The Best Kick for Beginners to Focus On in Kickboxing, MMA and Muay Thai

[@hard2hurt]

Question for Viewers: Your lead leg sucks. Go practice with it.

[@edvonschleck6170]

Dayum such great wisdom lol

[@srchoy]

Jeopardy type answer. What is the lead leg?

[@Rage3511]

I shall

[@gio5275]

Yes it suck, happy birthday by the way

[@anonvi8967]

Affirmative

[@nickarnold1622]

Mike liking the pendulum kick and seth not liking it is the most backwards thing ever lol

[@esidegaming5546]

@Schöner Albtraum niceee 😭😅

[@simplymax2125]

I would have expected seth to love that kick. Now i’m just like “wtf happened to cause this big of a mishap?!”

[@fighttips]

Happy birthday, coach! Agreed on the lead leg, especially with closed stance.

[@TheFightBible]

@hard2hurt are we birthday buddies?

[@Jargleman]

Shane fazen up in here

[@JohnM-og5rt]

This feels like the martial arts version of breaking the magicians code.

[@hard2hurt]

Yeah Cliff is old school he doesn't believe in doing this.

[@superfetus795]

@@hard2hurt please dont stop I need this lol

[@usmcplu]

I am SO frickin' glad you addressed the left (or I guess less dominant for most) leg and its propensity to suck. You very lightly touched on the topic a couple videos ago, but this video drove it home. I just started incorporating leg work on my heavy bag. I feel like I can ax a human or large wild animal in half with my right (dominant). When I executed a kick with my left leg, I found it might not even be connected to my nervous system or brain AT ALL. I'm relieved to hear it sucks. Here's the plan; get a gnarly prosthetic left leg with spikes and jagged, bright Olight flashlights attached. You want to talk about "hard to hurt?!" Can't hurt a prosthetic, especially if you're blind. Edit: Commented before end of video. Happy Birthday Icy Mike.

[@hard2hurt]

If I ever lose a limb best believe I'm gonna have weapons mounted on my prosthetic.

[@backwardscapguy1476]

When I started karate, I got really good with my lead leg. Then I switched to Muay Thai and got caught up on focusing on the rear leg kick. It was only recently that I said screw it and went back to throwing my lead more.

[@jeffismywaifu4093]

Well, how's it going with it on sparring?

[@skyfise3054]

hahaha this is exactly what i did too! my lead is also stronger than my rear, much more flexible too 😅

[@TripleEightss]

why do people keep saying muay thai is rear leg focused. they value both equally. watch a buakaw fight and that man is all lead leg.

[@backwardscapguy1476]

@@jeffismywaifu4093 Pretty good actually. My opponents are looking for the switch and if you do it right, you can throw the kick without them noticing.

[@backwardscapguy1476]

@@yarinelmaliach5891 I definitely do both. There’s definitely a place for switches and i love a solid rear kick but I also like having the lead leg be a trick up my sleeve.

[@Docinaplane]

For me, the power comes from quickly driving the left hip through the kick.

[@Ingeb91]

It's that Elvis hip movement that Mike always stops and has to show in like this awkward dad humor way. It's shifting your weight. You want something to hit hard, you put weight into it.

[@pie9667]

bit ironic that your tree trunks are the ones doing the chopping

[@Thiago-lg8sp]

nice

[@danedavidson]

As a grappler getting into MMA (many many moons ago) I noticed Dan Henderson would use a left leg low kick into overhand right and even if he missed the overhand he was close enough to get chest contact and clinch. I found it effective as a shorter grappler to close the distance on a taller kickboxer type.

[@9usuck0]

You know what, Mike is finally right about me. My lead kick is shit. Especially round house kicks, I got damaged tight hips because of skating too stupidity. Lol

[@0vers33r1]

those 3 stairs are rough brother

[@9usuck0]

@@0vers33r1 you know what's funny about that, I don't skate stairs often. I live in a pretty flat and stainless town. But I really like this triple three set at our college. They have the perfect amount of setup in between to do stupid things on. Right next to them is a7 flat 7 that I've never hit. Too much stair for me.

[@jacobstewart2235]

Right-handed but weirdly left-footed my whole life. Lead kicks are my bread and butter.

[@Ingeb91]

I'm the opposite. Southpaw with a strong right leg. Left handed, always used my right for free kicks in soccer. And it's true, people really do give you the cross all day when you hit them with a lead leg head kick.

