I love that Mike has gone from "side-kicks don't work" to "I'm gonna throw a side-kick in every single video I make, even a flying one if I can, and they always end up working". I guess that's Sensei Seth's long term influence at play. Thank you for the consistently great content.
That's why I keep watching and love this channel. Dude's really trying to give us what he finds out to be true, even if it contradicts his past ideas. That's what martial arts and self defense should be about.
"Half the mistakes you make are because you are lazy; The other half because you're a Coward." - Icy Mike More wisdom that needs to be on a front/back t-shirt/rash guard! Thanks as always, Coach!
So accurate. I geared myself up mentally for sparring practice yesterday. Magically I wasn't slow, ineffective, or tired, or injured and had a really good day doing it because I was ready to work and not afraid.
i love the consistency, almost everytime mike mentions a comment timestamp he lines it up with the video. Fun little detail to pause the video and look out for "at 8:07, he felll uhh fall off balance"
As a karate guy I naturally check kicks like that, however I always had trouble explaining how to check kicks and whenever I looked at the details of what I was doing I got confused. Thanks for clearing this up.
In our gym, the ideal check is balanced on the base leg, but includes a hip thrust (like a knee strike). This hurts them, but keeps you balanced, neither falling forward nor being knocked backward. The falling-forward, unbalanced check will work fine until the guy is good enough to pump fake you and then throw the kick as your weight is falling back to earth.
You don't need to be that forward heavy. It's kind of like football you need to be forward heavy enough to resist getting pushed back but not so much that you fall over yourself. And that's the job of a feint it's suppose to bait out a response for you to punish. If a feint works it doesn't have to be due to bad technique on the receiving side it's just cause they lost a footsy battle.
@whitewh1 You were taught correctly. Most of the finer details I was taught a long time ago aren't being taught now. And the kick check wheels inside out, not outside up. This guys also teaching incorrect kick check foot position.
Difficult to explain with typing but very easy to show. Always seek oldskool muay boran/muay Thai instruction. These people are teaching sports not true muay thai/boran which includes weapons and self defence. These guys are teaching to accept the full power of a kick. You aren't supposed to. The self defence side of old muay thai/muay boran teaches how to negate the kick and block it and hurt them at the same time. This guy is teaching people to just eat the kick. And incorrectly so. He admits at the start that instructors lie and admits he's guilty of it. He either knows truth and is lying or he doesn't know how to do it correctly. I've even seen the Thai boxing gyms in Thailand teaching incorrect clinch neck control and incorrect hand grips. They are teaching sports and the martial art is being diluted and abridged.
@branni6538 do you know of any good lineages or schools in particular I can learn from? I will probably never be in fights but I love the art and the history and I want to learn the real thing
Interesting! I’ve noticed the same thing when Thai fighters throw lead leg teeps: If you pause a video of them when they’re in the “chambered” position, they are leaning forward (all the way from their right foot to their head). There’s a level of forward commitment on Thai style strikes.
In Muay Thai we would also use the checks to offer an instant counter,either using a switch or head kick alot of the time where I trained. The switch kick was always my go-to for countering after a check. Love the vids man big up from the UK 💯
Strickland has always been very defensively sound. People just thought otherwise because of KO loss to Pereira. That was a pure offensive and defensive masterclass. Just good straight punches and Philly shell style defense, and yes, excellent checking of leg kicks. I'm still in awe that he beat Adesanya at his own game, with ZERO takedown attempts.
@stephengann5978 it was masteclass because sean was actually better than his last fight. In his last fight he had the philly shell in his chest from all ranges whiches why izzy was more favored to win, this fight sean comes in with a modified Philly shell for long to mid that he held up to his face and up close Philly shell on his chest
Checking kicks shin to shin hurts unless you have really great bones, dead nerves or just made of steel. A Thai coach told me evade or change angle to lessen the impact first if you can and checking kicks only as a last resort. But he had more of a Muay femur/evasion style of fighting. He still told us that being able to pressure or stand and bang was important . You just have to learn to block properly, accept and ignore the pain and trade Give more than you take he said. It's impossible not to get hit in a real fight with a good opponent.
One of the best videos you have posted. I usually reference getting the knee waist high and keep hands up. That puts the large part of the shin on the checking leg in position to check. If they "sneak" a body kick between the knee and elbow.....good for them.
Another lil trick you can do (but dont spam it) is after you lift knee to check kick instead of putting it down in the same spot spill your balance forward enough initially to follow their kick down with your knee a bit and sorta get a lightning footwork step-in and innitiate the dirtyboxing/standing grappling. Assuming you can get past their arm fencework during the step-in.
Great stuff. Well explained and explored through all the permutations. Meat and potatoes H2H. "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." -- this saying used to be on the wall in my team's gym. Also, if you're a nasty, mean kind of guy out to cripple someone, then right after a good check is a great time to throw the oblique kick or side kick to the knee. That's in a lot of close quarters styles -- southern Chinese kung fu and old Okinawan karate. In fact, Jesse Enkamp did a nifty video with Kevin Lee that showed a leg kick check immediately into a low sidekick to the knee without putting the foot back down. EDIT: I realize now that the short I'm referring to was filmed at your gym. Duh. LOL. No wonder the two lessons jived so well!
I don't know about ITF, but under World Tae Kwon Do rules it's illegal to check kicks. See Article 14. The following are prohibited acts a)Lifting the leg to block b)Kicking the opponent’s leg to impede the opponent’s kicking attack c)Kick was aiming to below the waist. (I don't make the rules, I'm just pointing out that checking is illegal).
