Update:
I published my book “The Leg Kick: Your Ultimate Guide to Using The Leg Kick for Mixed Martial Arts” and it is available here. It covers both how to block the leg kick and much more.

I watched the Matt Hughes vs Renzo Gracie fight and was probably just as surprised as the rest of the world: A wrestler and BJJ specialist in the cage but the fight is decided on leg kicks? How on earth could that happen?
I don’t really have a clue. It’s hard to believe the Gracie’s wouldn’t train to defend against leg kicks. I’m pretty sure they know about this technique and practice how to get past it. But still, Renzo never blocked Matt’s leg kicks, he just took them all in. If you look closely, you can actually tell when the pain starts setting in and it becomes difficult for him to use his leg much. After a few more kicks, he can hardly walk, let alone fight.
If it can happen to one of the greats like Renzo, it can happen to anybody: underestimating the power of leg kicks until it’s too late.

The weird thing is this: you can actually feel like you can handle it when you don’t block a couple of leg kicks and then suddenly, another one lands and it feels like your leg just got amputated. That’s the real power of leg kicks, the cumulative damage can suddenly cripple you when you thought you were still going strong.
After talking so much about how to do a leg kick, I figured it’s time I talked about how to block a leg kick. Here are some ideas you can use: [Read more…]