Why are sidekicks rare in MMA?

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spyu

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Aside from Cung Le. I've always wondered why you rarely see sidekicks in MMA whereas they are pretty common in kickboxing. Is it too risky or something?
 
good side kicks arent too common in alot of competitions. Its a hard kick to develop for alot of people and since most mma coaches dont know it what chance do their students have of doing it?
 
Cause Anderson Silva doesn't need a teenage boy in a cape to win his fights.

On a serious note, a lot of techniques are avoided simple because it looks "too karate" for MMA. Horrible excuse, but I've heard it in the gym.
 
Like LEGS said, since most coaches come from a Muay Thai/Kickboxing, BJJ, and Boxing background and they are not necessarily world level at any of those martial arts, you won't find certain kicks used because they have not developed it themselves.

It is effectice at keeping distance and knocking people down. Also not used is the cut kick which is aimed a bit below your hips. It stops your opponents kick as he/she is doing it.
 
People don't train it. That's the only thing I could think of. It's no more ineffective or risky than a round kick/push kick when used in the right situations.
 
..In Sanda/MT competitions it leaves you vulnerable to all kinds of counter-attacks, if your opponent has poor standup then go for it if you feel confident in the power and speed of it, otherwise don't bother.
 
wisemanrax said:
Like all kicks, timing is everything.
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It's harder to time a side kick than a front kick due to mechanics. Side kicks are less efficient than front kicks. Non-striking specialists that are prevalent in MMA would use front kicks instead.
 
I mean that is why you practice to become good at it and not just a couple of times.
 
That's my point about efficiency. You want to practice ones that will give you the most bang for buck. Even as a pure striker, you only have so much time to practice.

A side kick does not have significantly more power than a front kick. Yet it takes longer to learn and leaves you more vulnerable in execution. Why use a side kick when a front kick will do? IMO a spinning back kick is

This is probably why you rarely see side kicks in kb/MT. Even in Sanda/San shou, side kicks rarely produce knock outs. Yet it inhibits punching due to the side on stance needed to throw one.
 
Well the sidekick is not really used to knock people out. Why be a head hunter anyway?

What it does is it knocks people off balance and they fall....falling hurts and although it may not count for points in any kind of prize fighting match it pisses your opponent off and that is what you want...you don't want them to think clearly and as a result, make a mistake that you can capitalize on. Yes back kick is useful, primarily as a counter to a roundhouse and if it lands on the solar plexus you pretty much win.
 
Inquisitus said:
A side kick does not have significantly more power than a front kick. Yet it takes longer to learn and leaves you more vulnerable in execution. Why use a side kick when a front kick will do? IMO a spinning back kick is
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My side kick has significantly more power than my front kick. Ive knocked those standard long red heavy bags off their holding with that kick and ive never been able to do that with a front kick and i have a good front kick.


Im sure the fact that im 240 pounds and use my side kick with the power side forward helps but keep in in mind when youre side kicking your stomping with your heel that alone should do more damage than thrusting the ball of your foot into someones body

YouTube - Side kick knockout against a karate counter fighter

YouTube - Knock out by side kick

YouTube - Scott Adkins Side Kick PKA Seminar

These kicks do significant damage and there from lower tier competitors and even very executed poorly in the case of the second video but the fact they were still stomping at someones body was enough to do significant damage.


I'm trying to look through The WCL matches one of their fighters by the nme of raymond daniels did a beauitful one to someone s mouth and ive been meaning to post it here.
 
Notice in the videos the fighters are not just leaving the leg out there. They are using their hips and body to kick through the target. However, they didn't initiate the attack, but they set it up. They're not just kicking air and looking like they are tagging people. I personally don't like bag examples because you are static. Like I said, it takes timing and much practice to do it right against a sparring partner. Just because it is harder doesn't really excuse you from learning. Learn everything and do it well.
 
Exactly thats the biggest error with the side kick is people dont pull it back immediately after it lands.It's the same principle as a punch For example When you throw the jab you don't just leave the punch out there once it connects or it misses you immediately pull it back to your guard in order to protect yourself and attack again . Kicks are no different.

YouTube - Bruce Lee Side Kick Demonstration

This Bruce vid shows exactly what im talking baout as far as retracting the leg afters its thrown.

