Escape A Caught Kick With Jean-Charles Skarbowsky

Kicks are an amazing strike to throw, if you can make sure they land. Kicks usually take long to hit their target, which means that your opponent has more time to react and defend. This usually means that your opponent has a better chance of either dodging or blocking a kick, but sometimes they might even try to catch your leg. 

This usually happens when you throw a kick to the body, but your opponent can also catch kicks that you throw to the head or the leg. Being caught on one leg is a terrible position to be in and if you're a fighter who kicks often, you better know how to escape from that situation. 

In this video, Jean-Charles Skarbowsky goes over how to escape when your opponent catches your kick. Jean-Charles Skarbowsky is one of the greatest non-Thai Muay Thai fighters in the sport's history. Skarbowsky is a multiple time Rajadamnern stadium champion, which is one of the highest championships that one can earn in Muay Thai. 

Getting your leg caught on kicking is something that can lead to a lot of bad outcomes. While it’s not legal to work off a caught kick under kickboxing rules, in Muay Thai and MMA your opponent can capitalize in so many ways. In Muay Thai and MMA, caught kicks can lead to you being struck while on one leg or getting taken down or swept. 

This means that you need to escape this dire situation as quickly and safely as possible to avoid any bad outcomes. Some gyms might tell you to either try to push off your opponent with your foot to escape or try to grab a collar tie to control them. Both of these options are slow, especially with trying to push off your opponent as you need to get your foot in the right position for that to work. Trying to grab the collar tie might be even worse because doing that brings you closer to your opponent, which is what you don’t want to do. 

The escape that Skarbowsky shows in this video is quick and can be done immediately after the leg gets caught. It also allows you to keep watching your opponent, which allows you to see any strikes, sweeps or takedowns coming. 

When you throw a roundhouse kick, and your opponent catches it, you are first going to turn your leg so your knee is pointing to the floor. This will move your foot to a position that will allow you to easily pull out your leg. From this position, you should be able to slide your leg out like an eel, says Skarbowsky. Alternatively, if you want to show your dominance on your opponent, you can kick your leg out if your opponent doesn’t have a strong grip on your leg. 

To make sure that you are safe from any follow ups from your opponent, frame off with whichever arm is closer to your opponent. This will keep the distance from your opponent, even if they have your leg caught. Like we mentioned earlier, keep your eyes on your opponent while freeing your leg. You might be tempted to turn or spin around doing this escape but that means your back is turned and you can’t see your opponent. This means you can’t see any techniques that they might throw at you and even if you can you are in no position to be able to defend against them. 

This escape doesn’t just work for caught roundhouse kicks to the body, but also ones for caught kicks going for the head and the body. The mechanics are the same but for the kicks to the head it does require you to be a little more flexible. 

BUY NOW