Tips against kickers

[abgmma]

First of all, I'm a southpaw and i have great confidence in my ability to punch with anyone even a Pro. My stance is nearly the same as Mcgregor's (Wide or if you want call it karate stance) which gives me good distance to see punches coming But my problem really start when i face a good kicker especially a taekwondo fighter with good boxing . Usually i can block most of them but when someone start feinting me or trowing alot of kicks i end up eating them all and getting beat up lol . The main kicks i have trouble with are spinning back kicks and roundhouse kicks (including high kicks) I would like to get tips from you guys on how to handle a good kicker (ways i can evade using angles or how to block them it doesn't matter) Thanks anyway

 

[shinkyoku]

If you insist on staying in a kickers preferred range, get a lot of practice with kicks.
Apart from the obvious " practice with kicker and learn how to read, out-time, sidestep and block kicks", I assume the best answer is to fall back on the old "never try to out-kicks a kicker, never try to out-punch a boxer, never grapple with a wrestler" adage. This basically means that if you face someone specializing in kicks, move inside into close punch/knee/clinch range, where they cannot kick effectively.

 

[freaky]

This is how I learn to counter whatever. I use that whatever. You want to learn how to counter kicks? Start kicking yourself. See how you feel when kicking and how they counter.

When I kick I'm afraid I might hit their elbows or their knees. So when I defend against kicks I try to elbow or knee them. Or block with my knees and elbows so that they hit it. After 1 or 2 knee/elbow checks, you be damn sure they don't kick you no more. A lot of it has to do with timing. Many techniques: cut kicks, push kicks, catching their kick, etc. All require timing. Or just learn to take it and return fire right away.

But my biggest advice is to try be a kicker yourself and see the weaknesses/flaws. Then exploit them the next time you fight against a kicker.

Also, kickers are only good at range. If you get into their pocket, they can't really kick you.

 

[abgmma]

If you insist on staying in a kickers preferred range, get a lot of practice with kicks.
Apart from the obvious " practice with kicker and learn how to read, out-time, sidestep and block kicks", I assume the best answer is to fall back on the old "never try to out-kicks a kicker, never try to out-punch a boxer, never grapple with a wrestler" adage. This basically means that if you face someone specializing in kicks, move inside into close punch/knee/clinch range, where they cannot kick effectively.

I'm trying to figure out what are the best counters for those kicks because in gyms you learn basic things and counters that everybody knows . I got my punching skills alone by reading analysis and defenses pro uses such as conor , lyoto machida and other southpaws and from there i developed my own style by sparring alot and using these techniques

 

[abgmma]

This is how I learn to counter whatever. I use that whatever. You want to learn how to counter kicks? Start kicking yourself. See how you feel when kicking and how they counter.

When I kick I'm afraid I might hit their elbows or their knees. So when I defend against kicks I try to elbow or knee them. Or block with my knees and elbows so that they hit it. After 1 or 2 knee/elbow checks, you be damn sure they don't kick you no more. A lot of it has to do with timing. Many techniques: cut kicks, push kicks, catching their kick, etc. All require timing. Or just learn to take it and return fire right away.

But my biggest advice is to try be a kicker yourself and see the weaknesses/flaws. Then exploit them the next time you fight against a kicker.

Also, kickers are only good at range. If you get into their pocket, they can't really kick you.

My friend in my gym is a taekwondo blackbelt. I sparred with him many times and found out that every feint he makes i start to back up . I have pretty good reflexes and i can beat some kickers but if he's fast enough it would be my end haha although i can see them but i don't know what to do

 

[G8xx]

First of all, I'm a southpaw and i have great confidence in my ability to punch with anyone even a Pro. My stance is nearly the same as Mcgregor's (Wide or if you want call it karate stance) which gives me good distance to see punches coming But my problem really start when i face a good kicker especially a taekwondo fighter with good boxing . Usually i can block most of them but when someone start feinting me or trowing alot of kicks i end up eating them all and getting beat up lol . The main kicks i have trouble with are spinning back kicks and roundhouse kicks (including high kicks) I would like to get tips from you guys on how to handle a good kicker (ways i can evade using angles or how to block them it doesn't matter) Thanks anyway