@@juandenz2008In the 80s I checked body kicks in ITF and WTF matches. Because this was before MMA and Muay Thai popularity no one expected it, so it hurt and they stopped throwing round kicks to the body. But they probably stopped allowing it because it would have minimized kicking. And now I’m going to take my old butt to bed because I just did a “back in my day.”
@jestfullgremblim8002 it.might depend on the organization. My cousin teaches taekwando and they're allowed to check kicks at tournaments...at least they did a few yrs ago.
Thank you Mike. You see this is why I love martial arts and choose to be one. Even after almost 26 years in the field learning different arts, I can still learn something new from anyone and any art. I throw my ego to the trash and learning. One of the arts I practice is Muay Thai and I have been taught to check the kick the way you showed in the beginning. In my case I wasn't lazy I just didn't know the option exist.
Thank you for mentioning this; when checking kicks, I noticed that intentionally going off balance to the direction of the attacking kick is what keeps me stable upon receiving its impact
Awesome tips. Great stuff. Interestingly I study real Okinawa karate. So usually I just keep my trap shut rather than weather the prejudice. So while I will probably regret this…. Leg checks are part of the reason why the traditional back stance in Shorin Ryu splits weight 60/40 to the back foot. We also catch, pass or check block the kick with our leg check. So three options or styles of leg check can be done. The only way to do these is if you hold your position without shifting back. Check blocks with the leg are awesome entering moves.
I know I once saw Ernesto Hoost check a leg kick just by turning his knee slightly outwards, that check ended the fight. It was in a K1 tournament in the early 2000s and I think it was against Peter Aerts, if any of you remember the exact fight, please reply. Ever since then I saw leg kicks and checks in a very different light.
Absolutely loved this video, checking kicks this way was something I'd been thinking about for a bit. A request though, can you do a video on spear hand and the weird techniques where you hit with your fingers or the knuckles on your fingers? It would be awesome, thank you!
My big shame is that I did this Krav class forever, and they only ever sparred once a month, so they were basically just doing drills and stuff. Wish I had a serious place like yours near me at that time cause I wasted a lot of training time, and I was *dedicated* back then, man. Love the vids, I was thinking you had stopped posting but YT just stopped recommending me these. Gotta watch some manually to get the algorithm working for me.
A good way of getting advantage of checks from a wider stance like this is keeping your leg glued to his lower shin after the kick, and while he brings his leg back down to his position, sweep it. Controlling the opponent gloves/having contact with his guard to desestabilize him also helps the sweep.
Great advice indeed. I’m going to renew my subscription. “Checking” hurts; but not as much as getting kicked on the muscle! I never realized the Strong vs weak part of the shin block. That’s very important.
So, I watched the video today and tried doing that on sparring, my checks were waay better and it felt way easier to follow up with counters. Also one guy was limping a bit after a few of those (my upper chin is regular sore, but I only felt it later at home), so I guess it really hurts them more than you. I've always felt that the way Alex Pereira checks calf kicks was very weird, it kinda makes more sense now, cause I think he's básically doing this.
When i check kicks, half the time i don't even take my leg off the ground. I just lift my heel and that catches leg kicks at VERY low risk. Catches right in that sweet spot where your strong and they're weak. I taught it to a friend of mine and works for him too. Another sneaky trick i do is sometimes i time their kick and lift their leg with my knee, which is then super easy to catch and again, low risk.
"More than one way to skin a cat" is great advice. Too many people get too dogmatic about martial arts. I don't know what it is about MAists and finding the new truth. First time I ran into (literally) the forward stomping leg check, where the big part of his shin met the small part of mine was in a Monkey Kung Fu seminar of all places. Like in the late 80's or early 90's. I remember it hurt so much I didn't want to throw another leg kick for a week.
@hard2hurt I’m a karate guy, mostly, among other things. Any way, I do appreciate the small karate reference, “ate up with keg kicks” in this. I’ve tried to tell people the exact same thing you just said, but I guess cause I’m not “famous,” everyone thinks I’m full of it. Much respect for that one dude lol
I was taught this and similar when blocking punches too, then fire back with the shot as you will have 'naturally' torqued your body into lining up for you to fire a shot right back. Works great!
In a video by the Modern Martial Artist about Ernesto Hoost. He mentions that Hoost checks kicks by pulling his foot backward rather than lifting it up. Which is apparently also a good way to defend against calf kicks in mma
Theres difference in defense for beginners and as you become more advanced. You have to shell up more and have a tighter guard as a beginner because you're not really adept at seeing when/what an attack is and what it's targeting. It is evolving. Great video.
Here's a point you may not have considered also- in any form of melee combat, a powerful attack with a lot of leverage (like a kick, in unarmed combat arts) ONLY has significant impact out at the extent of its reach. It can do SOMETHING in the middle range maybe, but if you're very close when the strike lands, it will have almost no leverage, and therefore almost no force. So if you opt to shoot in instead of check the kick or dance out of range to tire your opponent out, you get inside and they don't hit you hard enough for it to matter. How does this help us counterattack though? Since this is especially useful against a naked kick to begin with, and that's what the whole conversation is about, they won't be keeping you at distance with their hands if you're trying to do this, so throw a short range, powerful punch when you shoot inside their guard, like a shovel hook to the liver. This is something I became more familiar with in swordsmanship than in unarmed combat, and I haven't sparred a lot using these kinds of principles in unarmed combat against kicks, but I have found this sort of thing to work well against people throwing long-range, full extension punches against me. Keep in mind where your opponent's kinetic energy is, and where it has to go, and you can see openings as their possible moves change based on how they position themselves. I really liked this video, love your content, always glad to see another video.
