# How to defend a front kick



## BBaylis1 (Sep 4, 2006)

Looking for advice on the best defense for a front kick.  My instructor numbered them "7 and 8", but im not sure if thats what they are always labeled as in most schools or just something he did.  Either way just looking for someone to shed some light on that subject for me.  

Thanks


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## chris_&#3617;&#3623;&#3618;&#3652;&#3607;&#3618; (Sep 4, 2006)

BBaylis1 said:


> Looking for advice on the best defense for a front kick. My instructor numbered them "7 and 8", but im not sure if thats what they are always labeled as in most schools or just something he did. Either way just looking for someone to shed some light on that subject for me.
> 
> Thanks


 

my instructor tought me to:

 just move back if its a slow one or

 push it sideways at the ankle with your hand or elbow (elbow is hard) , you defend with the same arm as leg (if they throw a left kick defend with the left arm and vice versa) , and push inwards , not outwards , this pushes their leg round instead of out , making them go off balance and they are defenceless against low round kicks at this point , or

if they are doing a low front kick just push with the knee or side of the shin , or

catch them at the ankle and hold it , then either:
 pull it backwards so they fall over or are hopping along and lose balance , kick the other leg so they go down ,
 elbow downwards at their knee 
or just lift it up as high as you can! (in a seld defence situation give them a good old knee in the balls while you are lifting their leg)


be sure to find out wich ones are legal in muay thai bouts , im pretty sure 1 or 2 of them are for self defence only

hope i helped

chris


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## chris_&#3617;&#3623;&#3618;&#3652;&#3607;&#3618; (Sep 4, 2006)

and i noticed you are a beginer in muay thai (i looked at your profile), so PM me if you have any questoins about any of the techniques , ive only been doing muay thai for about half a year but i have reached the advanced class quickly , maybe i train too much? lol

chris


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## Touch Of Death (Sep 5, 2006)

Jam it, slip it, push it aside, or keep away. It would all depend on where you were when the kick was thrown.
Sean


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## Drag'n (Sep 6, 2006)

2 common methods:

1: parry with palm or forearm,to outside of his ankle, using the opposite hand to his leg. (eg: he kicks right, you parry with left)You push straight across your front, so his leg goes past your right side.

2 scooping parry: scoop your arm down,  to outside of his ankle, with same hand as his leg(eg: he kicks left you parry left)

Either of these can also become a catch by hooking your hand under his ankle. From there come a number fo counter attacks.Pushing/pulling/lifting and kicking the base leg is probably the most common.


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## Thunder Foot (Sep 6, 2006)

Drag'n said:


> 2 common methods:
> 
> 1: parry with palm or forearm,to outside of his ankle, using the opposite hand to his leg. (eg: he kicks right, you parry with left)You push straight across your front, so his leg goes past your right side.
> 
> ...


I agree with this. I would also like to add, another common counter is the quarter turn or "angle off" and kick.


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## wee_blondie (Oct 4, 2006)

Two golden rules:

1 - Hit first

2 - Hit last

Best defense is always to get in there first! (in an ideal world)

Definately sweeping/scooping the leg.  We drill this quite a lot and although the natural technique would be (ie left leg) Scoop with the left hand, throw them round and follow up with a kick to the back of their thigh.  No doubt this works but in order to expose more targets you could catch the leg (left hand-palm up) and go to town with punches, elbows, spike knees to the leg etc etc etc and Goodnight!

*hope that made sense*


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## King (Oct 5, 2006)

Whoo nice, great tip guys. You folks already said what I wanted to say. The only other thing I could add is to take it then counter. Sometimes your opponent may use teeps to try to get you to lower your hands. So when you are busy catching or passing they may slip a cross or hook when your guard is down.  Since the front kick is linear always moving around your opponent makes you a harder target to hit. Great strategy for people who obsessively throw teeps.


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## Drag'n (Oct 14, 2006)

Thats true.
sometimes even just a slight twist of your waist is enough to make the kick slide off your sweaty abs and set you up nicely for a counter.


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