From my own experience it's best to keep kickers on their back foot. That means you have to push them the whole fight and deny them any chance to get their rythm and distance. These fights are not pretty and you need to have a good gas tank to pull this off. Just make their life miserable - catch their leg and sweep/throw them to the ground, use your teep whenever the other guy comes with some power kick, step into his spin and punish him, etc. Watch some Petrosyan fights. He is one of the best strikers on the planet and has some really creative tactics agains kickers. And he is a southpaw guy as well.

 

[abgmma]

From my own experience it's best to keep kickers on their back foot. That means you have to push them the whole fight and deny them any chance to get their rythm and distance. These fights are not pretty and you need to have a good gas tank to pull this off. Just make their life miserable - catch their leg and sweep/throw them to the ground, use your teep whenever the other guy comes with some power kick, step into his spin and punish him, etc. Watch some Petrosyan fights. He is one of the best strikers on the planet and has some really creative tactics agains kickers. And he is a southpaw guy as well.

When i spar with someone especially a puncher i pressure alot and i don't get tired. But when Kicks enter the game i become the one who is on his back foot since a good kicker have very fast kicks you can't catch them you have to either block them ( i don't think it works anyway. You can block a kick or two but not 3 and 4 kicks from a taekwondo kicker ) or eat them.
I'm thinking if i have to eat them either way i should bullrush him every time he lift his leg. What do you think?

 

[DoctorTaco]

You need to drill more. Dutch kickboxing drills have a lot of back and forth pattern stuff which will engrain into you instant reactions, or "buttons". I spent years kickboxing but with poor flexibility, so I essentially sharpened my hands and learned to defend kicks.

First off, you have to cover ground when you block. Step towards your opponent as you block, otherwise they dance away and keep throwing kicks. When they throw a lead leg round kick to your body or head, X-block as you move forward and snap off a quick 1-2-3 or 3-2-3. If they throw a rear leg to your body or head, it's the same idea- step forward with an X-block and hit a 2-3-2. You're essentially throwing with the same side the kick lands on to try and catch them if their arm is down and because you naturally twist towards the kick when you block which will load your punch.

The same idea works when checking low kicks as well.

You can drill the shit out of this with a partner, and then move onto mitts. A good mitt holder will move around with you, call combos, and randomly throw a kick at you. Block their kick and throw your preferred combo on the mitts.

The danger here is an experienced fighter will try and stop you by putting a stiff punch behind each kick, so moving your head offline as you move in and punch is very important, as is your form when you punch.

As for spinning back kicks- fuck if I know. I've never trained anything that used those. Looks like they hurt though

 

[aerius]

As for spinning back kicks- fuck if I know. I've never trained anything that used those. Looks like they hurt though

From my TKD experience way back in the day, stepping in and jamming them seems to work best. When we started learning the kick we'd often misjudge the distance since we were beginners, and boy did it suck when we jammed ourselves. That sudden stop when you're not expecting it and before the kick has traveled far enough to develop power could really mess with the balance of the person throwing the kick.

Once we became decent with the kick and started using it in sparring, there were 2 main ways that we defended against it; stepping straight in to jam it or stepping in on a diagonal to make the kick miss or glance off. My go to was stepping straight in to jam the kick and try to grab & secure their leg just long enough to drive through and push them way off balance or attempt a trip on the supporting leg. Others would do the diagonal step-in to a punch or trip but I didn't have as much luck with that method.

 

[Higus]

Think of the mechanics of kicking and the spacing and positioning an opponent needs to have in relation to you in order to land a powerful kick. Your main objectives should be to not stand in front of them and to not move straight back. If you pressure and move forward, they won't be able to maintain kicking distance. If you retreat at angles, even if the kick connects, it won't be at it's most powerful.

 

[James L]

I'm going to add on and try to not repeat any advice you've received, follow everybodies.