I try to block it with the SUPER thick bone right under my kneecap, or even push this bone into their kick. If I cant and gotta use lower shin then I try to angle my shin so it isnt a direct head on collision and sorta slides by bringing the foot in and giving them a slanted-shin to kick.
Pull elbow down towards knee when you do that and lean slightly forward . Try it although you may frog yourself . Now you can sweep the leg out position.
Great wisdom, its kinda like how you would receive a kick with a pad, just using your shin. Also kinda reminds me of when karate guys will throw a front kick and then step-jab/cross, just use the check as that first step to get your weight forward a bit. Thanks Mike!
I think the resting on the back leg while tap dancing is to invite leg kicks, much like the High Binocular Guard is to invite Body Kicks. Also a significant amount of Thai people have a lower COG.
No amount of qualifications or evidence will stop some TH-cam jabroni from trying to nitpick you, even telling them that you lie all the time won't help. That said, it's fun to listen to you making the effort. The world needs more people who push the idea that platonic ideals don't exist in reality. We'll never find the one perfect answer to everything, and we need to accept that from the smallest scale to the largest, the universe rewrites the rulebook all the time.
My Man! I honestly admit, you don't get the like until I see you "suffer" a bit. So, eating a good leg kick from Natalia =9 Thanks again for the content and keep ridin' the Pain Train for our entertainment!
I like to shift my weight to the side taking the hit when the hit comes. Incorporating checks into your movement and striking drills makes it fluid and convenient instead of a hassle of an option
In karate class we never checked kicks because we never did leg kicks. But after watching UFC and discovering the check, I started using it for the low roundhouse kicks. You should've seen the looks on their faces. Total shock. They work extremely well from a forward fighting stance.
I remember seeing someone use checking kicks while moving forward and employing one two combo's not too long ago in MMA. Might have been last night even... It was fairly effective from what I recall.
I like to attack the weak part of a leg while checking. This requires more focus and awareness to forward fall like you said and attack my check as a way to soften there legs. I don’t want to only absorb all the blows plus I have compact legs and powerful hips so dexterity in hip range allows me to lock and load-forward.
you use a posting arm to balance yourself in Muay Thai Mike, so the head going back is not a problem - try it, the shoulder and arm protects you very well
So Mike is secretly a student of Taekwondo? Noted. Seriously the more I watch of this guy, the more I'm convinced he is secretly training Taekwondo. It's funny how much martial arts creators hate on TKD, but they always end up including TKD methods for their fighting. This style of checking is bread and butter for it.
The best part about checking with the front leg from a wide stance is you dont even have to wait for the kick to land before you counter. You see it coming, you can start punching your opponent while checking because due to your balance you are already practically going forward.
Woooow! I watched your episodes on the perfect techniques in the bus and knife defense. TH-cam only now shows this channel. I'm a new subscriber now. Didn't know you were a street fighter either. 👌
dunno, if you fall forward, you're just asking for an counter hook, since the kicker also falls forward, but he has more time to make decisions since he's falling forward from kicking, and you're falling forward from checking, and if you're just staying in one spot not moving, then you're just susceptible to combos, a fight isn't a static thing, you got to have footwork, if i need to block, i'll do an sliding forward block, to reduce distance, lessen the damage taken, and since i'm in control of that situation, i can throw an free 2 hit punching combo at their body or head, and with the momentum from sliding forward, it'll pack an heavier force, although it might get blocked, and this might disorient them enough to do an slide back roundhouse kick, or instead all of that, straight into an knee into the sides after pulling the other guy by the clothes, neck, or hair, if he isn't counter striking after you get close, immediately after that throw an left hook towards the head, it doesn't matter if it doesn't land, since i'll be backing off so i'll get some distance back, so i can react to his moves better, situational awareness of how the other guy is going to move, or if behind me is an an wall or litter on the ground is important, depending on the situation, staying my ground(what you recommend) or even going backwards after the kick is desirable, so i can flee the situation, or do an wind up kick that needs more distance, like an back kick, or any spinning kicks, but i think the "staying your ground" block is more of an defense block, then an "fall back" block, since the other guy is likely to pursue, so you can used the distance from falling back, to set up an head kick, or something powerful, but if you use the stand your ground block, then when the other guy pursue you, you're immediately in punching/wrestling distance, like this 10:46 what if instead of falling back after kicking, she goes forward, then your switching round house won't do much, and you'll have to do an switching slide back roundhouse, or switch knee strike, but that'll devolve into an slug fest. wait, 10:48 can't she do an superman punch from this set up? you fall fowards, when she does an bait round house, your arm guards is wide from expecting an kick instead of punches, so it'll slide right to your face when she punches, but then you guys will be forced into doing ground grappling, since she pretty much did an tackle. then again, i'm not an expert, so what do i know.
Sunmary: check kicks in a way where your strongest shin part meets their weakest shin part Also don't shift your weight back when checking kicjs, instead stay controlled or even over balance yourself forwards so you can counter the kick. Also don't raise your leg high when checking kicks if you know its a low kick.
I think Charles Oliviera has one of the best leg checks for mma because it also avoids the calf kick. He points his knee forward and kicks his heel to his butt. I think the classic Muay Thai block is more for situations where you don’t know what’s coming and you want to block as many options as possible, it’s not the best option for any single attack it just defends against the most possible attacks at once. If you know exactly where the leg kick is going then of course hitting their lower shin or foots with your tibial tuberosity is gonna do the most damage, but it’s not always the case that you know where their kick is going exactly. It’s like how hypothetically you could catch a punch with your elbow, but realistically you just don’t have the timing/accuracy/reflexes to pull it off effectively.
