Naperville wrote: ↑Sun Apr 24, 2022 7:06 pm
Those ladies can really kick. You never want to square up against anyone within arm or leg length....stand beyond their range unless you are ready to get waylaid!
Very true. Not only are their kicks really good, but even more, they kick with focus and intent.
One interesting thing about many
(BUT NOT ALL!) high-kicking specialists is that oftentimes, it’s better to close the distance on them and fight them in-close. Many pure kicking specialists have difficulty fighting at arm’s length or closer. MMA (and cross-training in general outside of MMA) has changed a lot of that, but there are still many Tae Kwon Do and similar kickers who don’t like opponents penetrating their kicking range and getting close to them. Many spend most or all of their training time kicking and dealing with kicks, and spend very little time on developing hand techniques and defenses against them. While someone is high kicking, they’re standing on one leg, so balance and mobility are momentarily compromised; the leg can get caught; the support leg can be swept; and the groin is also exposed and open to attack, depending on the rules you’re going by.
Every skill set has its strengths and its vulnerabilities.
I have seen instances of high kicks working on the street; one video a few years ago from Eastern Europe or somewhere, showed a street fight between a bodybuilder and a smaller “MMA fighter,” who ended up killing the bodybuilder with a single spinning hook kick to the head. I’ve also seen instances where they failed. For myself, I only ever used high kicks in sparring and competitive fighting (and demonstrations). You don’t really want to be reckless on the street with kicks, especially high kicks, and they are difficult or impossible to use in confined spaces, and under certain conditions (slippery or rocky ground, in water, snow, etc.).
But like anything else, if you are facing an elite-level kicker, don’t play to their strengths. Don’t trade kicks with a kicker; don’t box with a boxer; don’t leg kick, clinch, or trade knees and elbows with a Muay Thai practitioner; don’t play ‘sticky hands’ with a Wing Chun or other southern Kung Fu short-hand specialist; don’t wrestle with a grappler, and so on. Use skills that can counteract whatever it is you are facing, without trying to outdo them at their own game. IMO. Which requires you to be well-rounded enough. This is mostly in relation to competitive sparring. Unless, of course, you're training in, or competing within, that particular skill set.
On the street, if you actively avoid trouble, your chances of having to face a martial artist or sport fighter are almost zero.
Jim