I was watching UFC Unleashed last night, and saw in many fights, especially the Nogueira vs. Herring fight and a fair amount in the Ortiz vs. Machida, that often a fighter would miss a leg kick and his stance and balance would be off, or his opponent would land a leg kick very well, or any of a host of other things would happen and his stance would be turned and it seems to me that his opponent could throw a short combination at him easily (well, with the exception of when his opponent had thrown a leg kick to off-balance him, when he'd also be recovering his stance), but since I don't actually live anywhere near a gym and thus don't train I don't have the experience to figure out why they aren't advancing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The most basic answer that strikes me off hand (no pun intended) is this..... Generally when the leg kick misses all together it's because the other fighter changed the distance by moving backward. Since his momentum and body weight is now headed away from the person throwing the kick, it's incredibly difficult to stop that inertia and move the other direction (toward the kicker) in less time than it takes the kicker to get his leg back to the original stance.

In other words- one guy is having to redirect the momentum of his entire body and move it about 3.5 feet to get back close enough to shoot/strike. The person throwing the kick is only redirecting the inertia of their leg about 1 foot to get back into a good stance. Therefore- it makes sense that it's very difficult to accomplish.

However, if you are the person that is wanting to charge after the missed kick- see the video below. It demonstrates a tactic that I use on guys with fast leg kicks to try to neutralize their speed. Enjoy!

I am not certian what you are asking about.

I can tell you this for certain. Most leg kicks in upper level MMA are half assed. IMO, the reason being. MMA favors the grappler. And most grapplers are horrible strikers. So they can't really kick to start with.
Most grappler have a hard time doing anything that wont land them head on.

Kicking requires commitment. You either throw it with all you got and take the chance of missing. Or throw if half assed and when it lands it aint worth a crap. Either way you don't get much accomplished. I for one would rather go for broke and fail than go half assed and fail just as bad.

It's coming around in MMA though. Now that guys are training everything from the start. We are going to see a dynamic shift in style in the next 5 years. The upside will be better striking in MMA as well as far less leg humping from top postion on the ground. The downside is BJJ may lose the last of it's mytique (which isn't a downside to me at all) and that the majority of subs will be RNC or armbar. In the end most of striking leads to being subed and most of grappling leads to being hit. Sooner or later we are going to hit a streamline of both arts and the sport will get boring to watch for the average Joe.

I think we're closer than four or five years on the submissions part; I have only seen four submissions even get attempted regularly in MMA in the last couple years: Guillotine, RNC, Armbar, Triangle choke. Mike Thomas Brown starts to set up that Peruvian every single time he's on top of sprawl, and he has pulled off an Arm Triangle, but other than him...But yeah, I rarely see people try to pass guard, go for sweeps, go for subs...And most striking doesn't look like it hurts...So I think you're right.

Richard, how do you get your leg to go up that high for the switch step? I have excellent flexibility and I feel like a solid object blocks my leg if I throw a kick over my shoulder level (for my right leg) or above my floaters for my left kick. Could it be a leg strength issue or would it probably be a technique issue?

AndrewOwenWaldo wrote:
Richard, how do you get your leg to go up that high for the switch step? I have excellent flexibility and I feel like a solid object blocks my leg if I throw a kick over my shoulder level (for my right leg) or above my floaters for my left kick. Could it be a leg strength issue or would it probably be a technique issue?

I can promise you that it isn't my extreme flexibility!

My flexibility sucks... I've had a lower back injury which really inhibits my flexibility, primarily on my right side. For instance- I generally only throw head kicks with my left leg. I generally only pull rubber guard on my left side, etc. I don't even sit casually with my right leg crossed over my left, because I get a numbing sensation down my right leg if I do.

To get the kick up that high, I try to think of it in two motions... The first is getting the kick above my shoulder, which is done more by pushing my hips downward like I'm doing a split. The second (and more important) is a spinning motion. I want to kick his head clean off his shoulders, and I need a LOT of rotation in my body. This also helps because if the kick goes to the chest instead of the head, it still hurts like hell (and unfortunately- that's what we're aiming for).

I'll try to think it out and provide a better explanation...

I think I figured it out: the angle between my foot and the contact point isn't extreme enough. My foot was about 90 away from the contact point and I couldn't get my leg over my shoulder, but if I turn my foot more I can go higher. I fall down a lot, but I can go higher.