You can, but because you set yourself up to land forward, it's makes it much easier to trip you or do some ankle pick or foot sweep. Not saying it's bad. Variations are awesome
Your so smart for having her in your videos, even if you didn't know what your taking about and were a total doofus I would still watch because of her! 🤣
Whenever I really sit and think about things everything boils down to "everything has trade offs, there is no right and no wrong simply choose the path for yourself and stick to it and do not waver". Honestly I feel like you could practice one kick your whole life and just learn to smash people with it if you want. Obviously it would depend on yourself your own build and your proclivities but right and wrong are simply two perspectives from different starting points.
Dalai Lama - 'Learn and obey the rules very well so you will know how to break them properly.' ...the japanese call it Shuhari "follow the rules, break the rules, transcend the rules". I've realized that almost all 'rules of thumb' are just training wheels for new people. Vague simplified instruction that covers the basics and develops motor skills.
4:00 if you stand like that after you check the kick you will get front foot swepts and kneed to the face (or uppecutted if your lucky). cant be standing in almost a split when youre allowed to kick or wrestle
So theoretically, one can induce a check by the opponent, who compensates the fake kick, landing on the lead leg, which can be blasted by a real kick, because now, there's a lot of weight on it, making it vulnerable.
You can raise your leg from that stance but I don't think it makes for good consistent defense against the attack. The example that comes to mind are Volkanovski vs Max 1 and 2. Max had a lot of trouble in the first fight against Volk's leg kicks and came out in the second fight with a narrower stance and was able to do a lot better in that department. Also perhaps I don't understand but If when you say 'you are lazy' you say it in regards of doing something that requires more energy than alternatives doing it a lot is liable to get you tired faster.
I used to spar with a guy who used his knee to check kicks. He’d aim it at my leg and it’d only hit maybe 1 out of 10 times and mostly my kick wouldn’t land clean. But that 1 out of 10…. woooo, that one would hurt!!
Having the lead leg so far forward takes your rear leg out of the possibility as an immediate weapon. My coach trained us to basically kick /knee back when checking a kick (after teaching us how to pull our leg back after kicking and the other necessities for control) so you dont lose your balance and you still have every 8 limb weapon available for a counter. -peace
In my work I have been in many many fights over decades. I rarely ever strike anyone, my primary purpose is to take them down and restrain them. I checked in here bc I have used that specific block successfully on the rare occasions someone was competent enough to try and kick me. Then I tangled their legs and put them down.
Can also use a kick to check a kick. But then it becomes a block. Still prevents the damage though and deters the attacker. If you raise the leg into a sort of axe kick rising to intercept the round kick it may knock down the opponent while it clashes into their shin. The blade of your shin will be hitting the flat of theirs. I've knocked people down with things like this and not only does it work but it embarrasses the opponent lowering their confidence if they were totally unaware of possibilities like this. What's also great is it puts you into a good position to side kick to their midsection or balancing leg as a retaliation if they didn't fall. It's brutal. 😄
I like to check leg kicks with my thigh and calves.... It works great for a little bit
Lull them into a false sense of security!
I like to use my neck. I've never had a fight last longer than 60 seconds, so it must be working.
@@hard2hurtthe nate diaz approach
@@hard2hurtso Thai Fighters don't know how to check Kicks
I like to block punches with my chin!
I love that Mike has gone from "side-kicks don't work" to "I'm gonna throw a side-kick in every single video I make, even a flying one if I can, and they always end up working". I guess that's Sensei Seth's long term influence at play.
Thank you for the consistently great content.
it could also be the getting nailed with a side kick by wonderboy without even realizing it until afterwards
Coaches lie. Were you not paying attention? 🤥
That's why I keep watching and love this channel. Dude's really trying to give us what he finds out to be true, even if it contradicts his past ideas. That's what martial arts and self defense should be about.
@@thallescastellani317that’s an excellent point actually^^
Character development
"Half the mistakes you make are because you are lazy;
The other half because you're a Coward." - Icy Mike
More wisdom that needs to be on a front/back t-shirt/rash guard! Thanks as always, Coach!
So accurate. I geared myself up mentally for sparring practice yesterday. Magically I wasn't slow, ineffective, or tired, or injured and had a really good day doing it because I was ready to work and not afraid.
This is generally true as to why people fail in general.
Some of this makes me realize how lazy I practice specific techniques sometimes that I needa work on
I would buy that.
A Bitter Truth, that must be faced.
The sooner the better
I like how you've edited it so that the check actually is at 8:07
Maybe because he does it in one take 😀
💀💀💀💀🤣
Came here to say this
i love the consistency, almost everytime mike mentions a comment timestamp he lines it up with the video. Fun little detail to pause the video and look out for
"at 8:07, he felll uhh fall off balance"
For the niche audience within the niche audience within the niche audience. I created that for you!
@@hard2hurt and we thank you
@@hard2hurt respect
NO FUCKIN WAY HE GOT IT LOL
😂😂😂😂
As a karate guy I naturally check kicks like that, however I always had trouble explaining how to check kicks and whenever I looked at the details of what I was doing I got confused. Thanks for clearing this up.
In our gym, the ideal check is balanced on the base leg, but includes a hip thrust (like a knee strike). This hurts them, but keeps you balanced, neither falling forward nor being knocked backward.
The falling-forward, unbalanced check will work fine until the guy is good enough to pump fake you and then throw the kick as your weight is falling back to earth.
You don't need to be that forward heavy. It's kind of like football you need to be forward heavy enough to resist getting pushed back but not so much that you fall over yourself.
And that's the job of a feint it's suppose to bait out a response for you to punish. If a feint works it doesn't have to be due to bad technique on the receiving side it's just cause they lost a footsy battle.
