How to do the Calf Kick for MMA & Striking martial arts

The Calf Kick has been used in MMA since its inception but gained traction around the year 2020. However, before this the Calf Kick originated from Muay Thai where it has been used by practitioners for years. Not only this, but it can also be found in other martial arts such as Karate, Kickboxing, Wing Chun and others.

In short, if there are kicks that are allowed to the leg, then it can be utilized to successfully beat your opponent. Often the Calf Kick is used to slow down the opponent and take away their power. However, in some cases if done enough, then it can completely cripple them and put them to the floor, rendering their fighter useless as a result.

As a brief introduction, the Calf Kick is when the striker uses their shin bone to kick the side of the opponent’s calf. This is typically done against the outside of the opponent’s leg, but can also be used on the inside of the calf too. Visually, it resembles an axe hacking away at a leg and can seriously harm the opponent. As you are aiming for the calf, it is best to aim for below the knee to secure enough contact. Below we shall go into further detail about how to successfully use the Calf Kick and how it works from a mechanical point of view.

Advantages of the Calf Kick

Using the Calf Kick instead of the Thigh Kick

Sometimes referred to as the low kick, it works by targeting the lower-leg. For years in MMA, strikers have kicked the thigh of the opponent in an attempt to weaken the leg and hurt them. However, this can be dangerous from an attacking perspective for two main reasons. The first issue is that it requires more movement and flexibility to land a kick higher on the body. The problem with this is that sometimes you can over-commit and expose your upper body to counterstrikes. If done poorly, your opponent may capitalize and tag you with a knockout punch to the head. For the sake of targeting the thigh, this seems too risky in comparison to the Calf Kick which is far safer from a defensive perspective.

The second issue with the Thigh Kick is that it can be countered by those who are good at wrestling and takedowns. If it is too slow or predictable, then your leg may get caught in mid-air. This can result in getting tripped or taken down which is also not a desirable outcome. Once more, this is not worth the risk of merely damaging the thigh.

However, the Calf Kick is much less risky in terms of counters. Due to its low-nature, it cannot be countered by a takedown which is a massive positive. Elsewhere, it is also less exposed in terms of using your upper body. For instance, if the Calf Kick misses then it’s not particularly easy to counter. In this sense, the Calf Kick is usually a far better option than using the Thigh Kick which has fewer benefits in comparison.

Why the Calf Kick works

Looking back at the Thigh Kick, even if it doesn’t get countered, the result is not as Calf Kick. This is because the thigh muscles are much bigger and generally more conditioned in comparison to the calf. In comparison, the calf has a lot of nerves that are not as well protected by muscle. In short, this is because the calf lacks the muscle volume that the thigh possesses.

This means that the nerves can be easily accessed without much protection. Imagine the leg is armor…basically, the calf in particular is very exposed and lacks the armor that other areas have. As a result, the nerves are easily exposed and can be used to damage the leg. The result is that by kicking the calf, you can disable the leg with fewer kicks compared to kicking other areas of the leg.

To quickly recap, the Calf Kick is designed to target the nerves in the leg. If enough damage is done to these nerves then the leg will shut down. Even if the opponent is mentally and physically strong, there is little they can do to stop this if they lose control of their leg. In this sense, the Calf Kick is akin to a liver shot in terms of shutting down the opponent, albeit it takes numerous, smaller hits rather than one big strike.

How to do the Calf Kick

The Calf Kick works by striking the opponent’s calf with the shin bone on your leg. This means you will need to create the correct angle before striking. For instance, if you hit the opponent’s calf with your own calf, then it would do little damage whereas if you hit it with bone then you would do considerably more damage. Imagine that your leg is a blade and the shin is the sharpest part. Of course, it would be optimal to land your hits with the sharpest part of the blade to maximize the damage. As mentioned, to do this, you should create an angle. This means you don’t want to throw Calf Kicks whilst directly opposite the opponent. Instead, you want to come off at an angle to allow the shin to strike the calf.

Remember, whilst you’re doing this you should keep your hands by your face and your arms up. For obvious reasons, this is to keep your guard up to avoid any possible counterstrikes. Usually, the leg you should target is the lead leg, which is typically a stance used by boxers. Most boxers will naturally have one leg more forward compared to the other which is the leg you should go after. This is because it is standing at a closer distance to hit, as opposed to their resting leg that is physically further away.

