Low kicks are one of my favorite techniques because they do so many things. With every kick, you whittle down your opponents speed and balance, making it easier to evade his attacks and get a good angle on him. After a dozen or so hits to the thigh, his takedowns become limp. On top of all that, low kicks are great to set up your opponent for a devastating punch combination since his hands drop a bit after the kick lands.
Despite being one of my favorites, I think they’re under utilized in MMA – especially in the middle weight divisions on up. They’re such a nice addition to a fighters arsenal, it’s a shame that Muay Thai/ Kickboxers get all the fun.
To illustrate the Muay Thai low kick, I present to you Rob “The Dutchman” Kaman. Regarded by many to be greatest kickboxer of all time, he was known for his vicious leg kicks, winning several fights by knockout by low kick. Now retired, he has won 9 world championships. This vid is a tad dated, but Rob definitely knows what’s he’s doing.
If you want to see a few clips of his fights, check this link. His kicks are so brutal that I feel like my leg is swelling up just watching him.
Sensei Jorge Valladares is teaching a seminar about the essentials of Jujitsu. It will be straightforward jujitsu, covering most of the material up to blue belt. If you’re already a pretty decent judoko or BJJ player, it will be a great opportunity to drill the fundamentals. If you don’t have much submission grappling experience, it’ll be a perfect start to get some ground game. No matter what you’re level, prepare for a tough workout.
The seminar is planned as two days of instruction, August 8th and 9th. Admission will probably be $50 at the door, and it will most likely be held at the University of Utah Hyper building. As I work out the details, I’ll post them.
As for the content of the seminar, Sensei Valladares will teach and drill us in two attacks from and two defenses/escapes in each of the following positions:
Closed Guard
Side Mount
Kesa Gatame (scarf position)
Modifed Kesa Gatame
Reverse Kesa Gatame
North South
Mount
Knee on Belly
Butterfly Guard
Also, he will probably cover strategies to take the back, takedowns/ defending takedowns, and the guillotine attacks/defenses.
If you have any questions, let me know. I’ll firm up all of the details and post them soon.
I’m very excited about this fall’s upcoming mixed marital arts class. I’d like to highlight a few things – even though this class is taught through the University of Utah you don’t have to be a student to join the class. In fact, even if you are a student, it’s much cheaper to take the directly through the department, outside of your class schedule. Even so, it’s awesome to think you can get university credit for learning MMA.
This class is designed to be a solid introduction to mixed martial arts techniques, and will focus on the fundamentals. If you’ve watched some MMA and wanted to try it out, this class is perfect for you. All of us will be have different backgrounds – some have blackbelts and others have no martial art training whatsoever. Certainly, if you have some knowledge and expertise, bring that to the table to respectfully share with your fellow students but don’t worry if you’re new to the whole thing. In class we are training partners – not competitors.
My primary concern while training at the university is SAFETY. As an instructor and a student, I want to train, teach, and learn injury free – for a long time. We will have a lot of fun grappling, but at the university class will not include striking in our sparring sessions. We ABSOLUTELY will learn striking – we just will not be applying “ground and pound” to our fellow students. My hope is that everyone will leave class as pretty (or ugly) as they showed up.
Right now, we only have one section. If enough people sign up early, we’ll open another section.