Front Kicks to the face

[oneez]

The one used by Anderson Silva on Belfort and the one used by Machida on Couture are both effective but are the toes in danger of being stubbed/dislocated if you hit jaws with it? I'm a bit concerned attempting it during spars and practice sessions because of that fear.

 

[Paradigm]

The one used by Anderson Silva on Belfort and the one used by Machida on Couture are both effective but are the toes in danger of being stubbed/dislocated if you hit jaws with it? I'm a bit concerned attempting it during spars and practice sessions because of that fear.

1) Pull the toes back and use ball of the foot.
2) Kind of a dick move in sparring in my opinion but this is coming from Muay Thai...may be different in other arts.

 

[oneez]

1) Pull the toes back and use ball of the foot.
2) Kind of a dick move in sparring in my opinion but this is coming from Muay Thai...may be different in other arts.

That makes the technique even more difficult and beautifully accurate. Thank you

 

[fluffball]

I have seen a several people break their toes, yes. In my favorite instance I had blood all over me but couldn't find an injury... until the other guy noticed his mangled toe. Yuck...

However consider the fact that I've seen literally hundreds of thousands of front kicks, if not millions, and the toe-breaking-percentage is pretty much 0.

 

[Frode Falch]

1) Pull the toes back and use ball of the foot.
2) Kind of a dick move in sparring in my opinion but this is coming from Muay Thai...may be different in other arts.

Dick move in sparring for sure. We only use it "live" when we go super light. Like almost shadow boxing against each other. Moderate, hard, or fight sparring? No way..

 

[fluffball]

TKD peeps use it on a daily basis in moderate or hard sparring. It require you to actually go easy though at least on that kick, and not the pissing contests that light MMA sparring always devolves into.

Getting a pulled front kick to the face is about the equivalent of a straight right. It's not that bad. I've even had people throw full speed spinning hook kicks that landed on my head and didn't do damage, although I would prefer people to not attempt that.(!)

 

[barnowl]

Second fluffball on this. While I have seen, and have jammed mine, on front kicks it is more an anomaly like breaking your hand punching. Yes it happens, but not near enough to be a real issue.

The other option for the front kick to the have is to curl the toes under and use the top of the foot. This not the same kick as Machida used and hits more like an uppercut to the chin instead of a straight to the chin.

 

[Paradigm]

Dick move in sparring for sure. We only use it "live" when we go super light. Like almost shadow boxing against each other. Moderate, hard, or fight sparring? No way..

I agree with the super light thing...it's almost like you're working footwork only with a partner or if you were messing around play sparring with a friend in street clothes. You're not really going hard...it's more like a capoeira session lol.

I'll occasionally throw a teep near someone's head sometimes just to get it out in sparring but I never intend to land it to the face and always from a safe range where they won't accidentally run into it. It's more to let them know I could

TKD peeps use it on a daily basis in moderate or hard sparring. It require you to actually go easy though at least on that kick, and not the pissing contests that light MMA sparring always devolves into.

Getting a pulled front kick to the face is about the equivalent of a straight right. It's not that bad. I've even had people throw full speed spinning hook kicks that landed on my head and didn't do damage, although I would prefer people to not attempt that.(!)

It's always interesting the differences in sparring culture between arts. Do you guys generally spar with headgear on? I rarely use headgear and most MT guys I've trained with don't, unless they're doing hard sparring for a fight coming up.

I'd wager that TKD guys generally have better leg dexterity and control than most MT guys, due to the nature of the kicking styles.

Do you guys spar with headgear on? I almost never do and most MT guys I've trained with don't either, unless they are sparring for an upcoming fight.

If you ever get to spar with a Thai, front kick him to the face and see what happens haha.

 

[fluffball]

It's always interesting the differences in sparring culture between arts. Do you guys generally spar with headgear on? I rarely use headgear and most MT guys I've trained with don't, unless they're doing hard sparring for a fight coming up.

I'd wager that TKD guys generally have better leg dexterity and control than most MT guys, due to the nature of the kicking styles.

Do you guys spar with headgear on? I almost never do and most MT guys I've trained with don't either, unless they are sparring for an upcoming fight.

If you ever get to spar with a Thai, front kick him to the face and see what happens haha.