Once the leg is in reach, you should then strike and also twist your hips into the kick to generate more power. Much like other kicking techniques, it’s much more powerful and efficient if you throw the kick with your hips as it uses even more muscles beyond your leg to enhance the kick. Ideally, the Calf Kick should land below the knee and land on the calf.

Kicking the inside of the leg

So far, we have talked about striking the Calf Kick from a conventional viewpoint. This means striking the outside of their calf. However, we shall now discuss striking the inside of the leg using the shin. This is often referred to as the inside Calf Kick. Simply put, this targets the inside of the calf as opposed to the outside. In terms of damage, it operates the same way and has the same object. The main difference is your positioning when setting up the Calf Kick.

As mentioned, with a regular Calf Kick, you will need to circle outside of the opponent to expose their lead leg. However, the inside Calf Kick has a different set up. This still kicks their lead leg but is done from a different angle and leg. For instance, imagine your opponent has their left leg forward. Typically, you would strike this on the outside of their calf with your right leg. However, with the inside Calf Kick you would instead strike with your left leg. This would still target below the knee but as you may imagine, your stance would be very different to begin with. Unlike the conventional Calf Kick, you wouldn’t need to circle outside and create an angle.

Often, you may simply need to close the distance a little and then strike without coming on the outside of the opponent. Typically this variation of Calf Kick is not as common as the regular version. The reason for this is it’s usually harder to land inside Calf Kicks as the opponent has their upper body and resting leg on the same side, whereas with the regular version they have less defense. Nonetheless, throwing inside Calf Kicks can be a good way of making the opponent second guess and keep your attack from being too predictable.

Results of the Calf Kick

Usually, for the Calf Kick to get results, you will need to land at least 5-10 kicks. This is a rough number and it really depends on how hard your strikes are, as well as if they can consistently land on the same target. Other factors such as the opponent’s muscle definition and mass will also come into play. Anyway, there are usually two results that come from the Calf Kick.

The first is slowing the opponent down which is the most common outcome. Normally, this results in their striking being less explosive and even if they grapple, their takedowns will also lack speed and power. Imagine every kick you land adds weight onto their lead leg. After a while, it will simply be too heavy to function properly. At this point, you can literally move around the opponent with ease and take advantage. Often this will mean finishing the fight with fists, which is ironic considering the damage is mostly done by your legs.

The second outcome is when the opponent completely loses their base and falls to the floor as a result. In various MMA fights down the years, you can literally see fighters wobble on their feet as their legs drain in power. The outcome can mean that even elite fighters with fantastic bases can quickly lose balance. In most cases, they will fall to the floor and lack use of their leg which can result in a loss by punches. However, in some cases, fights can be called off instantly if the fighter falls down with a suspected damaged leg. This shows the effective damage that can be caused by repeated Calf Kicks.

In terms of long-term damage, those who get hit by the Calf Kick should be ok. Sadly, there is always the possibility of a leg break which is often the case with martial arts. However, for most people they will suffer short-term nerve damage. Although this may result in limping for a few weeks, with adequate recovery, you should eventually heal with no long-term problems.

Examples of Calf Kicks in MMA

Over the years, there have been several experts of the Calf Kick in MMA. One of the original users of the Calf Kick was UFC Champion Benson Henderson. He was one of the pioneers who bought it into the Octagon and used it to great effect. Since then, the likes of Jose Aldo has also used it to his advantage, as has Jon Jones.

Interestingly, Jones also combines his Calf Kicks with Oblique kicks to great effect. In short, your legs are often in danger when facing Jon Jones. Similar to Aldo and Henderson, he also has long legs that work to his advantage. Unlike certain other kicks, Calf Kicks don’t particularly require strong, muscular legs either. As you’re using your shin bone, it isn’t really reliant on muscle or strength either.

Perhaps the most famous example of the Calf Kick was when it went wrong by Anderson Silva. When Silva fought Chris Weidman, he went for a typical Calf Kick which resulted in breaking his own shin. As his leg connected with the leg of Hughes, it literally snapped in half and looked gruesome. Although Silva has some of the best kicking techniques ever, the reason for this was that his shin didn’t land on the calf, instead it was mostly his calf hitting the shin of Weidman which resulted in the break. Nonetheless, if the Calf Kick is done with the correct technique, your leg will be safe from any damage. Of course, the same technique can be used in other striking martial arts such as Kickboxing and Karate too.