Low kicks/Thigh Kicks!!??!!

[Dobbersky]

How many of you practice and use low kicks/thigh kicks in your training and competition?

I find it is only the likes of Muay Thai, Kyokushin, Ashihara and Enshin plus other knockdown karate styles use them

Most Kick-boxing, Sports/Freestyle Karate, WKA/WKF rules karate schools tend to be Semi-contact and only kick above the waist.

Your thoughts please.

OSU!!!!

[joesteph]

When I changed my studies for a period of time to a fighting school, Shihan permitted me to use strikes to the legs because I couldn't kick high, and the understanding was that my sparring partners could do the same. We wore gear and practiced control, so no one was hurt and the sparring was great!

[ps1]

We use them in BJJ when we do no rules. Certainly not legal in grappling competitions however.

[evergrey]

*looks at bruises on thighs*

OSU.

[StrangeBacon]

*looks at bruises on thighs*

OSU.

Have to agree with this.

We dont compete however so low kicks are the norm since you just dont see them coming after a good snap punch. Worry the legs i say

[Kuma]

I first learned them in Goju Ryu.

[likeke34]

we practice low kicks a lot in our dojo (Shotokan)... I've had the opportunity to spar w/a lot of kyokushin guys and we also had a kickboxing champ from our dojo as well and when they taught or we sparred w/them, we used a lot of leg kicks... also, our sensei's cousin (whose base was shotokan), opened his own muay thai gym and trains mma fighters...

I think it's a very good thing to know how to throw and how to check leg kicks... i don't throw them too often because i tend to be more competition oriented, but once in a while i'll change things up and throw hard leg kicks...

our sensei was a crafty guy lol, he had a way of throwing leg kicks but disguising them as sweeps for tournaments... he taught it to me but it doesn't quite hurt when i throw it like it does when he throws it...

he's a huge fan of clinch work, elbows and knees... he was a tournament champion but when i was little and lost to a guy i literally beat up, he told me that he'd rather have me lose a match in a tournament but know that if it was a real fight i probably would've won...

well, that's my take on it haha

[wolverine uskf]

Just about every place i've studied has used leg kicks, but they weren't worried about tournaments, just defence, and kick boxing. My younger cousin was very good at throwing, and blocking leg kicks. I saw him win a fight against a much higher ranked fighter, with a shin block, outside leg kick, and inside leg kick combo, that put the guy on the mat because his leg was too numb to stand on. It was the first time i had seen leg kicks done well, and i was convinced of their usefulness.

[ShoriKid]

From a boy out of a Shorin Ryu background, I've trained and used low kicks for some time. Our standard sparring rules use them. Both round kicks and linear kicks are used to the leg and we use a lot of front kicks to the hip crease.

In my first Shorin Ryu school we didn't use them a lot, but our instructor liked them for self defense and we drilled a lot of very close range low kicks. He liked to sweep at the ankle/calf level to unbalance or turn you during sparring. Not a thigh kick I know, but it sure worked.

[joesteph]

Here's a video from a Muay Thai series on eHow:

"How to Toughen Up Your Legs for Kickboxing"

http://www.ehow.com/video_2353629_toughen-up-legs-kickboxing.html