[@nickarnold1622]

Happy birthday dude!

[@pcport2698]

Happy birthday, Mike! Thanks for keeping us company during quarantine

[@BlacK40k]

You just turned 40? I thought you were already in your mid 40's because Sensei Seth is in his late 30's.

[@TheAceOfSpadezz]

Bro same!

[@letsgojake.4078]

Seth just looks young. Still has a baby face.

[@ryanliu494]

Seth is like 26

[@burt2800]

@@ryanliu494 That's what I thought but are you sure?

[@letsgojake.4078]

Hes 37

[@comfortablesharpshooter3419]

Thank you so much Mike! I have been Training Muay Thai for 3 weeks now and have been avoiding even looking at my lead leg. Now I spent 15 minutes throwing Lead leg kicks in my bedroom and they feel great! (Not that they are, but they feel good, haha) I love what you are doing, especially for newcomers to fighting like myself. Much love from Germany

[@whatever6502]

:0 Happi birthday! Ps. you should do a video examining walking sticks as self defense weapons.

[@ayotamquam9519]

Lol

[@loxxkingdreddy]

😂😂😂

[@lunafreed]

Hidden swords on walking sticks

[@rottennnnbbbb]

Happy Birthday, Icy Mike! also 10:13 scared me, man. Thought my phone was possessed or some shit, jesus

[@Snugglez93]

I'm glad I'm not the only one lol

[@Smokeyxz]

That’s the power of the new gloves!

[@jordannaphaivong6925]

I had told my google assistant something and I kid you not, at the same time, I heard the noise

[@JruJewJitsu]

I just taught two entire classes on front leg round kicks this week! It was my first week of teaching classes and I always said I’d teach an entire class in front leg round kicks and the jab. People hate front round kicks and they’re my favorite weapon in my tool box. Especially front round to the liver and front round to the calf with the pull out.

[@lucas9751]

Im right handed and left foot dominant so the right hand to lead left kick has always felt like a cheat code for me.

[@arandompersonlol1202]

dude same! except for me my hands are equally good

[@lucas9751]

@@arandompersonlol1202 Yeah I'm fairly ambidextrous as well. I wonder if it comes with the territory because I've never met someone else who's like that.

[@mohanad0408]

I so envy you lol

[@MadDogXami]

coming from Savate, that was my bread and butter. when i joined a MT gym, they thought it was some kind of sorcery

[@weefunkster]

I've been doing savate for a few months. Hoo lee fuck it is so underrated.

[@MadDogXami]

@@weefunkster indeed! the emphasis on movement, the distance management, the focus on technical proficiency...

[@weefunkster]

@@MadDogXami i have my first fight next month. I am going to do this mixup until it stops working then box and chasse bas non stop ;)

[@nickarnold1622]

Me in the beginning of the video: yeah mike can use that lead leg in sparring but I bet it's not super heavy on the bag. Me later in the video watching mike really smack the bag with his lead leg with no step: shit

[@hard2hurt]

Yeah it is a shame I didn't get into this kick more until after I was done fighting. Cliff made his kickboxing career off of it and he was always dangerous in sparring with it so I wanted to be more like him and put a lot of time in on it.

[@nickarnold1622]

@@hard2hurt well now I wanna be like you so I'll put more time into mine lol

[@CalShoemaker]

Happy Birthday Icy Mike!

[@eliotquintana9802]

Happy birthday martial artist

[@HeavyHardDrive]

Oh man, 40. You're officially an old wise man

[@viderim5694]

Cit Firas Zahabi

[@martialartsvocationalschoo3319]

"Its a f..ing leg" made my day. :)

[@saturdaynight7649]

Happy birthday Mikey! Bless you for even more content on how to frustrate sparring partners

[@Jedi_Jed]

This was the best your birthday I've ever had. Thank you for the wonderful gift. Congrats on making it to 40 with everything intact.

[@hard2hurt]

lol "best your birthday"

[@jordanfrancisco27]

Happy birthday Icy Mike! ✊✊✊

[@dawsonboxing]

Happy birthday Mike!

[@joshuabaker1616]

You're the man for putting real technical content like this out here for free- much love and respect

[@Smokeyxz]

Happy 40th man. You teach and make me laugh more than you know. Appreciate it brother.

