How effective is the jab or leg kicks/knees in real fight?

[DD Kong]

@ Flexwave2003

Yes that's absolutely true there is no gentlemen rules on the street and anybody could just as easily have weapons/buddies/ etc.

I was just curious what my best chance would be if I was attacked because I train and atleast want to use what I know if I have to defend myself.

Yes being a badass wagers just about all that. The thing is badasses can sometimes be the guys that are getting in my face because they're drunk and wanna feel tough.

If I was a true badass I would definitely not be posting on online forums to find out the best techniques for a street fight, but I'm not a badass I'm just an average kid who trains and atleast want to do the best I can with what potential I have.

 

[Flexwave2003]

@ Flexwave2003

Yes that's absolutely true there is no gentlemen rules on the street and anybody could just as easily have weapons/buddies/ etc.

I was just curious what my best chance would be if I was attacked because I train and atleast want to use what I know if I have to defend myself.

Yes being a badass wagers just about all that. The thing is badasses can sometimes be the guys that are getting in my face because they're drunk and wanna feel tough.

If I was a true badass I would definitely not be posting on online forums to find out the best techniques for a street fight, but I'm not a badass I'm just an average kid who trains and atleast want to do the best I can with what potential I have.

This is how you become a badass. But just showing up and going through the motions will never be enough. You need to spar regularly, fight regularly, expose yourself to situations where you're forced to defend and offend. And you do this for years, blood, sweat, tears. You will get to the bad ass stage if you surround yourself with the right people.

Yes being a badass wagers just about all that. The thing is badasses can sometimes be the guys that are getting in my face because they're drunk and wanna feel tough.

We have different idea's of badasses. I call those types bullies, which is far different than a true badass who has nothing to prove to anyone. True badasses do not need to pick on others, start fights or look for trouble.

 

[NightVole]

Knee to the groin worked well for me the one time I had to defend myself.

Its pretty cool cause unlike a kick u pretty much can't miss, and its a fight ender.

The only problem is that u have to be close, though if u have an inexperiance guy wildly rushing u it shouldnt be too hard to clinch up.

 

[DoctorTaco]

You train your combos and movement around your jab already I assume, so stick with what you know and you might surprise yourself with how easy you will instinctually will follow your jab up with a cross ace a hook. Leg kicks are iffy because you could end up slipping or being knocked to your back. If you teep the knee you want to turn your foot so your toes are facing out so that your foot isn't deflected off the side of the knee cap

 

[Pugilistic]

I've seen both the jab and leg kick work in street fights. My former judo coach was actually the first person to tell that leg kicks are great to use in a self-defense situation because most people are going to take hits to the thigh very well and leg kicks are much low risk than head kicks. He was right because I've seen a guy get dropped with a hard leg kick from a judoka in a streetfight.

He lowers his elevation very well, and is usually well-balanced while doing so and still taller than his opposition. So he doesn't have to punch downward and can in-fact, punch up with leverage on it.

Sinister, forgive me if you already elaborated on this before, but if in order to do the upjab you have to position your lead hand a bit lower, wouldn't that open you up to a right hand by your opponent? Or do you always keep an eye out for that and be prepared to defend against it when throwing the jab? I've tried out the up jab during sparring by keeping my hand lower than my normal guard and it does seem to work. My partners can't seem to defend against it as well. But I'm always on the ready to step back out of range in case they try to attack through that opening. Which seems to work so far, but a little weird for me since I'm an aggressive infighter. I guess I'm not sure how to use the upjab when trying to force my way inside. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong.

 

[ODYSSEYMEMPHIS]

Seems a lot of people have never been jabbed right on the nose with bare knuckles before...

this. Jabs in boxing and even mma are usually thrown to set up something else. Using it to distract and get a takedown is one plus. Also people are underestimating just how quick and hard you can throw a jab. They can mess you up man.It may not be a knockout blow but more times than not , someone you are street fighting is only going to throw wide looping punches with no form or technique. A proper jab will stop them in their tracks most of the time (btw straight punches are something TS didn't mention but can work wonders). Kicks can be good if used effectively. It may not be smart or practical to throw karate-esque side kicks but a good fast hard kick can be totally unexpected to the average bar room brawler. Also Anderson Silva type kicks to the knees would fuck someone up in a street fight as they would have a hard time getting in punching range. And knees is a no brainer.

 

[jhasan]

I'm not arguing that man, I'm sure I could get a kick off at an off-balanced open target. But that's not gonna slow down any pissed off tough guy from getting right in my face where kicks are useless, maybe jabs will though.

Serious question, not trying to be a dick but do you have any training experience with kicks? Not going to slow down a pissed off tough guy? That pissed off tough guy will be on the ground trying to figure out what happened if you blast him with a teep. A well timed front kick will knocked down just about anyone, especially a "pissed off tough guy" who is bum rushing you. The harder they're coming at you the more damage that kick is going to do. As for getting your kick grabbed, I really wouldn't worry about some random jackass being able to do that.

edit: Also I disagree with karate side kicks not being practical. When I started training we had a really good karate guy who would train with us that used his side kick like a teep. It was absurd how fast he could throw it, and it definitely had more power than a traditional teep. If someone knows how to throw a good side kick it is a dangerous thing.

 

[theanticool]

Anything is effective if you can land it. Just depends how good you are at the specific move. Knees work if you grab someone and knee them in the head. Jabs work if you can land to the head or chest to stop them and follow up with a cross to the chin. Leg kicks are dangerous but could if someone is charging you.

 

[dat1978]

In a street fight I would definitely use the jab, only I'd be using it with open fingers as an eye jab and not with a fist as a punch. One eye jab and its game over.

