Sorry it took me so long to acknowledge your excellent reply here. But I was reminded to do so by the other thread on this particular kick. I actually didn't realize that Narushima was landing with the ball of his foot, but he almost always does. The really tricky thing is that his left kick to the body looks identical to his head kick until the last instant. Probably why most of his knockouts seem to be from one of those two techniques. Time to work on that left leg flexibility! To me it seems that his set ups are the key to his success. His footwork working into the switch before the kick is very smooth, and he usually disguises it with movement or punches.
Np. Yeah, it's his positioning & setups that give him great success.
If you have time, could possibly elaborate? I'd love to hear more about how Narushima opens up his opponent's stance. The idea is an interesting one to me. I often feel that I'm at the wrong angle to land my left kick to the body.
I think that was a poor choice of words from me - Narushima isn't opening up the stance per say - I think it's a better choice of words to say he limits the degree to which his opponent can position themselves well & as a result the posture at times isn't good and the guard has openings which he uses to great effect;
One example of this used by both Katsunori Kikuno & Narushima to great effect is simply to stalk - if you've seen videos of both Kikuno & Narushima you'll notice that most times prior to throwing the crescent kick - they'll stalk their opponents - (I'll use Kikuno's example in this instance because it's in an MMA setting) Kikuno usually does this with his modified Sanchin Dachi stance, with his hands out - he's often referred to as a mummy with his stance and hand positioning & the way he stalks his opponents (edging forward) whilst tensed because it makes the take down harder to get (obviously as he tires, this effect becomes less pronounced) - the reason he stalks is because if someone's pressing or stalking you, your hands will go up instinctively to protect your face, at the same time he's simultaneously limiting your ability to position yourself well by cutting off room (as you know it's all about fighting for superior positioning) - you won't leave your hands low if someone is edging into punching range unless you can position yourself & establish the critical distance (being a base requisite) - when Kikuno stalks you into a corner or into a part of the ring (dream) he's effectively cutting off that possibility.
The opponent then has four options - move laterally to the left, to the right, power out or wait & counter - moving laterally to the left or right opens up the angle for his crescent kick making life easier for him however Kikuno doesn't always go for this - sometimes he'll leave it & won't go for it (the reason is explained under 'wait & counter'), powering out isn't efficient since Kikuno's sanchin stance is tense & a firmly rooted stance & as such the opponent will waste more energy trying to power out then Kikuno, waiting & countering isn't a great idea since if the guard is high, he'll aim for the liver first, if the guard is lower he'll aim for the head - the only downfall with Kikuno's approach is that if he misses his first strike - he's temporarily open - this is why he doesn't always throw when an opponent moves laterally - many a time he'll eat a punch here or there & many a time his opponent isn't fast enough to take advantage because of poor posture - it's the main con against using the modified sanchin stance he does which is back foot heavy.
Anyway he does all the above solely for the purpose of setting up his crescent kicks (in tandem with his punches). The thing is many of Kikuno's opponents expect the liver kick since it's his trademark technique, the above is really why he's landing - it's well thought out.
Narushima does pretty much the same in KK, the difference being if someone's hands are low he won't punch the face but rather throw a head kick which disguises his crescent kick well - this is why he has such a high KO percentage.
Wow, what a great list of recommendations. Thanks a lot. Unfortunately it's hard for me to cop tactics directly from KK guys because of the difference in competition rules. But I'm going to watch more of these guys in the future and try to divine the fundamental ideas behind their successes.
Some setups for techniques will be similar, most won't - all the guys I've listed (although there are many more) have techniques, set-ups, counters that would work in MMA - all the guys I listed are technical fighters - Matsui's ashi barai & some of his setups are applicable for example -- However most KK fighting strategies aren't - funnily enough the applicable stuff seems to be with those technical KK fighters.
The tutorial video in this thread (page 1, first post) - the world oyama video - isn't your usual KK instructional - it's not knockdown orientated - all the stuff in the video is for kickboxing, stand up orientated & self-defence - which means it's a KK video which is applicable for KB or MMA & less so for knockdown - I'd go so far as to say it's not for knockdown karate - that's why I posted it.
I really like Shokei Matsui, too! I'm watching his 40 Man Kumite right now. At a glance, I think he finds such success with the sweeps because he tends to lean forward past his feet less than a lot of KK fighters. He enters range with his feet and hips first, and it puts him right in position to sweep guys down. I'd love to have the same ability.
This video below is a technical spar between Matsui & Filho - you'll notice that despite the size difference - Matsui has the upper hand in most of the spar, he counters Filho repeatedly - it also demonstrates why he's regarded as the best technical fighter in KK.
EDIT: wrote part of this yesterday but fell asleep lol