[@michaelpayne9049]

Happy birthday Mike

[@Skyhex]

Happy birthday Mike! i wanted to thank you because of you and your older videos, my lead hook and lead kick are actually better than my other side and i feel really comfortable using them, this is mostly because you insisted on it being more difficult and that it required more training and practice to develop.

[@hard2hurt]

That is so awesome to hear.

[@Skyhex]

@@hard2hurt I think the praise is deserved after all your hard work, what you have been teaching has helped me a lot to improve as a martial artist and to have fun too!

[@Vejita12]

There is an old saying in martial arts "when I didn't know anything about the art a kick was just a kick, when I learned the art a kick was no longer just a kick, but when I understood the art the kick became just a kick again." It doesn't have to be a banger, the fact that you have such a kick in yor arsenal is a game changer.

[@danielordonez412]

Well Happy Birthday🎷In karate we call it mae geri sensin( front) and mawasi geri sensin( roundhouse) and its done in the cat stance. You dip in your hip a little and thrust it like a whip. Back to cat stance and cat stance step forward( sometimes backward) truly a jewel amongst kicks

[@Ilovevidgames123]

Happy Birthday, Icy Mike!

[@edvonschleck6170]

Yooo, Icy Mike and my wee boy Cliff. Hope both of you have a great day and happy birthday I guess. ❤🍻🔥

[@haydenford9587]

2:08 that line was great

[@OdysseusLaerte]

With more than a year late, happy birthday! Thank you for sharing these training tips! They are very useful!

[@notoriousquinnb]

Happy 40th Icy Mike! Thanks for doing what you do

[@ydoknnyl1369]

Happy birthday man! Your channel is badass and I love your workout videos!

[@simplyoutplayed634]

Also Alexander Volkonovski has excellent Lead leg kicks!

[@Shadawg666]

I can confirm everything this man just said. When I first joined a muay thai gym, years ago We would practice Rear and switch kicks, almost solely I watched some youtube muay thai oldschool technique videos, to get better I dont remember exactly which one it was But I do believe I got this front leg kicking idea from youtube I just started practicing it over and over and over again, on the heavy bag It felt weak, at first, it felt VERY weak, it still kinda does, compared to rear kicks Except now I literally knock people down/out withem With non-telegraphed front leg kicks, no switch I can leadkick a fighter in front of me in the head from orthodox position But that's not the good part, the good part is I can use it to knock a figher out with Body shots, which hurts even if they block, which I know because they tell me so That being said Everyone in the gym believe that I have the strongest legs in there, which I dont. Our trainer is a veteran muay thai and bjj competitor, his legs are stronger than mine for sure See but even HE thinks that mine are stronger, which is insane to me, because It's not true Shin bone conditioning probably has alot to do with it I do that a lot more than anyone else in the gym So when we kick each other for conditioning, they always quit first If I had to give one tip: Set a goal, it'll help you persevere I always wanted to be able to kick trees, nowadays I wanna kick iron. In closing, I highly recommend working on your lead leg It is like a secret weapon It will suck no doubt, it will feel like shit for a long long time, but persist, I promise you, it's worth it!! 🙏🏼 sawadee khap

[@lawngjawn9094]

Happy Bday Icy Mike... Love ya brother

[@wutebear9656]

Happy birthday mad man. Thanks so much for the MA content over the years.

[@ThatCasualZach]

My lead leg doesnt suck. It seems to be a southpaw thing for alot of people. I agree with this totally. The lead leg controls alot of the fight

[@shaynelorenson9816]

I love the lead leg round kick, many dont train it and its always a surprise to people your sparring with.

[@timhacker2772]

I'm right handed and left footed, and having drilled this for a while can definitely confirm a dexterous lead leg can make a world of difference. Really opens up a variety of unusual attacks.

[@BallBatteryReligion]

Happy birthday Scrubby Shaolin Mike. Easily my favorite martial arts and shit talking channel on KZbin.

[@derekvandenburg6689]

Happy Birthday coach. The 1st kick I learned and teach is the front kick. And, I love the lead keg kicking..

[@KungFuTweety1]

Happy birthday icy Mike ...we share the same birthday! Congratulations wishing you a great year ahead! Thanks for all the videos!

