MMA Do you bother with high flashy kicks.??

Millionaire · 31-05-2006 12:39pm #1

I m just curious about this...

actually this is not totally aimed at MMA, can be anyone really.

I assume that alot of MMA people on here did karate or TKD etc etc
before they got involved in MMA.

Now, back in the TMA days...you probably did hook kicks, spinning kicks, high kicks, and maybe spent a bit of time to make them flashy looking!

I know i definately did, I was good at high kicks, and I could throw a good blast of round house and hook kicks, fast off the one leg with putting the leg down. not very pratical...but it looked cool, at the time, and it sure help my more basic kicks.

I do 95% thai now, so I do not do those kicks, and rarely train them, which means I have sort of lost the ability to do them.

do you guys bother with the likes of this....for "old time sake" or are you happy just to forget about them sort of kicks, and concentrate on the more functional ones.??

for example I know John Kav and Colm O Reilly were Kenpo guys, and now have a very different training ethos... and I wonder can the lads still whip out a few old style karate kicks? or do they bother with this anymore???

sometimes myself i feel a bit shamed i let me flashy kicks go.. though i defo have more powerful kicks than ever before!!

Colm_OReilly · 31-05-2006 12:45pm

Everytime I'm on the mats I make it a point to do one jumpy spinny kiai kick just for,errr...kicks!

I haven't done any stand up training in a while now though...too busy looking good to get punched in the face.

Millionaire · 31-05-2006 4:47pm

I do a few at least once a week too ...just to be a show off! and the thais cannot do them LOL!! though its getting harder!!! thats mid 30s for ya!

so does Kav do them or not???

I guess Tim in UL Kickboxing probably does some still???

as per others post my knees have seen better days, so I am obsessed with mastery of the right cross!

any to the point...more about kicks???

Clive · 31-05-2006 6:22pm

You'd better believe it baby - I bust them out every chance I get!

Roper · 31-05-2006 7:06pm

I always throw a flash one in when I'm sparring- Roper style!:D I do this spinning kick where my long flowing hair catches up with my leg and whips them across the face right after my foot kicks them.

Baggio... · 31-05-2006 8:06pm

Err... I'm the odd one out then. My jumpy spinny kicks are pretty much gone. My side kick has become pretty low (my tendons!). All my kicks now are just ballistic kicks aimed at the legs. But I don't really use 'em much (although I still practice them quite a bit). I still like to do those rapid fire round house kicks for the laugh. I did it a while back but I injured myself though, getting old...Wheeze:( . I kinda regret losing the kicks, but I think it's better to spend the time on my hands these days.

maccavelli · 31-05-2006 9:00pm

Some of our Thaiboxers have TKD backgrounds and implement some of the fancier kicks while competing. They can do this cause they have a strong Thaiboxing delievery system and can make it work for them.

That being said fancy kicks are what martial arts are all about

Baggio... · 31-05-2006 9:11pm

"That being said fancy kicks are what martial arts are all about"

Can't say I'd agree...But whatever floats yer boat.:)

maccavelli · 31-05-2006 9:32pm

Was kinda joking.

But when people thing martial arts they are thinking of spinning, flying or spinning and flying kicks.

Baggio... · 31-05-2006 9:58pm

It's true...:)

Jean Claude has a lot to answer for. Kidding - he was bitchin' when I was growing Up.

Later,

B.

Millionaire · 01-06-2006 2:49am

their fun to do and look cool!

its amazing how quick you can loose them..

is 30 mins of time stretching a day worth the time investment to be able to flick out a few snappy kicks???

since I stopped stretching, the kicks have faded.

Black Swan · 01-06-2006 7:39am

Flashy kicks in TKD, etc.? If I recall, when watching the last Olympic (2004)taekwondo matches, there were very few fancy kicks, although I do remember a relatively small Korean male dropping a very tall (Greek?) opponent with one axe kick to the head. American male second time gold medalist Lopez used a couple flashy kicks, but the women competitors mostly used the roundhouse (then hug your opponent to avoid a counter kick routine).

In American TKD tournaments, I have found that an occasional fast reverse spin kick to the head catches many an opponent off guard and is worth two points. Depending on the tournament rules for head contact (and the way the judges rule), that one reverse spin kick may be the last blow delivered.

Baggio... · 01-06-2006 9:06am

It's all in the stretch...

However, I never stretch now (I warm up by doing techniques slowly instead. At one point I could do the side splits (that was back in the Shotokan days). If I tried that now I'd have a ruptured spleen. Although I do still have a soft spot for some of those cool kicks - they look great!

Millionaire · 01-06-2006 10:24am

I rarely stretch this year. though last year in 2005, I stretched a few times a week. yeah I could side split back then too, now...not a chance!

If I had more time I would stretch. I like the feeling of a good stretch routine.

Black Swan · 02-06-2006 7:12pm

Baggio... wrote:

It's all in the stretch...

However, I never stretch now (I warm up by doing techniques slowly instead. At one point I could do the side splits (that was back in the Shotokan days). If I tried that now I'd have a ruptured spleen. Although I do still have a soft spot for some of those cool kicks - they look great!

You are right about the stretch. It's key. We stretch extensively before practice everyday during warmups. And recently, we now end our training with a few stretches. Over the past year it seems that shots to the head with fast, balanced spin kicks have increased in California competitions. My favorite is a fast reverse spin to the head, cause many opponents don't see it coming.

Tim_Murphy · 06-06-2006 10:22am

I guess Tim in UL Kickboxing probably does some still???

damn straight! There's no point training if you don't look cool!:cool:

I think once you get a good base in Thai style sparring then you can start to work some of the other stuff back in, although the only one of the flashier kicks I use anymore is the back kick, which has been known to drop a few people on occassion.

Millionaire · 06-06-2006 10:56am

I find over here in thailand, that in sparring in the gym, I can whip a hook kick in, straight over the lads guard, and brush them in the face!!!
LOL!!! it frightens the bejaysus out of them, and most have never seen flashy kicks! LOL!!! Though I would only slip in one on a rare occassion!

I also find a good old side kick to the chest, especially if you have them on the ropes...that works really well. and again for some reason, it really surpises them on occassion.

Its kind of fun to whip one out and catch them...sort of my own way of getting a little back! ; - )

MMA Do you bother with high flashy kicks.??

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