Lower belts keep kicking me in the groin. Need advice.

[Buka]

Do what is called a lazy check. Where you just twist your knee towards the kick. But keep both feet on the ground

I used to do some of those, too. I used to do a lot of things not so much anymore.

 

[dvcochran]

All rear leg kicks require body rotation that you may expose your center to your opponent. Boxers use a jab to set up a cross. IMO, it's better to use front leg kick to set up rear leg kick.

In another thread, someone asked the difference between the front leg side kick vs. the back leg side kick. After the body rotation, both kicks are the same. But in sparring, you try to avoid that "body rotation" that expose your center.

I would not say you 'show' rotation with a rear leg Front kick; at least you certainly should not. What a lot of people do is 'wind up' before any type of rear leg kick and give away their intent.
One thing I would do after a bit learning about a partner or competitor is change my stance to mostly to completely open. This will really make them guess if a rear leg is coming and what kick it will be.
I fully agree rear leg kicks are all about the setup.

Timing is paramount in a rear leg kick. If the opponent is moving back or getting ready to spin rear legs are very effective.

When you say 'body motion' are you saying a lot of upper body motion before the leg ever leaves the ground? If so I would say that is poor technique.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I would not say you 'show' rotation with a rear leg Front kick;

Let's define the centerline as a vertical line that comes out of the center of your chest.

When you have right leg forward, your centerline may point to the NW direction. When you kick your

- right leading leg, your centerline will remain pointing to NW.
- left rear leg, your center line will end of pointing to NE. There is a short moment that your centerline will point to N. Your opponent may take advantage on that.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Let's define the centerline as a vertical line that comes out of the center of your chest.

When you have right leg forward, your centerline may point to the NW direction. When you kick your

- right leading leg, your centerline will remain pointing to NW.
- left rear leg, your center line will end of pointing to NE. There is a short moment that your centerline will point to N. Your opponent may take advantage on that.

That assumes they have time to take advantage of it (i.e. you telegraph) and that you don't know how to guard (i.e. the OP here). Those are pretty big assumptions...

 

[dvcochran]

Let's define the centerline as a vertical line that comes out of the center of your chest.

When you have right leg forward, your centerline may point to the NW direction. When you kick your

- right leading leg, your centerline will remain pointing to NW.
- left rear leg, your center line will end of pointing to NE. There is a short moment that your centerline will point to N. Your opponent may take advantage on that.

I still say depends a lot on the kick and the choice of stance on the lead leg kick (this should always be the kickers choice).
There are linear kicks and rotational kicks. A lead leg front kick or side kick will maintain the same body position (with minor variance at times). A lead leg roundhouse does not have to rotate very much if the person has good flexibility.
A rear leg front kick or inside/outside crescent does does not have to change body position (relative to a compass).
I agree with your NE position for roundhouse, side, hook, etc...

 

[mograph]

I really miss the "informative" button sometimes....

Yeah, what remains are all emotions. (sigh)

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Some teachers only teach illegal techniques used in sport to their advance students. It will be used in the "unfriendly challenge" during the ancient time.

There's a lesson I learned a long time ago. Many people make the mistake of thinking that because certain techniques are illegal in certain combat sports, that practitioners of those arts don't know how to use them. Often what it really means is that they know how to use the techniques in a way that the ref doesn't see them. (Or in other cases, they know how many times they can get away with using them before they get a penalty.) Big difference.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

you make a valid point that a cup is required...but i dont seem to get any groin kicks at all from higher belts. although a cup is a good thing to have, isnt 50% of the issue still the fault of a lower belt's poor aim/flexibility?

Learn. To. Block. Your. Groin. Students who are apparently worse than you are kicking you in a vital area. You are responsible for you, protect yourself at all times. So why aren't you blocking your groin? Is your stance too open, is your guard too high? What hole in your game is allowing newbies to hurt you?

One reason I value sparring with beginners is because they lack control. The way I figure it, if an out of control newbie can accidentally hit me with a nut shot, head butt, elbow strike, eye poke, whatever, then someone in the street who was trying to hurt me could definitely have done the same. As the senior practitioner, I consider it my fault if they are able to accidentally hurt me.

