Have you kicked someone in a fight.

[Bruce7]

I was in a Friday morning class just before Christmas. There was just me, a good blue belt and the instructor.
We were talking about kicks and the blue belt said he would not use a certain kick in a fight. I thought back to all the fights I had before getting married and gaining sense. I said , I have never kicked anyone in a fight.
The instructor listed off good reasons not to kick, tight pants , slipper floor, etc. I appreciated the support, but the real reason was instinct. It was mostly punching as fast as possible and slipping his punches. It does not make sense, When I spar I kick at least 60% of the time. So why in a real fight I always used my hands?

Not in a tournament, but in a real fight have you kicked someone?

I am happy with and enjoy striking MA , but
maybe boxing and a grabbing art like (judo, bjj , Alikdo) is a is a better answer for self defense?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I have. It wasn't a Karate kick (though I'd started Karate by that time) - it was a soccer kick (several years of experience in that at the time).

In a fight, whether a kicker kicks will depend a lot upon the nature of the fight. If someone is bringing pressure, only a REALLY good kicker is likely to be able to use kicks effectively, because of the range, etc. But if someone starts it and lets you gain some separation before re-engaging, there's a reasonable opening for kicks.

When we spar against people who kick, they leave kicking room. When we spar conservatively, most of us leave kicking room. Brawling rarely leaves that kind of room, so kicks become less opportune.

 

[JowGaWolf]

It was mostly punching as fast as possible and slipping his punches. It does not make sense, When I spar I kick at least 60% of the time. So why in a real fight I always used my hands?

I'ved kicked in a fight and did it multiple times. Kicking 60% during sparring is a lot of times which makes me think that the kicks you are training are either not effective (Meaning point sparring kicks" or you don't train kicks with the goal of hurting another person.

If you spar with these types of kicks the reality probably sunk in really fast and you were able to determine that those types of kicks weren't going to stop your opponent.

If you don't train kicks to cause damage, meaning drawing full power from it, then you won't be able to in a fight. I think there was only one fight that I've had where I didn't use a kick, and in that fight I threw my attacker.

but
maybe boxing and a grabbing art like (judo, bjj , Alikdo) is a is a better answer for self defense?

This gives me some insight on how you train. You have doubt in your kicking. Those people who are confident that they can deal out some pain with a kick will often do so without doubt. If you don't think your strikes are powerful enough to use in a fight then you aren't going to use it. Real street fights have the unique ability of forcing us to only use what we have confidence in using. It's one thing to decide not to kick. It's another to be put in a situation where you don't think your kicking is effective so you don't do it. And questions like yours would never come up.

The only advice I can give you in regards to this is, if you want to be able to kick in a real fight then you have to train kicks to be effective and you have to train the kicks with the goal and focus to hurt someone else. It doesn't mean you blast on your training partners in sparring. It just means you'll need to abandon any kick designed for point sparring.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I don't, but at the same time I rarely kick when sparring. I do, to practice them, but it is very much a conscious effort.

 

[Bruce7]

I'ved kicked in a fight and did it multiple times. Kicking 60% during sparring is a lot of times which makes me think that the kicks you are training are either not effective (Meaning point sparring kicks" or you don't train kicks with the goal of hurting another person.

If you spar with these types of kicks the reality probably sunk in really fast and you were able to determine that those types of kicks weren't going to stop your opponent.

If you don't train kicks to cause damage, meaning drawing full power from it, then you won't be able to in a fight. I think there was only one fight that I've had where I didn't use a kick, and in that fight I threw my attacker.

This gives me some insight on how you train. You have doubt in your kicking. Those people who are confident that they can deal out some pain with a kick will often do so without doubt. If you don't think your strikes are powerful enough to use in a fight then you aren't going to use it. Real street fights have the unique ability of forcing us to only use what we have confidence in using. It's one thing to decide not to kick. It's another to be put in a situation where you don't think your kicking is effective so you don't do it. And questions like yours would never come up.

The only advice I can give you in regards to this is, if you want to be able to kick in a real fight then you have to train kicks to be effective and you have to train the kicks with the goal and focus to hurt someone else. It doesn't mean you blast on your training partners in sparring. It just means you'll need to abandon any kick designed for point sparring.

I could break bricks with my side kick, and I accidentally brought sparing partners to their knee with a side kick.
The fights I have been in, I did not think I just reacted.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I could break bricks with my side kick, and I accidentally brought sparing partners to their knee with a side kick.
The fights I have been in, I did not think I just reacted.

Then why do you doubt your kicks in a real fight?

 

[pdg]

Those people who are confident that they can deal out some pain with a kick will often do so without doubt. If you don't think your strikes are powerful enough to use in a fight then you aren't going to use it. Real street fights have the unique ability of forcing us to only use what we have confidence in using

This is actually not bad at all.

I think I'd be unlikely to punch with intent if put in a fight situation - because I don't consider my punches to be effective as a strike.

