to learn. Generally you only see one application of the inside low kick, which is just to cause damage like you would a low kick, that

 

[ZGSON]

While I enjoyed watching those gifs and agree with some of the things you're saying, it's A LOT easier to throw hard and/or devastating inside leg kicks when one doesn't have to worry about getting punched in the face. If he were fighting in K1 he wouldn't get away with much of that if left as is.

I tend to use inside leg kicks more for set ups and moving my opponent as opposed to causing damage. Ideally causing damage would be good, but again the inside leg kick can be dangerous when punching is involved and you over commit to the leg. Using it as a distraction technique, I don't care if it lands all that clean or necessarily hard.

 

[Chillout010]

Nice post. I especially liked:

4- I noticed this while training muay thai as well, and it works like a charm. Every time I'd spar an aggressive opponent I knew what I had to do: inside low kick. It'd stop them dead on their tracks and frustrate the hell outta them.

Also, by instinct, most of them would lower their hands to get their balance back giving you a short but great opening.

5- You need to have the right timing but just like #4, it works. I believe this is how Fedor kept stoping Crocop's lhk.

 

[Azam]

While I enjoyed watching those gifs and agree with some of the things you're saying, it's A LOT easier to throw hard and/or devastating inside leg kicks when one doesn't have to worry about getting punched in the face. If he were fighting in K1 he wouldn't get away with much of that if left as is.

I tend to use inside leg kicks more for set ups and moving my opponent as opposed to causing damage. Ideally causing damage would be good, but again the inside leg kick can be dangerous when punching is involved and you over commit to the leg. Using it as a distraction technique, I don't care if it lands all that clean or necessarily hard.

I agree partly with what your saying - I don't think the distance or timing would be soo much of a problem because he throws them from outside of punching range & sometimes he comes within punching range as well - I think it is applicable in K-1, the only thing that would need working on, is the guard during the technique - but I've seen Kazumi alter the guard himself during one of his instructionals to account for punches to the head, if I can find it on youtube I'll try and post it - but his guard was similar to the guard you'd have when throwing low kicks to the thigh - it seemed to work very well.

I don't think there would be any problem in over commiting with an inside leg kick, you see guys commit with low kicks to the thigh all the time (and Kazumi's technique is pretty similar) but with that you have the possibility of getting checked, with inside leg kicks you don't have that much worry & if you adjust the guard appropriately it shouldn't be a problem.

Even if you over-commited with the inside low kick like Kazumi - you could even add it as part of a combo to reduce the risk - if you over-commited with an inside leg kick you could add a spinning back fist which would fit really well (almost tailor made) or even a ushiro geri which I have been tampering with.

Also it's notoriously difficult to let off a punch when someone has committed to an inside leg kick - especially if you don't expect it & then try to react - you could put it in a combo to hide when you over-commit --- would lessen the likelyhood of eating punches.

 

[Azam]

Nice post. I especially liked:

4- I noticed this while training muay thai as well, and it works like a charm. Every time I'd spar an aggressive opponent I knew what I had to do: inside low kick. It'd stop them dead on their tracks and frustrate the hell outta them.

Also, by instinct, most of them would lower their hands to get their balance back giving you a short but great opening.

5- You need to have the right timing but just like #4, it works. I believe this is how Fedor kept stoping Crocop's lhk.

Thanks mate - I realised you could do that from watching Kazumi & tried it with an aggressive guy to, it worked really well as well.

 

[Jukai]

It seems like his big secret is using his back leg to kick, instead of the front leg which people usually use.

 

[Lucas Coradini]

I remember Tyson Griffin was doing something like this in his fight against Hermes Franca... Kicking inside Hermes rear leg with HIS rear leg

very nice

 

[Discipulus]

You took my advice and wrote a Karate post. Awesome. An excellent read and technical breakdown. You should do more! I'm bookmarking this bad boy.

I notice something. Rather than pivoting and turning the hip over for the kick, he seems to just thrust the hip forward with a short little pivot or step to open the hips. Like these kind of short, chopping kicks.

 

[Articplatypus]

Nice thread. It's great to see a fellow karate guy up in here.

There is a lot of low kicks in karate that are really great. I use them sometimes in sparring and they work well.

 

[Azam]

You took my advice and wrote a Karate post. Awesome. An excellent read and technical breakdown. You should do more! I'm bookmarking this bad boy.

I notice something. Rather than pivoting and turning the hip over for the kick, he seems to just thrust the hip forward with a short little pivot or step to open the hips. Like these kind of short, chopping kicks.

Lol of course man, yeah the way he throws inside low kicks is vastly different from the norm, like you said as well he opens his hips with a step - but doesn't turn the hip otherwise it would be low kick instead he uses his hips to thrust like you mentioned - it makes a huge difference in the amount of power you can get from the kick.

Also I think Jukai hit the nail on the head as well, if you notice Kazumi always uses his rear leg for inside low kicks rather than the commonly used lead leg, even when the rear is used not many guys open their hips & hit like Kazumi instead they stay very linear - also notice that Kazumi always positions himself in such a way that he can fire rear inside low kicks almost immediately - one after the other - that takes alot of training with inside low kicks to achieve.