[@dimauncoleman1251]

Happy Birthday Icy Mike. Keep up the quality content, peace and love

[@kiddrummeremac96]

I thought i was working on my lead kick a lot but this video has shown me otherwise. Thanks for the video guys!

[@bucco488]

Very helpful tips as always, Happy Birthday IcyMike!

[@tonygoodrich77]

Happy Birthday man!

[@vernshein5430]

Great video, thanks! Not enough people emphasize the importance of rotating the base leg to prevent ACL injuries and to build power. Another way to advance the lead leg kick is the shuffle or slide on the base leg foot as the kick is thrown. It requires that you be closer to the opponent than with a step into or a pendulum style advance. Say you are just outside lead leg kick range by 12" to 15" then a shuffle or slide can take you into range. And the start of the kick is really hard to see by the opponent compared to a step in or pendulum advance. You need to have your rear (base) leg a little more bent, then as you snap the lead leg kick out you straighten the base leg and the base foot slides towards the opponent giving you the extra 12"-15" you need to hit him. A lot of taekwondo fighters do this and it works for them.

[@thepaladin7816]

Good info regarding the lead leg! I would agree that this is helpful for damage over time and combos, which is underutilized🤘 I will remember to train my lead leg more!

[@Docinaplane]

I have a student who is right handed but his left leg is better at kicking than his right. Perfect for sparring.

[@hard2hurt]

That's a dangerous combination!

[@excollector9963]

Happy birthday, IcyMike! Thanks for sharing.

[@gotyobackbro5781]

Happy Birthday bro. Thanks for all that you do to keep us entertained.

[@Naraku1987]

As an outfighter it never gets old to stop someone rushing in with a lead front kick. Don't say it often, but the karate snap front kick is awesome for this.

[@sixstringrevolver6742]

Happy Birthday Icy Mike! Still hard to hurt at 40! Keep up the great work! Love the channel!

[@loganiinternet3201]

Couldn’t agree more. Even having decent lead leg attacks gives you a lot of advantages in kickboxing. Would highly recommend kickboxers train with karate ka or other martial arts students who use a lot of lead leg kicks and punches

[@KennyKenKin]

I am an assistant coach in our gym for the kids muay thai class and that kick was actually the technique of the month (jab, cross, lead leg hook kick). All of the kids hate doing it because most of them suck at it. I tell em that most of the adults cant throw this kick very well either but that is why we work on it. If it was easy you'd know how to do it well already. Good thing is all of the coaches have been made to train that kick too cuz we cant tell the kids to do it if ours are completely trash. And yes the rear leg pivot is the most integral part of the kick. I try to get em to see that you have to turn and stick your butt out for it to be a good kick. Doesn't matter if it is lead leg or rear leg. Either way, good information. I am sending this video to my Kru lol.

[@Ottepeg89]

Nice! I've bee doing the lead leg to cross (or overhand) for a while now. Definitely a more intermediate combo though as the lead kick gets higher, as for it to be fast you need to have the mobility/flexibility to keep your body as upright as possible.

[@trinidaddy]

Mike's favorite combo is coincidentally my go to combo in ufc 4 lmao

[@ThomasToPC]

I’ve found that, because with the lead leg kick I cannot rely so much on momentum and muscling it through, I have to work on improving my structure to improve power - which over time translates to a better rear leg kick. Two for the price of one. So yeah, train the lead leg kick with the mentality of “if it doesn’t suck we don’t do it”. And happy birthday, coach!

[@Merrick]

Our national kickboxing team's program had 6 basic combos (based on what the Russians were doing to win) that everyone had to do a lot. Combo #1: Jab, Cross, Lead leg round kick

[@ScottGarrettDrums]

Great content. Saenchai uses this kick on a regular basis. There's a simple reason why most MMA and Muay Thai practitioners don't use it: it's Korean and "Korean kicks don't work." Also, your foundation being in traditional arts is why you're good at these kicks. If I may make a point, why not teach your students how to do switch kicks / knees instead of stepping forward to achieve the same goal? Unless you're following your opponent, switching is both quicker and sneakier. My coach teaches the cross-switch kick combo as a basic behind jab-roundhouse.

[@gradebaka5058]

Happy 40 Mike! Big fan of your channel.

[@mespar_3008]

This reminds me of my taekwondo class 🤔 nice vid as always, keep rocking and happy birthday

[@The31st]

I also like the lead kick when exiting close or clinch range. From clinch range just take one step back with the rear leg and lean onto it as you throw the lead leg head kick. People just aren’t expecting it.