I fight switch, if that's any comfort to you. Im ambidextrous when fighting.

I like to check kicks, not just leg kicks but also mid kicks. When you're light enough on your feet (use whenever you have a speed advantage & aren't being timed correctly) try to retract your leg as fast as you can after checking and then kick their supporting leg,
+ you can even do this to them when they attempt to check your feinted kick during a jumping switch kick.

Once you're good and fast enough with kicking and footwork in general, you can pepper away with punches in short range and attack as they retreat accordingly, with the attacks varying depending on how far they've gotten and if they succesfully retreat at all.

You can keep people in range with weighty hooks, I love to go uppercut, knee, & elbow crazy in the clinch and when they attempt to break away &/or I let them break away and I unload a hook flurry and my long hooks I throw with the intent of them stumbling into me as opposed to away from me, not knockout intention but it happens. The short hooks thrown with pop but to set up another clinch attempt or opportune moments for a killer strike or strikes if not a takedown.

Similar to how most adept strikers strike on entry and exit of the clinch most doing Anderson's switch left rear high kick or a lead high kick.


Spinning Back Kicks you've got some advice on, they're easy to see coming imo like Question Mark Kicks or Jon Jones's ABC Kicks: my favorite sparring partner that was my age was a TKD guy before MMA and he stayed true, so I have plenty of experience with their game. After you've got jamming down don't be afraid to catch, nor cross catch or you can angle out and as their kick whiffs go in with a stepping knee to the body or straight left(southpaw correct?) to the body. The latter is very reliable, and both rear straights to the body and stepping as well as intercepting knees are very underutilized.

Whenever I catch a kick I like to hold on to the leg for as long as I can and punish my opponent continously. Try to see how long it takes for your opponent to hop/limp leg out of your vice grip on them while you pound away with no worries of offensive retort unless you're fighting/sparring a Jose Aldo type that will use their free leg to attempt a flying knee.

Also don't be surprised if you eventually find a guy who is dangerous with kicks even in the pocket.

For example, I'm flexible enough with my legs to do a kick inspired by teeps and Jon Jones's "oblique" kick to the knees (which is useful at angles as an intercepting body strike and surprisingly powerful)
It's a "front sweeping hook kick" to the face and can be thrown in the clinch. There's not many creative fighters out there but don't get surprised.

 

[cshireman4]

I spar with a TKD guy that has some really devastating spinning kicks. After a while, you realize their setups and range. When someone "over commits" and seems ripe for a counter, they are often turned in the right position to start a spinning attack. Don't lunge in as if the opponent has no offensive options. Another thing to do is crowd them. Once he starts spinning, immediately close the distance. If you can't close the distance in time, get out of kicking range. Once you discover that proverbial line in the sand, always crowd or evade the spinning technique to take away its effectiveness. Holzken vs Raymond Daniels I is a good example of this. Obviously, having a ring to cut off angles and put them in the corner is a huge advantage, but still.

Understanding range is the most important thing. If you are at punching range, when you look to exit after a combo, you just entered kicking range. If you are both exchanging inside and he takes a step back, you're in kicking range. If both of you are too far to land anything on one another, a forward step by either man lands both in kicking range. The most important thing to remember is that there is a Danger Zone where he can kick you and you can't punch him. Stay the hell out of the Danger Zone.

(Note: Making your front foot a little straighter than you are accustomed to in boxing/karate will make checking leg kicks much easier. Doesn't have to be so great that it compromises your entire boxing style, but a slight adjustment can reap big rewards)

 

[ssullivan80]

When i spar with someone especially a puncher i pressure alot and i don't get tired. But when Kicks enter the game i become the one who is on his back foot since a good kicker have very fast kicks you can't catch them you have to either block them ( i don't think it works anyway. You can block a kick or two but not 3 and 4 kicks from a taekwondo kicker ) or eat them.
I'm thinking if i have to eat them either way i should bullrush him every time he lift his leg. What do you think?

Circle and FEINT (just out of range), then close the gap