But I think you could definitely use this for MMA, K1 & maybe even muay thai - the only thing that would need to be altered would be the guard during the technique - I mentioned this before but I saw an instructional from Kazumi a while ago, where he himself changed the guard to account for punches to the head - it looked pretty identical to hand positioning you'd have when doing a low kick.

 

[jj manchester]

ive practised MT for years and to this day i cannot land the inside low for shit. I am orthodox and lets say the oppo is orthodo - i variously smash my toes into his knee, or get shin checked dead easy. I just cant find the route to the effective inside-low , for me its become a high-risk low-reward move.

And, my left leg is really good. Its very fast and very hard, even without a switch, and ive dropped people with it as a liver shot, so its not that i can throw my left leg. I just cant get the inside low to save my life, and yet its supposed to be the easy kick. :/

i see the k1 guys use it to start a combination but every time i try that, i get shin checked or evaded. I can use it at the end of a combo but not to start one, which is wht most seem to use it for?

 

[shinkyoku]

I dont have a short clip or GIF of this one (it is not a "highlight" technique)
But here is Kyokushin fighter Fransisco Filho demonstrating the inside lowkick as a Jab, vs Alexey Ignashow in the semi of the 2001 K-1 Finals.



In this fight Filho threw many MANY snappy inside lowkicks with his front leg. Individually they were not very hard, but they kept Iggy away, and eventually added up and made him start to be very protective of that leg.

I remember the swedish commentator say in the last round "Ignashov is limping, he seems to have hurt his leg somehow" and I screamed at the screen "that

 

[Discipulus]

Welp, we worked inside low kicks at Muay Thai today, and I tried to use little bit of Kazumi's methodology. It almost feels like throwing a soccer kick, or a knee. I stepped out with my rear leg and threw the left inside low kick like I would a step-up knee, throwing the hip forward and keeping the kick fairly linear. It was only partner drills, but it landed quite cleanly, and I was quite pleased!

Also, Jukai, if you happen to read this--I tried your inside low kick-jab-right low kick combo today--it works like a charm. The inside low kick gets them tentative, the jab distracts them, and the outside low kick lands hard and clean. It was actually a lot easier to do than the heavy bag made it seem.

 

[Jukai]

Also, Jukai, if you happen to read this--I tried your inside low kick-jab-right low kick combo today--it works like a charm. The inside low kick gets them tentative, the jab distracts them, and the outside low kick lands hard and clean. It was actually a lot easier to do than the heavy bag made it seem.

 

[Azam]

Welp, we worked inside low kicks at Muay Thai today, and I tried to use little bit of Kazumi's methodology. It almost feels like throwing a soccer kick, or a knee. I stepped out with my rear leg and threw the left inside low kick like I would a step-up knee, throwing the hip forward and keeping the kick fairly linear. It was only partner drills, but it landed quite cleanly, and I was quite pleased!

Yeah it really is a solid technique, the trick is to be able to throw rear inside low kicks one after the other instantly. Also Discipulus I'd recommend that when you throw a rear inside low kick like this, the other application instead of stepping & kicking through like you would a soccer kick (like you did in sparring) - would be to step out like you would when throwing a low kick, make sure when you step out, your lead foot is open (i.e. 90 degrees), throw the inside low kick (almost same mechanism as a low kick but to the inside thigh) - make sure you go through the center-line to some degree - it puts people of balance - I'd recommend throwing this to your opponent's lead leg - it works like a beauty - try it - you can add a spinning back fist or ushiro geri to it.

 

[quatin]

While I enjoyed watching those gifs and agree with some of the things you're saying, it's A LOT easier to throw hard and/or devastating inside leg kicks when one doesn't have to worry about getting punched in the face. If he were fighting in K1 he wouldn't get away with much of that if left as is.

I tend to use inside leg kicks more for set ups and moving my opponent as opposed to causing damage. Ideally causing damage would be good, but again the inside leg kick can be dangerous when punching is involved and you over commit to the leg. Using it as a distraction technique, I don't care if it lands all that clean or necessarily hard.

I don't see how it's any different with an outside leg kick.

The real reason I think inside leg kicks aren't used is eventually, you're going to get a low blow. Powerful inside leg kicks need to be on the inside upper thigh. Sooner or later you'll catch a low blow. Flicking lead leg inside low kicks can be aimed at the cusp of the knee.

 

[shinkyoku]

edit. Oops I though this post had been transferred to the wasteland and asked why. Seems I need to get some sleep.

 

[ZGSON]

I don't see how it's any different with an outside leg kick.

The real reason I think inside leg kicks aren't used is eventually, you're going to get a low blow. Powerful inside leg kicks need to be on the inside upper thigh. Sooner or later you'll catch a low blow. Flicking lead leg inside low kicks can be aimed at the cusp of the knee.

For that exact reason. You have less area to strike and you have to be careful with it so you don't strike the groin. Also there is a higher frequency of landing with the foot and connecting with their knee potentially hurting yourself.

 

[SAAMAG]

^^ Right there. People tend to have a natural inward turn of their knees. So when you're going for an inside leg kick, it takes a millisecond for the other guy to simply turn in his leg a tad and you've hit hard bone instead of tissue. If you were close enough to have your shin contact not too bad, but if it was your instep it'll hurt you.

 

[Pearse Shields]

Excellent write-up, Azam. I look forward to more threads from you in future.