[@theangelgrey.]

Happy Belated Birthday!! 🙏🏽 Your content is one of my favourite things to watch on KZbin lol 💪🏽🔥

[@PhreekeeProductions]

Happy birthday Icyyy! Keep up the great content! It keeps getting better.

[@v-loss5658]

I’m a fan of using my lead leg because I started with Tae Kwon Do. I will say, the lead leg works and can do some real damage if used the right way. Thanks for addressing full rotation on the support leg during lateral movement. I realized I make that mistake a lot. This is definitely my favorite martial arts/ self defense channel now.

[@ulfhazelcreek8108]

Happy Birthday. And thanks for being a large inspiration for starting to get back into some semblance of fitness.

[@ya-cv8jg]

for your advanced version of this you could add the question mark lead kick (the teep faint into high kick) to this

[@samwisesammingtonss5488]

Thank you bro! And team!! You have made a successfull orbit around the sun! Happy returns on future endeavors.

[@pauljooste787]

This in regards to you "Mike Tyson in MMA" video...I found a fast pendulum lead kick to inner lead thigh is a really fast, accurate, and safe way to close distance. Also keeps them still for a second after as they reset balance. Now I mostly spar taller guys, so when you reset that kick you can drop your lead leg out and forward, and at the same time place a bomb right hand/looping right. Nice combo to close distance and puts you right in the pocket for some Mike Tyson footwork on the angles.

[@loxxkingdreddy]

Happy birthday man. Thanks for the present.

[@derekvandenburg6689]

This was such a well done video I had to watch it a 2nd time. I know icy mike dislikes/jokes about the sidekick, but the front leg sidekick is a fantastic kick to follow up the right hand with. It is usually a guarantee connection to the midsection with your heel. Even if it is not a clean strike it will at the least drive your opponent back and keep them from counter punching after you throw that right hand.

[@IrocZIV]

A year younger than me and you've done so much! Thanks for your chanel and happy birthday!

[@mitochondria8996]

Ahh yes Training kicks with your sidekicks just for kicks

[@roBLINDhood]

Nice! Instead of gloves he should have been promoting shoes… or cereal ;)

[@adamzoubi96]

that lead kick looks so crisp! i'm inspired

[@mohammadalighani5213]

Thanks for the basic, yet unbelievably effective moves. By the way, Happy Birthday.

[@SleeplessBrazilLimbo]

while i dont practice much combat sports, i can say that yes, when you practice something that the mayority of people dont, it makes you seem like a master at it. i play table tennis and while i have a decent forehand drive and a mean backhand, its usually either my chop block or my backhand smash that wins me the most points

[@adrianm7882]

Happy bday!!! Have a good 1 Icy Mike.

[@paulthemediacreator]

Happy Birthday Mike, thanks for posting!

[@MrIsles192]

Thanks for this. I have been training for 2 months and my lead kick sucks so i will definitely work on it.

[@10INCHCRUSHER]

Wanderie Silva in Pride taught the power of the lead leg.

[@wearywyvern3359]

Happy birthday Mike. Love the channel.

[@Ventus_the_Heathen]

Happy birthday! Big fan of your tricks and tips!

[@AllKindsOfWays]

His so right. Try this in class and work really good

[@honestlee9921]

You guys got a good synergy going cliff is a good guy

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

This is spot on stuff. I actually watched the Cung Le vs Frank Shamrock fight again and noticed how Le made a point to use alot of lead leg shots throughout the length of the fight. Sometimes you're thinking "Why is he even doing these? They aren't hurting him, no power, blah, blah, blah..." but in actuality, you could see those kicks taking a toll on Shamrock and a few times Shamrock was coming in for an attack and that teap kick impaled him and ultimately Le's head kicks (actually got him in the neck one good time) ended the fight, although Shamrock claims his right elbow got broken and that stopped the fight for him but I would beg to differ on that one. Front lead kicks, good!!!

[@MajkiMoo]

Happy bday, Icy Mike!

[@kiddrummeremac96]

Happy Birthday Icy mike!

[@srchoy]

Happy birthday!

[@jakubsvoboda7644]

So the old man is not that old! Thanks for the videos man and happy birthday!

[@carlosfuneraal]

Happy 40th yo !