Hello, I'm a Taekwondo practitioner. I would like to know how easy it is for grapplers to grab the leg from an opponent who is kicking?

For instance, if I kick with my rear leg to your mid section, either with a side kick or a round kick at full speed, full blast. Will you attempt to grab it? Is that not dangerous for you?

I am fully aware of what grapplers can do once they grab a limb, what my real question is, how possible is it? Realistically, within the scenerio I gave above, what chance do you have and is it worth it?

-Tek

I'm a leg grabber,catcher,striker. If given the chance I'll take the leg and you'll go down without me. I wouldn't necessarily take the blow in order to catch the leg,but it can be deflected and caught. The one who's in trouble will be standing on one leg,shortly.

Tek9 -

Many different competitions allow kicks to be grabbed. How "easy" it is to do is totally relative to how good the fighters are. Most grapplers will try to either:

* shoot in or otherwise pre-emptively stop the kick from being thrown

or

* catch the kick on impact, relying on evasion to minimize the impact. With practice, this is not terribly hard, but again, it depends on how good the kicker is.

One of the things that TKD has taught me is the block and punch. If you are fast enough you can limit the amount of force generated by a solid roundhouse by stepping into it and blocking/punching. But instead of countering by stepping back I tend to scoop the leg and trip up the other leg with my opponent going to his back and me landing on top of him. Or when stepping in taking some of the kick and lowering myself a bit and reaching into your groin area and grabbing your other leg and running your over or simply kicking that leg out from under you. Catching a kick is difficult especially from trained sparrers ... but not impossible.

Taekwondo has also taught me about evading and then countering which is just as useful to tie up that person and to take them down. Why try to catch a kick when you can simply get out of the way and then attack. Or I can also get into counter kicks and wait for my opportunity when we get in close to grape vine your leg or sweep your leg(s) or a numerous other takedown techniques.

Basically nobody wants to be on the end of a kick. Circular kicks are far easier to deal with then linear kicks such as the side kick but not impossible. Understanding stand up and grappling makes for a better fighter. Grapplers want to get in close and become a part of you so keeping them at a distance is a stand up person's best course of action. Being a grappler you don't want to get kicked but you are willing to take a little to deal out a lot.

Just like punching your legs will get tired and you will not be as fast and many times you will leave that limb out. That is what a grappler wants, an appendage sticking out to grab onto ... it is like a present.

I came from a few years of traditional Kenpo karate instruction. We used to spar with neighboring academies, which included TKD stylists.

One reason we fared very well was due to the "critical distance" training instilled in us by our instructor. Most dangerous kicks are only really effective at a certain distance. So long as we were aware of this danger area, we could anticipate a kick and react accordingly, which could either be shoot in for strikes, evade, or grab and takedown.

The only problem is that TKD stylists are very good with their legs! You have to react very quickly to prevent getting clocked by one of their graceful, stealthy and powerful kicks.

Round kick to the mid section - fairly easy to catch.

Side kick - not as much easy to catch as it is easy to slip outside on and get behind you, then it's suplex time

Kicks work once and a while, throw them regullarly and you will get taken down, unless you are also a REALLY good wrestler.

I also don't need to catch your leg to take you down off a kick. I can shoot as you kick, catching you standing on one foot and jamming the kick. I can also check the kick, then shoot. Coming off a kick will make it very difficult for you to sprawl.

So basically, if you don't want to get taken down, and are not a good wrestler, your best shoot is keeping both feet on the ground. But if the other guy is a good wrestler and wants you down, you'll end up on your back soon enough regardless...

I've seen many guys shoot at the wrong time. Instead of taking the kicker down they get taken down because they run into the knee.

Although I cannot speak from experience, sprawling seems to be the popular counter, but why not learn to time your knee strikes. I mean everyone shoots head first. And a knee to the head is almost a knock out. Since 2 forces are colliding.

This is just from a strikers perspective, and UFC/pride spectator.

Because we don't shoot head first, and tend to protect it as we shoot.

It's possible, just very unreliable.