The Art of the Head Kick

Posted by Barry Laminack

In every sport there is one move that doesn't happen very often, but when it does it's a thing of beauty that electrifies the fans and reminds us why we love sports.  In basketball it's the cross over that makes the opponent lose balance and fall down.  In baseball it's stealing home.  In football it's the spin move that makes the defender miss completely, and in soccer it's the bicycle kick goal.

In MMA, and in my opinion, it's the head kick.  Last night as I watched George Roop introduce his shin to Chan Sung Jung's (aka The Korean Zombie) jaw line I was reminded of the beautiful brutality of mixed martial arts.  What made Roops kick so beautiful and so perfect is that it was a true KO, not a blow that simply stunned Jung.  Jung was out before he hit the mat.  Roop didn't even need to follow up the kick with some ground and pound, though he did start to make his way over to where the Korean Zombie laid motionless on the mat, blood trickling down his face.  To his credit, Roop's follow up was half hearted as he new it was the formality of the fight that required him to follow up the kick.  He pursued Jung to the mat, but referee Tom Johnson beat him there and had already called the fight.

I swear I heard angels sing when the kick landed.

I'm by no means an expert on the head kick (or fighting for that matter), the following is more of an observation than a teaching moment. I'm still a clear belt in Muay Thai so don't take this as advice or that I'm trying to teach you how to throw a head kick.  If you want that join a gym; or save your money and read this. Yes, that's right, somebody actually wrote a post on ehow.com explaing how to finish an MMA fight with a head kick.  It kind of reads like an infomercial.  They said everything short of "Follow those 6 steps and BAM, instant fame."  It doesn't say who wrote the article, but I think I have an idea who wrote it:

"You think anybody want's a round house kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys?"

Dissecting the Beauty

What follows are my general observations of the move.

Degree of Difficulty

So what makes the head kick such a thing of beauty?  Well for starters it's the longest strike to land, so the degree of difficulty is very high.  The shin and head are the two body parts furthest apart from each other in a fight. This distance means that the strike takes longer to develop and thus is easier to see coming (in theory anyway).  I've not seen any statistics but on a level playing field, I would venture to guess that the head kick would be the strike that is blocked the most, percentage wise anyways.

The Setup

The second element that makes up the art of the head kick is the set up.  Rarely can a fighter land a head kick with out setting it up first.  Remember earlier when I mentioned the crossover move in basketball.  Setting up the head kick is very similar.  The crossover works because the offensie payer gets his opponent thinking he is going one way, and as they both start to lean in the same direction, he shifts the ball and his balance the other way, creating an opening to blow by the defender and drive the hoop. It works because the opponent is trying to defend the area of the court where he thinks the player is going to be.

The same is true with setting up the head kick.  The setup creates the opening and opportunity to land the kick, so whether it's being set up with kicks to the body or set up with the hands, the key is to create the opening.  Skilled fighters can also set it up by changing direction mid kick (I've actually had this done to me by Daniel Kim during training...talk about feeling stupid).  Another way of setting up the kick is with the eyes.  Something as simple as looking at the leg or ribs can create just enough deception to get the other fighter focused on defending that area, just like the cross over.

Speed and Power

The third thing that makes the head kick so beautiful is the speed (and subsequent force) that is generated by the kick.  With a further distance to travel, the kick has more time to build up more speed.  If combined with proper technique (i.e hip rotation et al) the leg becomes a long, boney flesh missile with enough speed and power to end the fight.

I'm glad that head kick KO's are rare.  I mean, I would hate to see 4 out of 5 fights end with a head kick KO, that would get really boring.  Yeah, I know, that's dumb. It would be like watching fights in heaven to see 4 out of 5 fights end with a head kick KO, I just needed a way to open up my conclusion, and that was the first thing that came to mind.  Seriously though, there are so many things that have to happen in order to score a head kick knock out; that's what makes it so raw, so violent, so beautiful and so perfect.