Dealing with linear fighters/kick spammers

[Tkd10]

How do you guys deal with linear fighters who have a good front/teep kicks, knee kicks, low round kicks?

They mainly spam kicks and fight very defensively and move forward or backwards, how can one close the distance without taking too much damage and light them up on the inside with punches?

Do you:

A) Keep pressuring and chasing them until you can work the inside with (risk taking a lot of damage)

or

B) Copy-Cat: Play their game and give them a taste of their own medicine. Back off /bait and let them come to you and fight very strategically with a lot of counter shots.

This is mainly from a Kyokushin perspective, so face punches aren't really an option. Which strategy is better?

 

[j123]

How do you guys deal with linear fighters who have a good front/teep kicks, knee kicks, low round kicks?

They mainly spam kicks and fight very defensively and move forward or backwards, how can one close the distance without taking too much damage and light them up on the inside with punches?

Do you:

A) Keep pressuring and chasing them until you can work the inside with (risk taking a lot of damage)

or

B) Copy-Cat: Play their game and give them a taste of their own medicine. Back off /bait and let them come to you and fight very strategically with a lot of counter shots.

This is mainly from a Kyokushin perspective, so face punches aren't really an option. Which strategy is better?

I'm a MT guy so its a bit different from Kyokushin, but my style is very heavy on pressure, pursuing, and ring cutting. Overall, it really it depends on you. So for teeps/push kicks, two common methods are:

1) Parry the kick and step in rapidly covering distance
2) bait them to throw the strike, then step in as they are retracting/recovering post-strike

Are you allowed to catch kicks and strike -> dump in Kyokushin?

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Well the first step is to train good kick defense.
In kyokushin I would guess that you dont really have much choice but to either
1) Play even more outside and make them miss till they get a little tired/sloppy
2) Check kicks like a mother fucker and pressure them

1 is safer and good if you are smaller/more mobile
2 is for less mobile powerhouses

The timelimit/ruleset and your skillset would make a big difference.

 

[Tkd10]

I'm a MT guy so its a bit different from Kyokushin, but my style is very heavy on pressure, pursuing, and ring cutting. Overall, it really it depends on you. So for teeps/push kicks, two common methods are:

1) Parry the kick and step in rapidly covering distance
2) bait them to throw the strike, then step in as they are retracting/recovering post-strike

Are you allowed to catch kicks and strike -> dump in Kyokushin?

it depends on the rule set of the tournament but yeah i think so but you can catch only for a sudden moment

 

[AndyMaBobs]

Parrying is a must, but so is lateral movement. If you move left and right, it's a lot harder for a straight kick to hit you.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Ever see Holzken vs. Daniels? That's a great fight to watch for how to deal with a kick heavy attack from a guy who is constantly moving backwards. Keep tight defense, utilize pressure footwork to cut off the ring, and punish the legs by counter kicking to take away mobility and make him afraid to throw too many kicks. If you know the kicks are coming you'll probably be able to figure out pretty quickly how far you can back him into the ropes before he feels like he has to kick and circle out to get some space back, pressure him and wait for that moment to counter. I'd also work on timing your hooks and round kicks to when he circles out to make him pay for trying to get back to the center of the ring. Like this:


Notice how both times Pettis tries to circle out to his right RDA throws that checking body kick and drives him back to his left, and when Pettis is going left RDA is keeping him backed up with his pumping jab. Beautiful pressure.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

- Lateral movement. Kicking in a line is easy, the hard thing is to move and kick.
See some JKA tournament's.

 

[Ilk]

Problem is if you meet someone technical enough to fake kicks or trow bullshit kicks and have reactions with kicks ready. I ve once observed in our gym a very good TKD practitioner who was also training MT to spar a well rounded MMA fighter in the MMA rules. Try were light sparring, but the TKD practicioner had so many different attacks and ways to control his opponent that it was not even funny.

For example
1. Trows a roundhouse which looks easy to catch, but he is awared of that pulls his kick down and trows a side kick to chest or head.
2. Trows a lame teep and then a quick turn and back kick with the other leg.
3. Trows a lame lead low kick and then switches and trows a hard head kick with the other leg... and many other set ups which I could not understand but he played a lot with the distance too.

 

[Azam]

How do you guys deal with linear fighters who have a good front/teep kicks, knee kicks, low round kicks?

They mainly spam kicks and fight very defensively and move forward or backwards, how can one close the distance without taking too much damage and light them up on the inside with punches?

Do you:

A) Keep pressuring and chasing them until you can work the inside with (risk taking a lot of damage)

or

B) Copy-Cat: Play their game and give them a taste of their own medicine. Back off /bait and let them come to you and fight very strategically with a lot of counter shots.

This is mainly from a Kyokushin perspective, so face punches aren't really an option. Which strategy is better?