The side kick should so be set up properly so it has the maximum chance of working, feints,punches, are the general way to do it or to catch them coming in or going out


YouTube - The Undefeated Cung Le

At the 25 second mark you can see how cung catches the guy he is fighting as he is coming in.

He backs up and makes his opponent chase him then as he is chasing and trying to punch he fires his side kick at the exposed midsection.
 
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Every single one of those sample videos are in a non or semi-contact match and one is a demo. Full contact matches tend to not have these KO's. Maybe it's because the ranges drop considerably and there's no space to to generate force.

In the Scott Adkins vid, the kicker is almost 3 shoulder widths from the target.

BTW, I'd love to see the Raymond Daniels KO. I'm not surprised he'd have one.

EDIT: meant the previous Legs post, Legs posted the Cung Le vid as i wrote the above.
 
Inquisitus said:
That's my point about efficiency. You want to practice ones that will give you the most bang for buck. Even as a pure striker, you only have so much time to practice.

A side kick does not have significantly more power than a front kick. Yet it takes longer to learn and leaves you more vulnerable in execution. Why use a side kick when a front kick will do? IMO a spinning back kick is

This is probably why you rarely see side kicks in kb/MT. Even in Sanda/San shou, side kicks rarely produce knock outs. Yet it inhibits punching due to the side on stance needed to throw one.
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Without a doubt, a large part of it is because very few people know how to throw it. You should be able to throw a sidekick from a forward stance, if you train Sanda at least.

I come from an MMA gym, which draws its kickboxing from Sanda. The Sanda coaches are all about the side kick and advocate you to use it with the same frequency as a teep. On the flipside, I know tons of people who share your view and don't believe it's worth using much at all. My own views fall somewhere in between.

While there are guys from the gym who throw the sidekick with great frequency and have found much success even at high levels (Marvin Perry, Al Loreaiux, Albert Pope, Mike Norman, Sonia Mejia), I don't believe that's the right approach for MMA. If you set up and throw the sidekick correctly, the risk of you getting taken down is pretty low. In fact, I'd say it's wayyy harder to catch a good sidekick than a roundkick or teep. But that said the consequences of someone capitalizing on a failed sidekick is far higher in MMA than Sanda or another form of kickboxing, hence why I try not to throw it too often.

That being said, I consider it to be a worthwhile technique to have in my arsenal. In my past two fights, I've made pretty good use of it. It didn't do much damage, but it definitely psyched my opponents out because they just weren't used to it. Any disruption to your opponent's concentration is a worthwhile one, and getting stopped in your tracks, knocked back, or whacked in the face by a kick that you've never seen before is going to give you one more thing to worry about. Plus, it's almost always a guaranteed hit since people are unfamiliar with it. scoring points never hurts. I usually throw one per round.

IMO, it's not really a big deal one way or the other. If you can do it right, it can be effective in MMA, but probably not a game changer. If you can't, which is most people, they it's probably not worth the effort that it takes to learn.
 
There's a reason side thrust kick is my favorite kick. The potential for power is ridiculous. A good front kick would hurt, maybe could end the fight, but I think the idea of a good side thrust kick is purely to end a fight.

I mean...you just shoot your heel in there. BAM. Right into them. It's going to hurt!
 
To get decent power, it's far too telegraphed. Why turn your whole body to the side like that? The application in TMA is generally when facing multiple opponents or getting attacked from the side.
 
I think the side kick is the most misunderstood kick in the martial arts.
 
lukewall said:
People don't train it. That's the only thing I could think of. It's no more ineffective or risky than a round kick/push kick when used in the right situations.
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Agreed!

I think a big reason you dont see it often is that MMA fighters tend to fight in straight lines, in - out. Sidekicks are better utilized from an angle or while circling..... my opinion.

Additionally, a sidekick is thrown by narrowing the shoulders and MMA fighters tend to fight much more square at the shoulders for TD defense, which just makes a push kick more logical to most of them..... for good reason too.

As someone else noted. The sidekick is a very misunderstood kick, and you dont see it in MMA because it is not taught in MMA striking. The guys who use sidekicks well learned to do so correctly and effectively before they ever got involved in MMA. So if a guy comes from any other training background other than TMA's and wants to compete in MMA he is never taught to use a sidekick, but he will be taught to use a push kick or teep at some point in his MMA training. The mechanics of a good sidekick are much more intricate and difficult to learn to use effectively, than are those of a push kick or teep.
 
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