That said, if the beginner I'm sparring with is being unsafe, I will offer them correction and guidance before I let them go off to spar another newbie who might not be so capable of defending themselves.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

There's a lesson I learned a long time ago. Many people make the mistake of thinking that because certain techniques are illegal in certain combat sports, that practitioners of those arts don't know how to use them. Often what it really means is that they know how to use the techniques in a way that the ref doesn't see them. (Or in other cases, they know how many times they can get away with using them before they get a penalty.) Big difference.

The most common one is when A throws B, A intentionally drops his body on top of B (pretend that A loses balance). Someone drops his straight elbow joint on my heart area. It almost killed me that day.

 

[caped crusader]

If you're getting knees dislocated during training, that's a red flag to me that there's a lack of safety and control in the room.

sounds like he´s nothing in control. I remember one such Dojo in Wado ryu where a brown belt was kicking beginners hard and enjoying it. He then met a guy who i spoke to before training who told me he had a black belt in something (can´t remember) he was kicking the crap out the Brown belt although he was starting in Wado Ryu as a white belt. The anger and frustration of the Brown belt was Gold! I know it´s the opposite to the OP but was funny.

 

[TenHands]

sounds like he´s nothing in control. I remember one such Dojo in Wado ryu where a brown belt was kicking beginners hard and enjoying it. He then met a guy who i spoke to before training who told me he had a black belt in something (can´t remember) he was kicking the crap out the Brown belt although he was starting in Wado Ryu as a white belt. The anger and frustration of the Brown belt was Gold! I know it´s the opposite to the OP but was funny.

*light bulb sound*
That's it! Whenever I spar lower belts, I dial it back a notch to account for their lack of experience (and subconsciously "let" them hit me from time to time to boost their confidence). This naturally causes me to move slower and lower my defenses. On the contrary, fighting a lightning-fast 2nd dan with a couple WKF gold medals under his belt sorta shifts my body into overdrive and become more alert/protective.
I wish I would have thought of this sooner. Thanks, Batman.

 

[caped crusader]

wish I would have thought of this sooner. Thanks, Batman.

Here to protect and serve.
The caped crusader

 

[JowGaWolf]

One reason I value sparring with beginners is because they lack control.

I like the unpredictability of newbies. They throw tend to throw a lot of irregular pattern type combos instead of the ones I'm used to see them. I like the my uncertainty of their control which makes me less willing to look for some of those common combos that we often see as we get used to sparring. They are the closest unknown to a stranger on the street. I never know how their previous experience or lack of it will come out.

I'm usually more concern with the possibility that their lack of control will cause them not to see my attack soon enough to put up some resistance. There were a couple of times I was thankful I wasn't sparring with more force because sometimes they will just totally misread everything and walk into punches that would otherwise result in some serious pain if not for my control.

I like brawlers for the same reason. They just come in with no other gear than drive and no other direction than forward. As for the punches and kicks that will come from a brawler, they often throw a wide variety with the hopes of pressing through the attack.

 

[WaterGal]

*light bulb sound*
That's it! Whenever I spar lower belts, I dial it back a notch to account for their lack of experience (and subconsciously "let" them hit me from time to time to boost their confidence). This naturally causes me to move slower and lower my defenses. On the contrary, fighting a lightning-fast 2nd dan with a couple WKF gold medals under his belt sorta shifts my body into overdrive and become more alert/protective.
I wish I would have thought of this sooner. Thanks, Batman.

Yeah, don't do that. IMO, it's good to reduce your power with lower belts (also smaller people) and maybe strike less often, but don't lower your defenses. Challenge them by dodging a lot.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Yeah, don't do that. IMO, it's good to reduce your power with lower belts (also smaller people) and maybe strike less often, but don't lower your defenses. Challenge them by dodging a lot.

I agree. I'll either lay off the power or use it as an opportunity to work on some skills that I suck in so I can improve in other areas.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I agree. I'll either lay off the power or use it as an opportunity to work on some skills that I suck in so I can improve in other areas.

I make it a point not to use things they haven't been taught yet.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I make it a point not to use things they haven't been taught yet.

are you concerned they may try to copy you?