Front Kick MMA & Muay Thai

How to Do a Front Kick

  • Maintain your balance as you lift your knee up
  • Keeping your balance, lean back as you extend your kicking leg towards your opponent.
  • Thrust the ball of your foot into your target

 

 

 

The front kick with the front foot is much like a jab – not much power, but quick and a good counter against shorter fighters.

The front kick from the read leg has more power.

The Teep

Often seen in Muay Thai

Technique for the Teep
Raise your knee (generally as high as possible)
Extend your leg and lean back/thrust hips forwards at the same time

This is a powerful ‘pushing’ style kick.

The Snap Front Kick

Gaining popularity in MMA since Anderson Silva KO’d Vitor Belfort with it a few years back.

Technique for the Snap Front Kick
Same as the teep but do not ‘load up’ the knee by raising it. This is quicker but slightly less powerful as it doesn’t have the ‘pushing’ motion of the teep.

There’s Also the Conor McGregor Style Kick

This is basically a snap kick to the stomach.

Instead of raising the knee high and then extending the leg

The leg is extended as the same time as the knee is lifted, the kick moves upwards and into the opponent’s body. Conor tends to dig the toes in rather than kicking with a ‘flat foot’, using the ball of the foot as in the teep kick

FrontKick.gif

 

Variation – Dummy a Roundhouse Kick then Throw a Front Kick

Dummy a round house kick by lifting your knee out to the side

– then bring your knee out in front of you and extend into a normal front kick.

Variation – Dummy a Front Kick then Throw a Superman Jab (GSP Style)

SuperMan jab
SuperMan Jab

In orthodox stance, dummy a left teep/front kick by raising your left knee, then throw a left tab

To throw the jab, throw you left foot behind you and hop on your right foot

 

Front Kick Defence

You can check the front kick to the body by raising your knee up towards your chest and your elbows in and down

You can scoop it with your hand – either push it away or grab the guy’s ankle

You can lean back or stutter-step if your taller opponent uses it to keep range

The front kick to the face is difficult to stop , leaning back is the most obvious way to defend against this. Try using head movement as you walk forwards too.