@whitewh1 You were taught correctly. Most of the finer details I was taught a long time ago aren't being taught now. And the kick check wheels inside out, not outside up. This guys also teaching incorrect kick check foot position.
@@branni6538what is the correct position?
Difficult to explain with typing but very easy to show. Always seek oldskool muay boran/muay Thai instruction. These people are teaching sports not true muay thai/boran which includes weapons and self defence. These guys are teaching to accept the full power of a kick. You aren't supposed to. The self defence side of old muay thai/muay boran teaches how to negate the kick and block it and hurt them at the same time. This guy is teaching people to just eat the kick. And incorrectly so. He admits at the start that instructors lie and admits he's guilty of it. He either knows truth and is lying or he doesn't know how to do it correctly. I've even seen the Thai boxing gyms in Thailand teaching incorrect clinch neck control and incorrect hand grips. They are teaching sports and the martial art is being diluted and abridged.
@branni6538 do you know of any good lineages or schools in particular I can learn from? I will probably never be in fights but I love the art and the history and I want to learn the real thing
Interesting! I’ve noticed the same thing when Thai fighters throw lead leg teeps: If you pause a video of them when they’re in the “chambered” position, they are leaning forward (all the way from their right foot to their head). There’s a level of forward commitment on Thai style strikes.
ผมรู้สึกดีที่คุณศึกษามวยไทยจากการดูนักสู้ชาวไทย
You should have Jay back! I miss seeing him, a good ol’ video where you have a competition with Jay on who can take more leg kicks would be great.
In Muay Thai we would also use the checks to offer an instant counter,either using a switch or head kick alot of the time where I trained. The switch kick was always my go-to for countering after a check. Love the vids man big up from the UK 💯
I just watched Sean Strickland check kicks for 25 minutes straight I think I'm an expert at this now
Strickland has always been very defensively sound. People just thought otherwise because of KO loss to Pereira. That was a pure offensive and defensive masterclass. Just good straight punches and Philly shell style defense, and yes, excellent checking of leg kicks. I'm still in awe that he beat Adesanya at his own game, with ZERO takedown attempts.
He checked 2 leg kicks in a row . It was incredible .
@stephengann5978 it was masteclass because sean was actually better than his last fight. In his last fight he had the philly shell in his chest from all ranges whiches why izzy was more favored to win, this fight sean comes in with a modified Philly shell for long to mid that he held up to his face and up close Philly shell on his chest
he learnt some things from training with Pereira @@SuperZombiezero
Checking kicks shin to shin hurts unless you have really great bones, dead nerves or just made of steel. A Thai coach told me evade or change angle to lessen the impact first if you can and checking kicks only as a last resort. But he had more of a Muay femur/evasion style of fighting. He still told us that being able to pressure or stand and bang was important . You just have to learn to block properly, accept and ignore the pain and trade Give more than you take he said. It's impossible not to get hit in a real fight with a good opponent.
I think that's true. Footwork is most always the best defence.
Underrated comment
One of the best videos you have posted. I usually reference getting the knee waist high and keep hands up. That puts the large part of the shin on the checking leg in position to check. If they "sneak" a body kick between the knee and elbow.....good for them.
Another lil trick you can do (but dont spam it) is after you lift knee to check kick instead of putting it down in the same spot spill your balance forward enough initially to follow their kick down with your knee a bit and sorta get a lightning footwork step-in and innitiate the dirtyboxing/standing grappling. Assuming you can get past their arm fencework during the step-in.
Great stuff. Well explained and explored through all the permutations. Meat and potatoes H2H.
"Fatigue makes cowards of us all." -- this saying used to be on the wall in my team's gym.
Also, if you're a nasty, mean kind of guy out to cripple someone, then right after a good check is a great time to throw the oblique kick or side kick to the knee. That's in a lot of close quarters styles -- southern Chinese kung fu and old Okinawan karate. In fact, Jesse Enkamp did a nifty video with Kevin Lee that showed a leg kick check immediately into a low sidekick to the knee without putting the foot back down.
EDIT: I realize now that the short I'm referring to was filmed at your gym. Duh. LOL. No wonder the two lessons jived so well!
As a tkd guy, I've started checking kicks to the body, since we don't do leg kicks, and it's absolutely great at allowing you to counter quickly
That's good
But it would benefit you to train with legkicks once in a while imo
But i was told that people arw not allowed to check kicks with the legs in TKD??
I don't know about ITF, but under World Tae Kwon Do rules it's illegal to check kicks. See Article 14. The following are prohibited acts a)Lifting the leg to block b)Kicking the opponent’s leg to impede the opponent’s kicking attack c)Kick was aiming to below the waist. (I don't make the rules, I'm just pointing out that checking is illegal).
@@juandenz2008In the 80s I checked body kicks in ITF and WTF matches. Because this was before MMA and Muay Thai popularity no one expected it, so it hurt and they stopped throwing round kicks to the body. But they probably stopped allowing it because it would have minimized kicking.
And now I’m going to take my old butt to bed because I just did a “back in my day.”
@jestfullgremblim8002 it.might depend on the organization. My cousin teaches taekwando and they're allowed to check kicks at tournaments...at least they did a few yrs ago.
12:16 such a good callback
LIEG MOSSLE 🦵
“Half the mistakes you make are because you’re lazy the other half are because you’re a coward” sounding like my dad 😅😔
Wow good advice
Blue balled us with the LEG MUSCLE 😂😂
Thank you Mike. You see this is why I love martial arts and choose to be one. Even after almost 26 years in the field learning different arts, I can still learn something new from anyone and any art. I throw my ego to the trash and learning. One of the arts I practice is Muay Thai and I have been taught to check the kick the way you showed in the beginning. In my case I wasn't lazy I just didn't know the option exist.
