How To Oblique Kick – Why It’s Illegal In So Many Martial Arts
The oblique kick is the most controversial strike in the entirety of martial arts. The communities of MMA, Muay Thai, and Kickboxing are all split down the middle on whether the technique should be made illegal or not.
For those who don’t know, the oblique kick gets its name from the oblique posterior ligament located in the knee joint. The idea of the oblique kick is not to make direct contact with the knee. But instead kick the opponent’s thigh, causing this ligament to bend, twist or completely snap.
By damaging the oblique (or other knee) ligaments of your opponent, it is then a much easier fight for yourself. The opponent will not be able to move anywhere near as efficiently as they would normally. In addition to this, they may have to switch lead legs and stop their own kicking game completely.
The kick has soared in popularity thanks to its use in modern-day MMA. Perhaps most famously, Jon Jones is well known for using oblique kicks to his advantage. The kick is extremely low risk if you miss, there is almost no downside to yourself. If you land a solid oblique kick, it can literally turn a fight around.
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Is The Oblique Kick Legal?
Currently, under almost all rulesets the oblique kick is currently legal.
Legal:
MMA
Karate
Muay Thai
Most Kickboxing Rulesets
Illegal:
Taekwondo
Some Kickboxing Rules
Mechanics Of The Oblique Kick
The oblique kick is so effective because of its simple setup and low risk, coupled with its potentially devastating damage caused to the opponent’s knee. It can be used as both an offensive and defensive kick. The kick will also cause your opponent to change their style and not be as confident when coming forward with strikes of their own.
Another great benefit of the oblique kick is the way in which it’s thrown. You aren’t able to discern whether the kick is going to be head height or knee height until it is too late. For example, when throwing a Hook kick, the kick requires great technique and timing to reach the head. The Oblique kick is much easier and less risky in comparison.
The kick must always be aimed at the lead leg of the opponent. The target area is almost always the upper thigh. Since you aren’t always going to hit exactly where you want, this can also directly kick the knee with a pushing motion forcing it backward. Whether you hit the lower thigh or right on the kneecap, this is a potentially devastating area to hit continually.
When throwing the kick your entire body is still remaining in a backward defensive position. The oblique kick is unlike other kicks in that you do not want to put your entire body weight behind it.
You should aim to land the arch of your foot around 1 inch above the kneecap of the opponent. The kick should be thrown in a very similar manner to a push kick.
How To Defend Against An Oblique Kick
The most effective way to defend against oblique kicks is to constantly switch your stance. As soon as you forsee an oblique kick coming, you should be able to switch your lead leg. This obviously moves your knee out of the firing line and you can remain in an offensive stance.
If your opponent does not have a significantly longer reach than yourself, you should be at a distance where you can throw a quick jab from your lead leg side arm. Whilst this won’t be the strongest jab in the world since your feet have only just planted, it is still a decent counter and a lot better than being kicked in the thigh/knee area repeatedly.
A riskier option to defend against the oblique kick is by taking the opponent to the ground. As soon as you see the opponent attempting an oblique kick, you have a small window to create an angle and look for a takedown. Due to the fact that your opponent has one leg in the air, they will have slightly less time to react since they need to get this foot to the floor before they can think about defending the takedown.
Why Is The Kick So Controversial?
The oblique kick has had various MMA fighters and coaches call for it to be made illegal.
Not only this but if you start throwing oblique kicks during sparring with your gym partners, they won’t be happy. An oblique kick is viewed similarly to if you were throwing full power knockout punches. The reason for this is if you were to land a full power oblique kick in the perfect location, it has a decent chance of seriously injuring your opponent. There is no place for this in the gym amongst teammates.
Although the oblique kick is largely still legal, the debate about its legality still rages on. A common counterargument towards the oblique kick is that MMA is dangerous. Whilst head trauma and concussion is a completely different topic, this is a negative bodily impact that happens in martial arts. If we were to take away body and head strikes from full-contact martial arts competitions, we wouldn’t be left with much to watch.
Perhaps it is the fighter’s mentality towards an oblique kick that makes some people despise them so much. For example, if you were knocked out by an opponent, you can shake their hand after the fight and begin training again next week.
However, if your leg took a bad oblique kick, this could finish your training for the next 4-6 months. In particularly bad circumstances you may need surgery and a lot of rehabilitation. Whilst this is part of martial arts and contact sports, it is really quite a negative consequence for such an easy kick.
Oblique Kicks Compared To Other Ligament Submissions Such As Heel Hooks
Another argument used is that if a heel hook, twister, armbar, etc is legal, then an oblique kick should also be legal.
This is a very strange argument since all of these submissions require a large degree of control over the opponent’s body to pull off. Secondly, the opponent is given at the very least, a brief window of opportunity to tap out.
Perhaps the submission with the most similar damage to an oblique kick is the heel hook. The heel hook twists the opponent’s heel which can either rupture the ACL or LCL ligaments in the knee, depending on whether it is an inside or outside heel hook. To get this position requires a very strong leg entanglement alongside a two-armed grip on the opponent’s heel. It also requires your opponent to be on the floor. Even after this setup, the opponent still gets a chance to submit and end the fight before damage.
When compared with an oblique kick, a heel hook is extremely difficult to set up. An oblique kick can damage a knee ligament in under 1 second and gives the opponent no time to tap at all.