This is what I use to do when I trained in Kyokushin & I had someone spamming with kicks, fighting defensively or moving linearly:

1) Constant Pressure - if someone is spamming with kicks, as soon as their kick lands close the distance - do not wait till they retract the leg otherwise they will move off. This is the easiest way to get within punching range. Ideally you want to parry and move in - if you aren't able to parry & it lands regardless eat the shot & close the distance - do not take the shot & wait for them to retract the leg for whatever reason. Front kicks are usually easy to parry even if they hit you - you can still grab/parry & move in to punching range. It also helps to move laterally & knowing how to cut off space properly - it's a skill - cutting off space - if your small height wise like me - I'd say invest a good amount of your time learning how to cut space off - intelligently. Baiting kicks like @j123 said is a great way to open up opportunities to parry & close the distance.

2) Combos that start with kicks - kind of speaks for itself. This actually worked very well for me when I was in a situation similar to yours. Ideally you want to start a combo with a kick - use it to close the distance & then step in with a punch combo. Rinse & repeat and mix it up.

3) Kicks aimed at the legs - usually this is a very good way to deal with someone who spams kicks that are aimed at your waist or above. Nothing makes a kick spammer hesitate about throwing kicks than someone who is landing inside leg kicks & low kicks well because they don't want to compromise their balance when throwing a kick or get swept.

4) Double your kicks - if he's moving back in linearly backward just double up on your kicks - if the first one misses the second will definitely land.

5) Don't copy cat - 9.99 times out of 10 they will have the edge over you because they have more experience fighting this way than you. You might take less damage but you'll get picked off slowly in a way that suits them more than you. It will be even worse for you if they have a reach advantage over you - I learnt quickly from experience that copycatting someone never works out well for you unless you have more or equal experience in the copycat style you're going to use. From personal experience it's always best to stick to your strengths & use those strengths to work around problems - don't fight in ways that are unfamiliar to you because someone who is more familiar will light you up.

 

[Tkd10]

This is what I use to do when I trained in Kyokushin & I had someone spamming with kicks, fighting defensively or moving linearly:

1) Constant Pressure - if someone is spamming with kicks, as soon as their kick lands close the distance - do not wait till they retract the leg otherwise they will move off. This is the easiest way to get within punching range. Ideally you want to parry and move in - if you aren't able to parry & it lands regardless eat the shot & close the distance - do not take the shot & wait for them to retract the leg for whatever reason. Front kicks are usually easy to parry even if they hit you - you can still grab/parry & move in to punching range. It also helps to move laterally & knowing how to cut off space properly - it's a skill - cutting off space - if your small height wise like me - I'd say invest a good amount of your time learning how to cut space off - intelligently. Baiting kicks like @j123 said is a great way to open up opportunities to parry & close the distance.

2) Combos that start with kicks - kind of speaks for itself. This actually worked very well for me when I was in a situation similar to yours. Ideally you want to start a combo with a kick - use it to close the distance & then step in with a punch combo. Rinse & repeat and mix it up.

3) Kicks aimed at the legs - usually this is a very good way to deal with someone who spams kicks that are aimed at your waist or above. Nothing makes a kick spammer hesitate about throwing kicks than someone who is landing inside leg kicks & low kicks well because they don't want to compromise their balance when throwing a kick or get swept.

4) Double your kicks - if he's moving back in linearly backward just double up on your kicks - if the first one misses the second will definitely land.

5) Don't copy cat - 9.99 times out of 10 they will have the edge over you because they have more experience fighting this way than you. You might take less damage but you'll get picked off slowly in a way that suits them more than you. It will be even worse for you if they have a reach advantage over you - I learnt quickly from experience that copycatting someone never works out well for you unless you have more or equal experience in the copycat style you're going to use. From personal experience it's always best to stick to your strengths & use those strengths to work around problems - don't fight in ways that are unfamiliar to you because someone who is more familiar will light you up.

Thanks, the best fighter i can think of that's a master at using this method is Hajime Kazumi especially in his fight against Gary O'Neill, he fought hard and smart against Gary's impressive kicks.

Piotr Sawicki vs Gary O'Neill was like fighting against a mirror, Piotr matched Gary kick for kick but you're right it's definitely more risky playing into their strengths.

 

[panamaican]

Kick defense. If it's a lot of straight kicks, teeps, front snap kicks, you can draw out the kick and close behind it. Like someone else said, don't wait for them to fully retract the kick. You can start closing as soon as the kick has reached full extension. Catching it is even better.

If it's round kicks, those are hard to throw at a laterally moving target. So keep circling away from the rear leg to force him to adjust while you gradually walk him down. Occasionally, stop so he thinks he has a target and you can draw out the kick for a follow up.

If he's constantly moving backwards, walk him into a corner or a wall or the edge of the mat. So lots of lateral movements while closing the distance.

If he's coming forward without kicking, get him to commit and catch him coming in or use his movement to close the distance. If you're faster than him, hit him with a teep to get him to think twice.

All easier said than done but all doable if you can get get him to kick when you're expecting it.