Low Kicks

Some martial arts like Tae Kwon Do specialize in high kicks. And I won't deny that a tiny percentage of practitioners could kick me in the head three times before I could react once. But for me, as for the vast majority, low kicks constitute a safer and more effective approach to self defense.

The lower you kick, the harder you make it for an adversary to capture your leg. This means that in most situations, you will not want to kick higher than your opponent's knee.

W.E. Fairbairn, the maestro of WWII combatives taught low kicking. While there may be other effective low kicks and targets, the kick described and illustrated below provides a good starting place.

Note that the man in the illustration is about to follow up his kick with a palm heel strike. Always practice combinations or series of strikes.

With a few exceptions, you should always kick sideways, for you arc thus able to put more force behind your blow and can, if necessary, reach farther.

1. Turn your right side to your opponent, putting the weight of your body on your left foot. Bending your left leg slightly from your knee, raise your right foot two to four inches off the ground, as in Fig. 7. Shoot your right foot outwards and upwards to your right, aiming to strike your opponent's leg just below the knee-cap.
2. Follow the blow through, scraping down your opponent's shin with the edge of your boot from the knee to the instep, finishing up with all your weight on your right foot, smashing the small bones of his foot. If necessary, follow up with a chin jab with your left hand (Fig. 8).

Note. - Where the kick is to be made with the left foot, reverse the above. (W.E. Fairbairn, Get Tough)


If you'd like to see the application of low kicks in the sport of kickboxing, the video at the site below features a K.O. via a series of kicks to the leg. (Action starts about 1min.20sec. in.)

• KO'D AT SITMONCHAI – milkblitzstreetbomb - For example, I had the habit of annoying a past trainer by delivering low kicks during our pad sessions. He kept telling ... Sitmonchai fighters in contrast are known to utilize low kicks to disable their opponents by KO. Ironically ...