How To Defend Against The Front Kicks With Fabio Noguchi

Defending kicks are a big part of Muay Thai and Kickboxing, as most of the fight is managed in the kicking range; kicks are thrown countless times in a match. The amount of kicks thrown makes defending kicks a crucial subject, so fighters can stay in this range knowing that they can deal with anything coming their way and be in control.  

Defending kick is a vast subject; we can block kicks, catch kicks, and parry kicks, and we must always choose the most optimal defense for the situation at hand. The default defense fighters try to implement as much as they can are the parries. 

By parrying the opponent kick, we are not risking damage to our arms or ribs like we risk when we block and catch, and more than that, parrying our opponent leaves him off-balanced and sets up many counters we can follow with to hurt our opponent.

To parry kicks successfully, we must first look at the type of kick thrown at us and the range we are in. the most effortless kicks to parry are the front kicks, as they are thrown in a straight line a small parry sets them off their target. Roundhouse kicks, for example, are harder to parry, but it is still possible if we are in the long-range where the kick cant get to me, and a parry can throw the opponent off-balance.

Remember that we must stay alert as soon as we parry the kick so he doesn’t spin with a hummer fist and surprise us with a spinning attack. As we parry, we must also get the advantage of the angle created and kick the opponent’s leg without the risk of him defending it.

In this video, Fabio Noguchi will teach us how to defend the front kicks using the different parries.

Who Is Fabio Noguchi?

Fabio Noguchi is a Brazillian Muay Thai coach and a former professional fighter who has dominated the 80s and 90s. Fabio is remembered as a quick and explosive fighter with unique movements and crisp techniques. You can still find videos of Fabio bouts and enjoy beautiful Muay Thai.

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Parrying The Front Kicks

In this video, Fabio Noguchi will show us how to defend the front kicks on both sides (rear and lead). We have many types of defense when it comes to defending front kicks; we can pull, block and parry the kick.

Fabio will show us the most straightforward defense we can develop for the front kick, and let’s start with the lead front kick. 

The lead front kick aims directly at the center of gravity, so as I see the opponent lifting his leg for the front kick, I take my lead hand and swipe his leg sideways in a wiper motion. Now I expose the opponent’s back by parrying his kick to the dead side where I can hit him, and he can’t hit me.

Now for the rear front kick, the defense looks a little bit different. As the opponent front kicks me with the back leg, I can do two things, catch his leg and pull him, or parry his leg with my elbow nudging it over, so I’m facing his back again, and I am in an advantageous position.

From here, we can add a punch to the parry, lets see how it will look:

• Lead front kick - Parry with wiper motion and land the straight right hand
• Rear front kick - Nudge the kick with elbow and land  the straight right hand

Fabio encourages us to leave our forearm away from the body when we are in the distance; this way, we can easily parry and nudge his kicks. Remember, it’s not only about parrying here; we can also catch and hold the kicks or even use the wiper motion with the rear hand, but by using the lead hand to parry both sides, we can react quickly and set up counters with the free right hand we leave behind.

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