I haven't done TKD in 15 years or so, I did ATA, WTF, and the sister art TSD. WTF and TSD used headgear, ATA was wear whatever you feel like (one of the black belts at that school had to have facial reconstructive surgery from a roundhouse.) None of the headgear had face protection so it was pretty irrelevant against straight kicks though.

I moved on to MT and boxing, and I do frequently use front kicks in sparring, and yes I feel my leg dexterity is light years ahead of my MT guys. The first time I sparred the instructor on my first night of MT I caught him with a front kick to the face and he laughed at himself.

MT we don't use headgear except for heavy sparring, boxing we use it nearly always.

 

[Paradigm]

I haven't done TKD in 15 years or so, I did ATA, WTF, and the sister art TSD. WTF and TSD used headgear, ATA was wear whatever you feel like (one of the black belts at that school had to have facial reconstructive surgery from a roundhouse.) None of the headgear had face protection so it was pretty irrelevant against straight kicks though.

I moved on to MT and boxing, and I do frequently use front kicks in sparring, and yes I feel my leg dexterity is light years ahead of my MT guys. The first time I sparred the instructor on my first night of MT I caught him with a front kick to the face and he laughed at himself.

MT we don't use headgear except for heavy sparring, boxing we use it nearly always.

Haha...it was a TSD guy actually that broke my nose but with similar spinning shit to TKD.

I ended up buying a headgear with the bitch bar but never use it because the visibility is shit in it...I'd rather spar without headgear and see everything coming instead. Now I wish I had spent the money towards a FG-2900 instead.

You have a bunch of MT guys throwing teeps or front kicks to the face without the TKD/TSD leg dexterity and some people are going to get hurt or noses busted at the very least.

 

[MrJak]

How is a front kick to the head a dick move in sparring?

 

[HighestHand]

How is a front kick to the head a dick move in sparring?

1) Thai culture has the bottom of the feet as the worst place of the body and it is considered super disrespectful to touch someone with the bottom of your foot.

2) Even when not talking about culture, do you really want to have someone's sweaty and disgusting soles on your face? I mean it's like rubbing your armpits on someone's face when clinching or rolling or having it done to you. "Aww yeah... have some of that armpit..." I'm sure you won't want that... It's just common courtesy not to do so.

 

[MrJak]

...
2) Even when not talking about culture, do you really want to have someone's sweaty and disgusting soles on your face? I mean it's like rubbing your armpits on someone's face when clinching or rolling or having it done to you. "Aww yeah... have some of that armpit..." I'm sure you won't want that... It's just common courtesy not to do so.

The way I see it, if you get hit in the face with a front kick it's your fault, not your sparring partner's.

 

[HighestHand]

The way I see it, if you get hit in the face with a front kick it's your fault, not your sparring partner's.

O_O

It's common courtesy not to go 100% on a beginner.

What you just said is equivalent to:

If the beginner gets outclassed 100% even just intensity-wise, it's his fault, not mine.

 

[MrJak]

O_O

It's common courtesy not to go 100% on a beginner.

What you just said is equivalent to:

If the beginner gets outclassed 100% even just intensity-wise, it's his fault, not mine.

Good point.. wasn't thinking about a complete beginner. But a sweaty foot in his face might get him to move next time -_-

 

[fluffball]

I have never once been kicked in the face and spent time thinking about how sweaty his feet are... 8-|

Gloves get way sweatier than people's feet anyway.

 

[oneez]

I have never once been kicked in the face and spent time thinking about how sweaty his feet are... 8-|

Gloves get way sweatier than people's feet anyway.

My thoughts exactly. I have never encountered a sweaty sole lol. most of the sweat is wiped by the canvas anyway

 

[fluffball]

It doesn't even matter how sweaty the person is. 1) the contact is like 1/16th of a second or something, and 2) you just got kicked in the goddam face.

 

[shinkyoku]

you can do it with the ball of the foot or with the heel, either way works fine.
The risk of breaking your toes is minimal. If you actually know how to do it, there is no risk worth mentioning.

 

[spacetime]

There are more sensible head kicks. UFC fighters are bit lost when it comes to defence against kicks. They just don't expect them.