 

[DaGenius]

Since people are also talking about what doesnt work, you should probably stay away from head kicks. Chances of slipping or of the dude somehow just tackling you and falling on top of you are high. If you've fought in lumpinee, go a head and put your shin on his jaw. Otherwise stay simple

One last IMPORTANT thing I want to share is something my BJJ instructor told us the other day. He recently choked a couple dudes out in a bar fight. I wont bore you with that but the thing he said thats important is that "Just cause you train it doesnt mean you are invincible. Use your training to be smart in street situations. Come from an angle on a guy. dont underestimate anybody because its a fight anything can happen. As long as you use your training and smarts you should be ok"

Just wanted to pass that on

 

[Sinister]

Sinister, forgive me if you already elaborated on this before, but if in order to do the upjab you have to position your lead hand a bit lower, wouldn't that open you up to a right hand by your opponent? Or do you always keep an eye out for that and be prepared to defend against it when throwing the jab? I've tried out the up jab during sparring by keeping my hand lower than my normal guard and it does seem to work. My partners can't seem to defend against it as well. But I'm always on the ready to step back out of range in case they try to attack through that opening. Which seems to work so far, but a little weird for me since I'm an aggressive infighter. I guess I'm not sure how to use the upjab when trying to force my way inside. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong.

If you're in correct posture, more weight on the back foot, lead shoulder up. You should be able to see a lead right hand coming from a mile away. Even a perfectly straight one. And I wouldn't step back, I'd just duck or slip, this way you don't compromise proximity and risk stepping out of your effective range. And using the upward jab to be aggressive is easy, push forward with your back foot when you throw it.

 

[devante]

my experience the jab works great, body kicks work great, and leg kicks work great; also the lead right and the 1/2.

just my firsthand experience, never attempted to knee or elbow someone in a streetfight or self defense situation

 

[blaze511293]

Something i've seen work well more than once: Thai clinch -> knees to the face.

The average wanna-be tough guy thats out starting shit isn't gonna know how to get out of a thai clinch. Clinch up, deliver some knees and that should end the fight.

 

[aries]

Jabs work great. The fight will often go out of most untrained people when you jab their face and break their nose.

everything's the same, everything you learned can be applied. Body shots are effective and painful, but what you have to take into consideration is that you rely on pain compliance. i dont know about you, but I'm gonne knee his face in, of hit the liver.

Body shots are great fight stoppers. Doesn't matter who you are a good liver shot or solar plexus or short ribs will stop most. I don't know about someone high on crack or PCP. Plus you have much less chance of seriously injuring them or breaking your hand on their skull.

 

[aries]

I'm not arguing that man, I'm sure I could get a kick off at an off-balanced open target. But that's not gonna slow down any pissed off tough guy from getting right in my face where kicks are useless, maybe jabs will though. But you're right I'm sure if I got good enough at front kicks you can execute them without gettin your foot grabbed. No but it does blow my mind how often guys get taken down in muay thai fights because their opponent catches a kick and sweeps him over easier than getting paris hilton in the sack.

You're not going to be able to throw a kick if they guy is in your face already are you?

And I train MT very rarely do I get my teeps caught and that's from trained MT'ers. It's a safe technique and one I'd readily use to keep distance or knock an attacker backward and no untrained person is going to even have a hope of avoiding or defending one. If you watch enough MT you'll notice that teeps get caught a lot less often than roundhouses. Front kicks are thrown differently and are a bit easier to catch which is one reason MT'ers throw teeps like they do. But even then they are still a lot harder than most other types of kick to catch.

 

[devante]

You're not going to be able to throw a kick if they guy is in your face already are you?

And I train MT very rarely do I get my teeps caught and that's from trained MT'ers. It's a safe technique and one I'd readily use to keep distance or knock an attacker backward and no untrained person is going to even have a hope of avoiding or defending one. If you watch enough MT you'll notice that teeps get caught a lot less often than roundhouses. Front kicks are thrown differently and are a bit easier to catch which is one reason MT'ers throw teeps like they do. But even then they are still a lot harder than most other types of kick to catch.

in my experience if u can pull it off on a trained person, u can and will against an untrained person; if the situation gives you the opportunity. In the case of the techniques i mentioned i used, i did so successfully against trained and untrained people. The lead right was esp effective against non trained guys, but i pulled it off against trained guys in fights too.

 

[SAAMAG]

The real answer is whatever works to end fights for you in training.

Everyone is different. Some guys I know kick so hard that if they connect just about anywhere it's going to drop the guy.

Some guys can "touch" the chin with a jab and knock folks around (look at Anderson v Griffin).

In general though, simpler is better. The tried and true fight finishers have always been (for most)

Straight right to chin
Left hook to chin
Round kick to head
Knees / elbows to face
Side kicks to the body

 

[Human Bass]

The real answer is whatever works to end fights for you in training.

Everyone is different. Some guys I know kick so hard that if they connect just about anywhere it's going to drop the guy.

Some guys can "touch" the chin with a jab and knock folks around (look at Anderson v Griffin).

In general though, simpler is better. The tried and true fight finishers have always been (for most)

Straight right to chin
Left hook to chin
Round kick to head
Knees / elbows to face
Side kicks to the body

Why knee to the face when the groin is much closer to the knee? Keep it simple.

 

[thirteen]

Just walk around in a Tap Out shirt lol.
No one will pick you they will be too busy laughing.

 

[SAAMAG]

Why knee to the face when the groin is much closer to the knee? Keep it simple.

That's simple too. But it rarely happens cleanly since all it takes is a guy slightly moving back to make it ineffective.

Unless you're getting some balls, its a waste. I've actually had folks kick/knee me in the groin and it didn't stop me because it wasn't a clean hit. In fact--I've never had it successfully done where it stopped me.