Practicing Head Movement For Fight Sports With Kicks

[@GabrielVargaOfficial]

I love talking about slipping because so many people watch boxing tutorials to learn slipping. But they forget there's a difference once kicks are added. Stay safe when moving that head during muay thai, kickboxing or MMA.

[@DarkSolstice]

When you do your roll are you shifting the position of your feet as well or just moving your hips and knees? When I roll of feels natural to let my feet rotate a bit especially if I'm going to follow up with a counter punch off the roll. Thanks!

[@remyhavoc4463]

@Bam OuttaDaBayou I have the same thoughts I see a lot of guys do it and some even day dropping your hands is more energy sufficient and can ofcourse help with vision This may also help long/mid range volume fighters since you hands can't stick to your face forever Though that's mostly boxing though 😂

[@ZolPsyko]

Im glad you made this video. Im training in MMA right now, and I have a boxing background. Slipping was one of my strengths being a shorter fighter. I think slipping is sometimes ignored by others because they dont want to get kicked or knee'd in the head, but then their head is still open for punches.

[@JoshD0W]

head movement is especially important in mma due to the 4 oz gloves reducing blocking functionality. you cant just shell up and survive with 4oz MMA gloves the way you can with 8 oz boxing gloves

[@ZolPsyko]

@@JoshD0W Absolutely

[@shanebodnar9861]

@@JoshD0W the problem is that head movement leaves u vulnerable to wrestling and submissions

[@frankdeal7260]

@@shanebodnar9861no shit

[@imbatman208]

Wow. I was just coming back from a sparring session where I got kicked in the head after a slip, and as soon as I look at your channel, you have a video of how to fix that. Really appreciate it.

[@clapdrix72]

It only takes once to learn that lesson

[@taekfute]

1st, you're a special guy man, thanks for sharing your experience I wish you every good thing you can lay your eyes on in your future

[@silverwolf6194]

Easily the most overlooked skill in Kickboxing. Thanks Gabe.

[@flashtaeo]

I fight just like Dominick Cruz and I do Karate. You just have to have good reflexes and read your opponent. Still learning tho.

[@kudoista]

Yes! This is exactly how I have been slipping for years for all the same reasons. It's very satisfying to see someone of your experience has come to the same conclusions on how to adjust slipping techs to suit sports with kicks. A lot of Muay Thai fighters avoid slipping altogether but I have found it to be an essential skill. Even more so in mma because of the smaller gloves.

[@CoachMak]

Nuance between different fight sports is often missed Great video Coach

[@Quick--]

It was my first or second light sparring session and I slipped right into a head kick (luckily it was light sparring)...learned really fast to keep that hand up on the side I'm slipping to lol

[@justinfreeman4614]

One of my more mild injuries was from tilting my chin up while pulling back in sparring. My friend's cross still came in with a little follow through STRAIGHT into the windpipe! I crackd my trachea and it hurt to swallow for 2 weeks. It healed up - but now there's a line down my throat where the trachea is misshapen that I can feel if I get a sore throat.

[@rylewmma553]

Donald Cerrone was the master of forcing the slip off the right to set up right leg head kick. He seemed to land very solid with shin as well.

[@dpatel6393]

He makes it look fluid and easy

[@Priapos93]

Thanks for helping us avoid getting caught slipping, champ!

[@Enohada122]

Gabriel thanks for those in today sparring my head was quick with ducking and slipping

[@AlejandroMartinez-rb7ww]

Thanks for the explanation, I was struggling with head movement. 🙇🏾‍♂️🙇🏾‍♂️🙇🏾‍♂️

[@jeffparsons2190]

Loved it! You said that was the basics of kick slipping, hopefully you'll have a next level follow up in the future

[@blacksabbath2559]

Regarding head movments i watched carefully Buakaw ones and i try to copy them. His movments are shorts and effective with very little rotation when a hook comes. I often kicked people in the head with my lead leg (left one) when people slip on their right to avoid my jab. Greeting from french polynesia and thanks for your vids

[@dontblink3042]

I was there for the Cruz head kick ko of Cruz it was crazy. Your high Dutch guard seems to work very well. My muay thai coach teaches us to have our hands at our chin but the former mma professional that I spar always tells me to put my hands up higher like your guard.

[@tytsam72]

Yup. I feel hands at chin might still result in a rocking shot, As The hands are connected to the weak spot & the energy is transferred at that concentrated spot. As opposed to Keeping hands higher on the cheekbones or near temple Which Will transfer the energy in a more spread out way And Not just focused in the weak spot. As the rounds go by this will help in having a better guard defense = chin health.

