The Front Kicks With Lyoto & Chinzo Machida
The front kicks are so popular in the world of MMA as they are part of any striking program a practitioner would take. The front kicks are essential for any striker as they can cause a lot of damage or help you manage the distance in a fight.
The front kicks are not commonly seen in MMA, although being one of the most effective kicks to throw, the chaos in MMA and the fear of being taken down holds many fighters back.
Most front kicks are aimed into two main areas - the body and the head. Landing the front kick is so effective because it is simple to learn and can easily finish the fight with a head shot or nullify the opponent’s movement with the body shot.
Many fighters find it hard to differentiate between the different types of front kicks as there are many styles that utilize the kick. MMA’s most common front kick is the snap kick, as it strikes like a whip and hard to catch.
In MMA, fighters hold back on their front kicks because they are afraid to be taken down if the kick is caught. Thus, the Teep (the front kick in Muay Thai), which utilizes a push instead of a snap, is less commonly seen in MMA.
But intelligent fighters know how to mix the two, use the push kick to create distance, set up other attacks, and keep the opponent at bay like a jab.
When we look at professional Muay Thai fighter’s fight, we see that they are so slippery with their teep, allowing them to work with it constantly without the fear of the kick being caught.
Who Are The Machida Brothers?
Lyoto and Chinzo Machida are both Brazillian Pro MMA fighters who represented karate in MMA throughout the years. Lyoto is the younger brother of the two and was well known worldwide as a contender for the Middleweight Title in the UFC. Chinzo took a different road and broke into the mainstream as he got older and fought for Bellator MMA, the second biggest organization after the UFC. The brothers never forget their life as martial artists as they have their school, The Machida Academy, where they pass on their knowledge.
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The Difference Between The Snap Kick And Push Kick
In this video, Lyoto Machida will show us the difference between the “Snap Kick” and the “Push Kick”.”
When we throw the snap kick, we want to bring our foot in an upward angle from the bottom to the target located above. We can throw the front kick either to the body or the head but make sure that you keep the movement from bottom to top.
The push kick is slightly different, as it will seem like we are kicking down on our opponent. But what does it mean to kick down? To kick in a downward angle, we first need to bring our knee higher than our target and kick at a lower point, which is why we can push as we hit the center of gravity backward.
When we throw the push kick, we can land with the whole foot onto the target or just the ball of the foot. When we perform a snap kick, we must only use the ball of the foot like we are stabbing with a knife; we want a small surface area as it is not a push.
Now the following difference between the two is the hip movement; when we throw the snap kick, our hips are frontal and face the target; when we throw the push kick, our hips rotate and cross the centerline so we can transfer our weight into the target.
To finish the video, Chinzo recaps everything we went over and the three things we need to make sure we’re doing as we kick:
- The angle - the push kicks are performed at a downward angle while the snap kicks are thrown upward.
- Our hips - stay squared when we use a snap kick, and turn when we use the push kick.
- Our foot - when we perform a push kick, we can land with the whole foot, but if we are using a snap kick, we must land with the ball of our foot.
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