Thank you for mentioning this; when checking kicks, I noticed that intentionally going off balance to the direction of the attacking kick is what keeps me stable upon receiving its impact
Awesome tips. Great stuff.
Interestingly I study real Okinawa karate. So usually I just keep my trap shut rather than weather the prejudice. So while I will probably regret this….
Leg checks are part of the reason why the traditional back stance in Shorin Ryu splits weight 60/40 to the back foot.
We also catch, pass or check block the kick with our leg check. So three options or styles of leg check can be done. The only way to do these is if you hold your position without shifting back.
Check blocks with the leg are awesome entering moves.
I know I once saw Ernesto Hoost check a leg kick just by turning his knee slightly outwards, that check ended the fight. It was in a K1 tournament in the early 2000s and I think it was against Peter Aerts, if any of you remember the exact fight, please reply. Ever since then I saw leg kicks and checks in a very different light.
That's how I learned to check a kick from my coach, turn the knee to the side so you catch the weak part of their leg on the strong part of your shin.
That's common practice I wouldn't agree with a lot of the things this guy said but there's always different ways of doing things
Can we not say LEG MUSCLE!!! anymore
We all saw him say it in our minds
Gotta love how all of Mike's students hesitate to answer his questions. They've all been burned too much lmao.
The energy of this channel is amazing
Absolutely loved this video, checking kicks this way was something I'd been thinking about for a bit.
A request though, can you do a video on spear hand and the weird techniques where you hit with your fingers or the knuckles on your fingers? It would be awesome, thank you!
You mean the phoenix eye fist? Yeah that would be interesting to see too
The double tease!
You are the best!
And Mike, you contributed to Jesses knowledge. Still imcredible
Great work Natalia! As usual, your technique is on point.
I can’t express to you on how much I enjoyed this video
Love your enthusiasm and passion for the sport! Respect man, you're a phenomenal coach💯
The leg muscle cut gag is driving me crazy, keep it up 🙏🏻
Mike sure does love to teach. And we love watching it 🤓
Absolutely right and for round-housing, kneeing and blocking, I develop my tibialis anterior muscles and never strike with the joints.
My big shame is that I did this Krav class forever, and they only ever sparred once a month, so they were basically just doing drills and stuff. Wish I had a serious place like yours near me at that time cause I wasted a lot of training time, and I was *dedicated* back then, man. Love the vids, I was thinking you had stopped posting but YT just stopped recommending me these. Gotta watch some manually to get the algorithm working for me.
This is one of your best videos yet in my opinion! It's not easy for most to make a good tutorial entertaining.
A good way of getting advantage of checks from a wider stance like this is keeping your leg glued to his lower shin after the kick, and while he brings his leg back down to his position, sweep it. Controlling the opponent gloves/having contact with his guard to desestabilize him also helps the sweep.
Great advice indeed. I’m going to renew my subscription. “Checking” hurts; but not as much as getting kicked on the muscle! I never realized the Strong vs weak part of the shin block. That’s very important.
So, I watched the video today and tried doing that on sparring, my checks were waay better and it felt way easier to follow up with counters.
Also one guy was limping a bit after a few of those (my upper chin is regular sore, but I only felt it later at home), so I guess it really hurts them more than you.
I've always felt that the way Alex Pereira checks calf kicks was very weird, it kinda makes more sense now, cause I think he's básically doing this.
12:18 the powered up "LEG MOSSELS" was about to go so hard he had to censor it!
When i check kicks, half the time i don't even take my leg off the ground. I just lift my heel and that catches leg kicks at VERY low risk. Catches right in that sweet spot where your strong and they're weak. I taught it to a friend of mine and works for him too. Another sneaky trick i do is sometimes i time their kick and lift their leg with my knee, which is then super easy to catch and again, low risk.
This is why you're a legend Icy Mike. Keep it up.
"More than one way to skin a cat" is great advice. Too many people get too dogmatic about martial arts. I don't know what it is about MAists and finding the new truth. First time I ran into (literally) the forward stomping leg check, where the big part of his shin met the small part of mine was in a Monkey Kung Fu seminar of all places. Like in the late 80's or early 90's. I remember it hurt so much I didn't want to throw another leg kick for a week.
@hard2hurt I’m a karate guy, mostly, among other things. Any way, I do appreciate the small karate reference, “ate up with keg kicks” in this. I’ve tried to tell people the exact same thing you just said, but I guess cause I’m not “famous,” everyone thinks I’m full of it. Much respect for that one dude lol
I was taught this and similar when blocking punches too, then fire back with the shot as you will have 'naturally' torqued your body into lining up for you to fire a shot right back. Works great!
In a video by the Modern Martial Artist about Ernesto Hoost. He mentions that Hoost checks kicks by pulling his foot backward rather than lifting it up. Which is apparently also a good way to defend against calf kicks in mma
Indeed, he was able to injure some opponents that way, so, not veery nice to do that on partners, but if it ends a fight, then great.
@@Guitarraeficaztutorialesytabs if you're wearing shin pads it's not that bad during sparring
@@jacksypher3403 you are right 100%
Theres difference in defense for beginners and as you become more advanced. You have to shell up more and have a tighter guard as a beginner because you're not really adept at seeing when/what an attack is and what it's targeting.
It is evolving.
Great video.