[@certified_boogeyman]

Gabriel I think you have the best fight training channel Other guys have other important elements but you consistently bring useful well-rounded information

[@jackfrost3620]

Thanks gabriel!

[@wooden2621]

It took me a month of getting kicked in the head while sparring to make sure my hand was up properly while slipping straight punches. I was also making the mistake of relying too much on slipping and often times that would lead to me overextending on my head position, or my partner would simply set up a counter for when I slipped. Once I started developing my other methods of defense and mixing them together I stopped getting kicked in the head. Great video champ, thank you.

[@philipgarrett5009]

Thank you for posting Gabriel. Feel I could practice this slowly to begin, sometimes in the mirror too..build it up.. looking forward to it!

[@johnz7167]

Thank u very much gabe, im currently in love with kickboxing, anf this vid helps a lot

[@taylornguyen965]

Thank you so much for your instructional video it is a great help! There are always things I can learn after watching your videos!

[@KelpWolf]

Awesome video. Thanks for sharing. I really like how you add the follow along elements to your videos and slow it down enough for us to understand and practice how to make the movements. Superb!

[@OdysseusLaerte]

Great tutorial! 💛 Thank you for stressing the difference between English boxing and kickboxing. 👍

[@loralayene731]

Oh wow, you just put the finger right on what I was looking for... How to keep an efficient gard when you love to play with balance ! Thanks a lot ! Can't wait to try it in sparring...

[@TheRandomizedHuman]

Man I have been asking myself about head movement in mma. Seen fighters bend down and roll and get hit. Thanks a lot!

[@jeffs3119]

Love this, been working a lot on head movement. This came at a perfect time and highlights use case with kicks and knees. Very valuable info thanks! Could you also provide footage of these techniques being used live in future videos?

[@harr1to636]

damn the stars have aligned im trying to work my head alot more these days and i see you post new video when i was searching for one xD

[@DJCaptainPicard1701]

Excellent video as usual. Thanks, Gabriel!

[@saidbalkhi4534]

Great video! Right on time!

[@eugenymalo8704]

Excellent video yet again. The lean back from the punch and the shoulder can be applied in boxing when smb is throwing a 1-2

[@simongauvin375]

Best video tutorial on head movement! I come from a kyokushin background and have much trouble in kickboxing sparring because we don't train punches to the head. I simply thought :"keep your hands up at all times" but as you mentioned I still seemed to get hit a lot. Now I understand why! Seems obvious after hearing you, but apparently it wasn't for me. Anyway, thanks Gabriel, I can't wait to train this and try it out!

[@DeathscytheBleh]

What an absolute banger. You are a legend

[@davidwoodward700]

This was so helpful!

[@yuwmelon3868]

Solid techniques demonstrated by 6x WC Varga.

[@grzegorzszopinski7111]

Great video. I've been working recently on GGG combos, it'll be interesting testing them in more kickboxing0liek setup with these small (but super-important) refinements.

[@Matt_J106]

Man i was searching for this lol Great timing Sensei 💪🏼

[@brucehillbillybarthalow3786]

GREAT video

[@jojostar7973]

Thanks for this, I was told off by my coach in sparring for slipping a lot 😂

[@juniorvaughan5861]

Great content

[@Aidar77]

Thanks for the upload! Great material as always. I have noticed that your stance is pretty square. Is that your usual stance, or are you entering it for exchanges?Do you use blade stance when the distance is big? I have noticed that head movement is pretty different when I am using a bladed stance.

[@makaiev]

Gotta train those for a while... looks simple but I know its not... Also, is slipping back diagonally a good thing to do or I misunderstood the concept?

[@kingades1013]

1:06

[@windchimesilo9623]

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone can give me a training schedule. Like how many days of the week I should be training. I meet with my instructor next week and I've been training every other day. My shins are conditioned for the most part. So far just heavy bag and mirror work with offense defense movement, footwork, head movement etc would be greatly appreciated. Muay Thai btw

[@Kyoujin710]

How do you feel about using takedowns as a means of protecting yourself from kicks when using head movement?

[@ybu22z]

Would you change anything for the Karate Combat gloves or the 4oz as used in One Championship?

[@ajmjl9102]

I’m a karateka who isn’t used to so many low kicks and I feel like I’m worried about it so much that I don’t use my footwork as often could you give any pointers on footwork with the threat of low kicks?