In this article I will go over how to do an axe kick for all you Muay Thai, Taekwondo and Karate practitioners out there. The axe kick is a devastating kick to use. It’s a technique where you raise your leg to the height of your opponent and drive it down on top of his head or shoulder area, similar to an axe chopping wood; hence the name.
In order to utilize this technique, the practitioner needs to be flexible enough to raise their leg high enough to where their heel can down like an axe on their opponents head, face, or shoulder region. These are parts where the heel or foot can inflict the most damage or even a knock out on your opponent. The axe kick is technically difficult kick to perform because you have to be accurate and have good timing in order to execute it.
Muay Thay Stance And Knee Lift
Of course before attempting this move you will have to get into proper stance. Then you want to raise your knee up to your chest level. Bringing your knee up will make this kick get up to the desired height faster. A quick note, if you keep your leg straight the whole time it makes this kick a lot harder to do when your opponent is close.
Seeing how this kick is more of a close-range kick, you wouldn’t want to be too far away from your opponent. That’s why I said earlier that this kick technique is a challenging one where you have to be accurate by measuring your distance.
When you reach the top of your kick (the height of your kick) pull it down on your opponent as hard as you can. Move the whole leg, keeping the knee slightly bent. When your come down, depending on how high you’ve kicked and your target aim, you will come down on the top of his head, face, neck, shoulder or even his chest.
Your aim will be to land the axe kick with your heel, this will give the most lethal blow to your opponent and potentially create an axe kick knockout. You can also land the axe kick with the ball of your foot but this will have less of an impact.
After you’ve landed the axe kick you need to get back into your origins muay thai fighting stance and get your guard back up. This is protect yourself just in case the kick landed but didn’t knock out your opponent you should always be ready to protect yourself and continue the fight. But chances are if you landed that kick correctly your opponent at the very least will be dazed.
Today I want to go over an essential striking technique and that’s How To Kick Properly in MMA. A good kick can wear down your opponent over time during the match up, or even in a street fight. In order for the kick to be effective you have to be accurate.
Secondly, you have to time when to kick your opponent of else he will anticipate the kick and do what is called a “check”. This is where your opponent blocks your kick with his leg and can counter with punches.
A good example of a kick being checked was the match up between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman at UFC 168. Anderson went for a kick to the legs of Weidman and Weidmen checked the kick. The results was Silva’s shin snapped on half. It was really awful to watch. Below I’ll get into how to kick properly in mma and how to check a kick from your opponent.
So let’s go over some basic fundamentals of how to properly kick in MMA. Kicka are meant to do two things:
1) Keep distance between you and your opponent 2) Inflict as much damage to your opponent as possible.
1A) Creating space between you and your opponent will allow him not to get close enough to execute close combat moves. it’s also good to use when your opponent charges a you.
2B) Inflicting pain with your kicks will weaken and slow down your opponent over the course of your match-up rounds. This can allow you to capitalize with more strikes or bring him to the ground to finish him with a submission.
Accuracy of Kick Thrown – No matter what kicking technique you use or how hard you kick it won’t be effective or be of any use if you don’t land the kick properly. The more you throw and miss a kick, the more you will get tires. Accuracy is of the utmost important so you can inflict and wear down your opponent and not tired yourself out.
Stance And Leg Positioning – Leg positioning is important because if you kick your opponent off balance then he can easily counter you with a strike that can take you off your feet. Another reason why leg positioning is good is because it helps with accurate. The more balanced you are the more accurate you kicks can be. Weak positioning can also lead to a weak kick.
Throwing Power Behind Your Kicks – If you plan to use your legs as weapons when you throw them their has to be power behind them. Soft kicks don’t do much in MMA. There has to be some degree of power to start wearing down your opponent. To accurately throw a kick get into the right stance.
Set your legs in the right position for that type of kick; then execute. Power kicks are executed by swiveling or twisting your hips into the kick. You learn this in beginner classes in MMA.
For example, when executing a front kick the motion of your hips moves forward while your upper body leans back. When you are executing a kick to the thighs you have to rotate and twist your hips in order for the kick to be effective. The hips play a major role when it comes to kicking.
The Speed Of your Kicks – Speed is important because a faster kick makes more of an impact than a slower one. You don’t need to be a genius to understand that. Fast snapping kicks can really take a toll on your opponent, so include kicking with speed when you are practicing in the gym.
Here are some brief breakdown of how to kick properly in mixed martial arts. Remember that the effectiveness of your kick depends on accuracy, positioning, power, and speed.
Front Kick – When doing a front kick remember that the objective of the kick is to hit your opponent with the ball of your foot. Whether you do a low or high front kick really depends on the situation and what it calls for at the moment.
With a front kick your opponent is directly in front of you. The front kick is used to create space between you and your opponent.
To perform the front kick you have to position the foot by pulling the toes back and extending the foot out. Then, bend the knee at a 90-degree angle before lifting the leg high and snapping it out.
You can either front kick with a snapping motion, which is a kick with speed. Can cause damage over time like a jab. Or you can kick in a thrusting motion generates more power and can be used to push your opponent back, or cause your opponent to slow significantly a lot quicker.
Side Kick
Side kicks are mostly done in Taekwando o competitions. you see them done less frequently in an mma match but the kick is still effective.
When doing a side kick it is important to hit your target with the bottom of your foot. So in essence you bring your knee up, pivot, then twist your hips sideways and extend your foot in a snapping motion.
Important Note* You need to pivot directly in front of your opponent so the side of the body faces them.
One of the most deadliest kicks that have kicked opponents flat of the backs has been the roundhouse kick to the head. I’ve been to many martial arts tournaments and have seen someone get hit with a round kick to the temple and drop to the ground like a lump of logs.
To perform the roundhouse kick you want to get into fighting stance. Raise your knee up, pivot and turn your bottom foot, and finally snap your kick forward toward your opponent. From here you can either bring your foot in and move back, or bring your foot back in and move forward.
Important Note *You can do a round kick to mid-section or head of your opponent.
Back Kick – Back kicks, back hand fists, and spinning back elbows are often used in mma fights. if you are a die hard fan of the UFC you have seen knock outs from back hand fists and back kicks are just as deadly.
To do this move you want to get into your fight stance. Your first action is to do what is called a back turn. This means turning your back in a spinning motion towards your opponent. I say spinning motion because you don’t want to turn your back, rest, then back kick. That’s too slow and your opponent will have time to attack you. Instead, you want to turn your back in a spinning motion.
Next you want to raid your knee in a fold position (not outward but close to your body,) then snap out your kick out toward your opponent. The spinning back kick is truly and amazing kick to watch. if set up correctly and landed accurately you can definitely put your opponent to sleep with this knock out technique.
This is a quick message to all those wanting to perfect their kicks in mixed martial arts. In order to kick properly you have to practice and train often. You don’t necessarily have to practice at a gym you can get MMA Kicking Pads and practice by yourself or with a partner. But it takes practice to become better.
If you practice at home please have the concepts down pat before you try practicing them or you will end up hurting yourself. if you can’t afford to go the gym that’s okay, learning at home can get you going while you save up for an mma gym membership.
MMA kicking drills will help you to kick with speed, accuracy, and power! So get into the habit of both practicing at home and at an mma gym.
Copyright @2023 MMA Active Inc. All rights reserved.
MMA Kicking Techniques
Side Kick