Love your coaching and energy, brother! 🙏🏽
Here's a point you may not have considered also- in any form of melee combat, a powerful attack with a lot of leverage (like a kick, in unarmed combat arts) ONLY has significant impact out at the extent of its reach. It can do SOMETHING in the middle range maybe, but if you're very close when the strike lands, it will have almost no leverage, and therefore almost no force. So if you opt to shoot in instead of check the kick or dance out of range to tire your opponent out, you get inside and they don't hit you hard enough for it to matter. How does this help us counterattack though? Since this is especially useful against a naked kick to begin with, and that's what the whole conversation is about, they won't be keeping you at distance with their hands if you're trying to do this, so throw a short range, powerful punch when you shoot inside their guard, like a shovel hook to the liver.
This is something I became more familiar with in swordsmanship than in unarmed combat, and I haven't sparred a lot using these kinds of principles in unarmed combat against kicks, but I have found this sort of thing to work well against people throwing long-range, full extension punches against me. Keep in mind where your opponent's kinetic energy is, and where it has to go, and you can see openings as their possible moves change based on how they position themselves.
I really liked this video, love your content, always glad to see another video.
I try to block it with the SUPER thick bone right under my kneecap, or even push this bone into their kick. If I cant and gotta use lower shin then I try to angle my shin so it isnt a direct head on collision and sorta slides by bringing the foot in and giving them a slanted-shin to kick.
haven't heard you say the half n half mistakes line in a while. refreshing
Great video! When I was a teen I just kicked any kicks coming at me as I didn't know any other way. My sparring partner's legs were full of bruises.
Pull elbow down towards knee when you do that and lean slightly forward . Try it although you may frog yourself . Now you can sweep the leg out position.
Great wisdom, its kinda like how you would receive a kick with a pad, just using your shin. Also kinda reminds me of when karate guys will throw a front kick and then step-jab/cross, just use the check as that first step to get your weight forward a bit. Thanks Mike!
I think the resting on the back leg while tap dancing is to invite leg kicks, much like the High Binocular Guard is to invite Body Kicks.
Also a significant amount of Thai people have a lower COG.
No amount of qualifications or evidence will stop some TH-cam jabroni from trying to nitpick you, even telling them that you lie all the time won't help. That said, it's fun to listen to you making the effort.
The world needs more people who push the idea that platonic ideals don't exist in reality. We'll never find the one perfect answer to everything, and we need to accept that from the smallest scale to the largest, the universe rewrites the rulebook all the time.
I'm glad you saying this cuz I've been teaching this to my guys for a few months and it been working moving on to using the momentum to counter
My Man! I honestly admit, you don't get the like until I see you "suffer" a bit. So, eating a good leg kick from Natalia =9
Thanks again for the content and keep ridin' the Pain Train for our entertainment!
Icy Mike just got back from helping Sean Strickland win that fight apparently 😆
You're the Michael Scott of Kickboxing instructors, always a blast watching your videos 😂😂
Roger Denton taught me this years ago. It’s also a really good set up to throw the cross after.
8:20 90 degrees defense against low kicks
I like to shift my weight to the side taking the hit when the hit comes.
Incorporating checks into your movement and striking drills makes it fluid and convenient instead of a hassle of an option
In karate class we never checked kicks because we never did leg kicks. But after watching UFC and discovering the check, I started using it for the low roundhouse kicks. You should've seen the looks on their faces. Total shock. They work extremely well from a forward fighting stance.
What kind of karate is that?
LMAO That "Never do this. You do this your fired" caught me off guard 2:17
I remember seeing someone use checking kicks while moving forward and employing one two combo's not too long ago in MMA. Might have been last night even... It was fairly effective from what I recall.
You might want to hold your arms up and move more 😮
I like to attack the weak part of a leg while checking. This requires more focus and awareness to forward fall like you said and attack my check as a way to soften there legs. I don’t want to only absorb all the blows plus I have compact legs and powerful hips so dexterity in hip range allows me to lock and load-forward.
you use a posting arm to balance yourself in Muay Thai Mike, so the head going back is not a problem - try it, the shoulder and arm protects you very well
So Mike is secretly a student of Taekwondo? Noted. Seriously the more I watch of this guy, the more I'm convinced he is secretly training Taekwondo. It's funny how much martial arts creators hate on TKD, but they always end up including TKD methods for their fighting. This style of checking is bread and butter for it.
"A check is a poorly excecuted destruction." If i remember it correctly that's a quote from Dan Inosanto ;-) Goes totally in line with the vid! Nice
..the way you showed it here also takes economy of motion in consideration.
The best part about checking with the front leg from a wide stance is you dont even have to wait for the kick to land before you counter. You see it coming, you can start punching your opponent while checking because due to your balance you are already practically going forward.
Woooow! I watched your episodes on the perfect techniques in the bus and knife defense. TH-cam only now shows this channel. I'm a new subscriber now. Didn't know you were a street fighter either. 👌
dunno, if you fall forward, you're just asking for an counter hook, since the kicker also falls forward, but he has more time to make decisions since he's falling forward from kicking, and you're falling forward from checking, and if you're just staying in one spot not moving, then you're just susceptible to combos, a fight isn't a static thing, you got to have footwork, if i need to block, i'll do an sliding forward block, to reduce distance, lessen the damage taken, and since i'm in control of that situation, i can throw an free 2 hit punching combo at their body or head, and with the momentum from sliding forward, it'll pack an heavier force, although it might get blocked, and this might disorient them enough to do an slide back roundhouse kick, or instead all of that, straight into an knee into the sides after pulling the other guy by the clothes, neck, or hair, if he isn't counter striking after you get close, immediately after that throw an left hook towards the head, it doesn't matter if it doesn't land, since i'll be backing off so i'll get some distance back, so i can react to his moves better, situational awareness of how the other guy is going to move, or if behind me is an an wall or litter on the ground is important, depending on the situation, staying my ground(what you recommend) or even going backwards after the kick is desirable, so i can flee the situation, or do an wind up kick that needs more distance, like an back kick, or any spinning kicks, but i think the "staying your ground" block is more of an defense block, then an "fall back" block, since the other guy is likely to pursue, so you can used the distance from falling back, to set up an head kick, or something powerful, but if you use the stand your ground block, then when the other guy pursue you, you're immediately in punching/wrestling distance, like this 10:46 what if instead of falling back after kicking, she goes forward, then your switching round house won't do much, and you'll have to do an switching slide back roundhouse, or switch knee strike, but that'll devolve into an slug fest. wait, 10:48 can't she do an superman punch from this set up? you fall fowards, when she does an bait round house, your arm guards is wide from expecting an kick instead of punches, so it'll slide right to your face when she punches, but then you guys will be forced into doing ground grappling, since she pretty much did an tackle. then again, i'm not an expert, so what do i know.
