Kick Catch

When you’re working on countering kicks, it’s a great idea to start by working against rear leg strikes – they give you the most time to think about what to do.  For tonight’s sparring class we worked against the rear leg front kick and the rear leg roundhouse.

Now this may get you wondering: do people actually throw rear leg kicks?  The answer is: yes.  Rear leg kicks can cover a ton of distance – so people use them for reach.  Rear leg kicks can deliver a huge amount of power – so people use them to hit hard.  So don’t worry, practicing against rear leg kicks is not some trip into martial fantasy land.

The sequence we practiced against kicks tonight went like this:

1. Stand and get kicked.
2. Angle off and avoid the kick.
3. Angle off and scoop the kick with an arm.
4. Angle off, scoop the kick and throw a counter strike.
5. Angle off, scoop the kick and sweep out the supporting leg.
6. Angle off, scoop the kick, sweep and then throw a counter strike against your (on the ground) partner.

After about 30 minutes of that, we sparred to see if we could get the technique to work against resistance.  To encourage rear leg kicking, any rear leg kick that landed was worth 2 points.  To encourage kick catching, any kick catch plus a counter was worth 3 points.