What I use would depend a little on what range I can either keep, or find myself in.

Longer range, it's definitely kicks - any punch is only going to be leading up to a kick.

Short range, elbows and knees.


That's partially because I don't train punches the same way I train kicks, and that's because I don't particularly enjoy punching.

Personally (and this will definitely be different for others) if my footing is stable enough to punch, it's stable enough to kick.

But then, I train kicking on every surface I can find - mud, snow, grass, gravel - and I make a point of varying the level and also the footwear.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Then why do you doubt your kicks in a real fight?

It sounded to me more that he was wondering if a non-kicking art would be more easily applicable, based upon his experience in not getting to use them, rather than specifically doubting his kicks.

 

[JowGaWolf]

It sounded to me more that he was wondering if a non-kicking art would be more easily applicable, based upon his experience in not getting to use them, rather than specifically doubting his kicks.

Oh if that's the case then I totally misread it. if that's the position that the OP is coming from then it's simple

Sometimes you use a kick and sometimes you don't. If you aren't in a position to use the kicks that you train then you won't be able to use it and as a result you'll do something else. The one thing I wouldn't do is take one fight and make the assumption that if you didn't kick in that fight that you won't be kicking in a future fight.

For example, the one fight that I didn't kick in, I did a throw. I had to do a throw because I was attacked from behind. The throw made more sense than trying to kick when I was in a bad position to do so.

Sorry about the misunderstanding OP.

 

[Bruce7]

It sounded to me more that he was wondering if a non-kicking art would be more easily applicable, based upon his experience in not getting to use them, rather than specifically doubting his kicks.

Thank you, that is what I am trying to say.
When I spar I have time to find his weakness. Plan an attack , if it fails he is not going to seriously hurt me.
The fights I have been in their was no time to make a plan. Slip punch and hit as fast as you can.

 

[Bruce7]

I don't, but at the same time I rarely kick when sparring. I do, to practice them, but it is very much a conscious effort.

I have train in kempo a short time, but I can see how with enough training you could react well in a fight.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I am happy with and enjoy striking MA , but
maybe boxing and a grabbing art like (judo, bjj , Alikdo) is a is a better answer for self defense?

The advantage of the throwing art over the striking art is:

A: Deal judge. We started with argument. I can't remember how did our bodies got tangled up. We both lose balance and fell. The back of his head hit on a rock. His death was a pure accident. I'm a peace loving person, and I'm 100% innocent.

 

[Martial D]

I was in a Friday morning class just before Christmas. There was just me, a good blue belt and the instructor.
We were talking about kicks and the blue belt said he would not use a certain kick in a fight. I thought back to all the fights I had before getting married and gaining sense. I said , I have never kicked anyone in a fight.
The instructor listed off good reasons not to kick, tight pants , slipper floor, etc. I appreciated the support, but the real reason was instinct. It was mostly punching as fast as possible and slipping his punches. It does not make sense, When I spar I kick at least 60% of the time. So why in a real fight I always used my hands?

Not in a tournament, but in a real fight have you kicked someone?

I am happy with and enjoy striking MA , but
maybe boxing and a grabbing art like (judo, bjj , Alikdo) is a is a better answer for self defense?

In a real fight the distance is usually less(in my experience at least). Angry men tend to charge in.

Perhaps this is why you have had less opertunity to kick in actual altercations when contrasted with sparring.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

When I spar I kick at least 60% of the time. So why in a real fight I always used my hands?

If you understand the risk that your kicking leg may be caught, you will kick less.

 

[pdg]

If you understand the risk that your kicking leg may be caught, you will kick less.

Or, you will learn to kick better.

 

[drop bear]

Thank you, that is what I am trying to say.
When I spar I have time to find his weakness. Plan an attack , if it fails he is not going to seriously hurt me.
The fights I have been in their was no time to make a plan. Slip punch and hit as fast as you can.

It is just because you are excited and so are doing less things.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Real fight? Kicks no. Knees and stomps yes. I might have field goaled a guy in the slats once in grade school. I fell on a couple of dudes, kinda feet first, not really a kick I guess. Hit some people with a monadnock upside the brain housing group.

 

[Deleted member 39746]

I don't really know how to kick at knee level while moving around so its a step sparring thing i have done.

in other words i prefer punching, i would probably front kick you, i can do them well enough if i wanted to.

 

[Buka]

A couple of times, yes. But that's over a very, very long time.

 

[JowGaWolf]

The fights I have been in their was no time to make a plan. Slip punch and hit as fast as you can.

Kicking works the same way, but if you aren't in a position to kick then it's not going to happen. I know about 10 different kicks that have different kicking distances. Not ever kick is a long range kick.

The first thing you have to do in order to kick in a fight is to take a stance in which you can kick from. If you have time to argue before the fight then you have time to position yourself in a stance that you can kick from. If you get attacked out of the blue then you can do what you need to do in order to create distance. You should be getting yourself in a kicking stance at the same time you are creating distance.