If it's Blocked,, it Blocked,, if it's Checked it's....... Checked..
Have fun . You now know everything.. cheers from Huntington Beach CA 🇺🇸
Good lesson. And good fighter lady. Thanks
Sunmary: check kicks in a way where your strongest shin part meets their weakest shin part
Also don't shift your weight back when checking kicjs, instead stay controlled or even over balance yourself forwards so you can counter the kick. Also don't raise your leg high when checking kicks if you know its a low kick.
I think Charles Oliviera has one of the best leg checks for mma because it also avoids the calf kick. He points his knee forward and kicks his heel to his butt.
I think the classic Muay Thai block is more for situations where you don’t know what’s coming and you want to block as many options as possible, it’s not the best option for any single attack it just defends against the most possible attacks at once.
If you know exactly where the leg kick is going then of course hitting their lower shin or foots with your tibial tuberosity is gonna do the most damage, but it’s not always the case that you know where their kick is going exactly. It’s like how hypothetically you could catch a punch with your elbow, but realistically you just don’t have the timing/accuracy/reflexes to pull it off effectively.
Now that I think about it, checking with the lead leg and shifting the weight onto it would be a good setup for a Falling Step or Gazelle Punch.
Found this video after the wonderboy collab one, this is awesome! Thank you! 🙏🏾
You can, but because you set yourself up to land forward, it's makes it much easier to trip you or do some ankle pick or foot sweep.
Not saying it's bad. Variations are awesome
Your so smart for having her in your videos, even if you didn't know what your taking about and were a total doofus I would still watch because of her! 🤣
Could we get a breakdown of one of the biggest upsets in mma??
This was GREAT !!! 👍🏿
Whenever I really sit and think about things everything boils down to "everything has trade offs, there is no right and no wrong simply choose the path for yourself and stick to it and do not waver". Honestly I feel like you could practice one kick your whole life and just learn to smash people with it if you want. Obviously it would depend on yourself your own build and your proclivities but right and wrong are simply two perspectives from different starting points.
Dalai Lama - 'Learn and obey the rules very well so you will know how to break them properly.' ...the japanese call it Shuhari "follow the rules, break the rules, transcend the rules". I've realized that almost all 'rules of thumb' are just training wheels for new people. Vague simplified instruction that covers the basics and develops motor skills.
13:48 the Bruce lee “waaaaaaaaa” really rounded out and completed this video for me
Please make video on teep Defense
4:00 if you stand like that after you check the kick you will get front foot swepts and kneed to the face (or uppecutted if your lucky). cant be standing in almost a split when youre allowed to kick or wrestle
nicely timed with Sean Stricklands win.
So theoretically, one can induce a check by the opponent, who compensates the fake kick, landing on the lead leg, which can be blasted by a real kick, because now, there's a lot of weight on it, making it vulnerable.
Best sparring on Tube ever!
You can raise your leg from that stance but I don't think it makes for good consistent defense against the attack. The example that comes to mind are Volkanovski vs Max 1 and 2. Max had a lot of trouble in the first fight against Volk's leg kicks and came out in the second fight with a narrower stance and was able to do a lot better in that department.
Also perhaps I don't understand but If when you say 'you are lazy' you say it in regards of doing something that requires more energy than alternatives doing it a lot is liable to get you tired faster.
I used to spar with a guy who used his knee to check kicks. He’d aim it at my leg and it’d only hit maybe 1 out of 10 times and mostly my kick wouldn’t land clean. But that 1 out of 10…. woooo, that one would hurt!!
Having the lead leg so far forward takes your rear leg out of the possibility as an immediate weapon. My coach trained us to basically kick /knee back when checking a kick (after teaching us how to pull our leg back after kicking and the other necessities for control) so you dont lose your balance and you still have every 8 limb weapon available for a counter.
-peace
In my work I have been in many many fights over decades.
I rarely ever strike anyone, my primary purpose is to take them down and restrain them.
I checked in here bc I have used that specific block successfully on the rare occasions someone was competent enough to try and kick me.
Then I tangled their legs and put them down.
I need a new Hard to Hurt Fight Seminar and T-shirt.
I do the Ernesto Hoost check, where I turn the hips to basically attack the kick
That was brilliant and very very well explained. Thank you.
Where you talked about checking the kick with the strong part to their week, we call that a t- block and it’s like kicking a fence post😅
Can also use a kick to check a kick. But then it becomes a block. Still prevents the damage though and deters the attacker. If you raise the leg into a sort of axe kick rising to intercept the round kick it may knock down the opponent while it clashes into their shin. The blade of your shin will be hitting the flat of theirs. I've knocked people down with things like this and not only does it work but it embarrasses the opponent lowering their confidence if they were totally unaware of possibilities like this. What's also great is it puts you into a good position to side kick to their midsection or balancing leg as a retaliation if they didn't fall. It's brutal. 😄