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Writer's pictureCharlotte Easterling

Is kicking the calf a viable strategy in a fight?

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When analyzing the effectiveness of something, anything, it is universally a good idea to consult an expert. When analyzing the most effective way to win a fight look no further than professional mixed martial arts fighters to demonstrate the techniques that work the best. Over the years MMA fighters have employed numerous unorthodox and in some cases counter intuitive techniques to great avail. From the very inception of MMA conventional wisdom was thrown out the window. Hollywood constantly teaches us that the best way to win a fight is to a.) be big and strong and b.) hit the other person in the face really hard. In 1993 a group of brave investors and martial arts experts set out to see if Hollywood really was correct, creating a no holds barred tournament that would pit style against style in order to put to rest arguments over which martial art was the best. Shockingly the winner Royce Gracie, was not only the smallest man in the competition but managed to win without throwing a punch. He used his superior knowledge and grappling skills to strangle 3 much larger men who had a knack for knocking people out. This event at UFC 1 is widely considered the birth of MMA and from that point on there has been constant innovation. We have seen Anthony Pettis jump off of the cage wall and kick his opponent in the head to win a world title, we have seen Demetrious Johnson throw his opponent into the air only to catch his arm and hyper extend his elbow and more recently we have seen Israel Adesanya devastate his opponents calf to win his 20th fight in a row. Now, the calf kick may seem widely ineffective at first glance, why would you kick someone in the calf when the rules allow you to kick them in the head? However, in the past year or so this technique has exploded in professional MMA with devastating results. But why is this strange technique so effective? And how can we use knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in order to harness this deadly technique. 



To start, let's take a look at what some of MMA’s elite coaches have to say about this technique. Katel Kubis has been the head striking coach at the premiere MMA gym American Top Team for over a decade and has contributed to championship runs of notable fighters Tyron Woodley, Dustin Porier and Amanda Nunez. Kubis, who has a professional Muay Thai record of 61-4, points out that the calf kicks are not a new technique but concedes that its popularity is undeniably surging in recent years. “Back in the days when I first moved to ATT in 2009, nobody believed in that kick” (Dundas). Kubis started to believe in the calf kick once Wilson Gouveia, a fighter he coached landed 17 calf kicks  in an eight minute fight resulting in a TKO win. Years later Another of Kubis’s pupils, Tyron Woodley would use the kick to end a fight against former title challenger Carlos Condit early in the second round. Woodley kicked Condit so hard he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and was unable to continue fighting.



Despite the massive damage it can inflict, the primary use for the calf kick is not to end the fight outright but to force your opponent to change their game plan. “Often, the targeted fighter is forced to switch stances or otherwise alter his approach after just a few hard calf kicks” (Dundas). Moreover the calf kick limits movement. Muay Thai fighters have been kicking to the thigh for decades, a technique which has proven devastating over the years, even putting fighters on crutches, as Urijah Faber’s loss to Jose Aldo in 2010 showed. And while it is important to point out that this fight went to a decision, Aldo’s brutal leg kicks undoubtedly led to his decisive victory by taking away Faber’s ability to move. 



One of the few downsides to a thigh kick is that that whole area is protected by a lot of tissue, a weakness that the calf kick does not have. “The calf kick targets a much more vulnerable part of the body than the traditional low kick. Instead of going to the meatier thigh, the calf kick lands near the top of the shin, where the comparatively small tibialis muscle provides scant protection” (Dundas). Additionally, the calf kick is a much harder kick to counter. Because thigh kicks have been around for so long fighters have become much more effective at countering them. When someone throws a thigh kick, to defend you can raise your shin in front of the kick. Ideally this will mean that the lower, thinner part of their tibia collides with your much harder tibial tuberosity (just below the knee), resulting in a lot more pain for the person who threw the kick, this technique is known as “checking” a kick. Checking is so effective that you can actually break the tibia and fibula of the person who threw the kick, as was the case with Anderson Silva’s fight with Chris Wideman in 2013. Silva threw an ill fated leg kick and his career has never truly rebounded since. 



Calf kicks, however, do not have this issue. According to renowned MMA commentator and analyst Jimmy Smith; “The timing is different from checking a regular thigh kick...since the calf kick comes with little warning, it can be tough to recognize it in time to react” (Dundas). There are still viable counters to calf kicks, mainly involving movement,  but because the kick doesn't need to be thrown with much power it is relatively easy to land. The biggest risk when throwing this kick is getting caught with a punch when throwing the kick, a counter we will most likely see more and more. Another risk when throwing this kick is accidentally colliding with your opponents shin rather than their calf muscle, resulting in considerable pain for the one who throws it. 


What causes certain techniques to become more or less popular is anyone's guess but it is generally contributed to “offenses and defenses [continuing] to adjust and acclimate” (Dundas). However, one example of how knowledge of anatomy and physiology can be used to win a fight is knowledge of the peroneal nerve. To analyze why this nerve is so important, I spoke to Jeff Fjelstul, a physical therapist of 34 years at the VA Hospital in Seattle. “ The peroneal nerve is very superficial as it goes around the fibular head so it is easily traumatized. The nerve controls dorsiflexion and eversion of the foot. Turn the nerve off and you have no dynamic protection from a plantar flexion-inversion sprain”. In other words, by kicking the opponent's calf you can paralyze your opponent's personal nerve, taking away their dynamic ankle stability. This was seen with the recent derailment of Sean O'Malley’s hype train at the hands of underdog Marlon Vera. Early in the fight, Vera landed a calf kick that seemed laughably insignificant, however, this kick laid the groundwork for his eventual TKO (technical knockout) victory. Vera had struck O'Malley’s peroneal nerve and stopped his ability to dorsiflex his foot, causing him to sprain his ankle and get battered by strikes. Once Vera had landed that kick, all he had to do was wait for O'Malley, the athletic striker, to try to step down on his front foot, and crumble.




In closing, yes, as of right now kicking your opponent's calf is a highly effective strategy to win a fight, even against someone who fights professionally. However, that does not mean that it will work forever. MMA is an ever evolving sport and the leagues of striking coaches around the world are constantly developing new ways to counter this technique. In a few years calf kicks could be considered old news and in a few years after that they could make a triumphant return.  “the sport continues to evolve — sometimes unexpectedly doubling back to make old techniques new again” (Dundas). With that being said, if you ever find yourself in a fight with someone who kicks you in the calf, run...while you still can.


Dundas, C. (2020, April 09). Rise of the calf kick: How a forgotten technique became MMA's hottest strike. Retrieved September 25, 2020, from https://theathletic.com/1666839/2020/03/10/rise-of-the-calf-kick-how-a-forgotten-technique-became-mmas-hottest-strike/

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