By "really" do you mean "actually?" Because the answer is yes. They've been used to set up finishing techniques, to coral an opponent, to limit the opponent's mobility, and to finish the fight via knockout or TKO.
By "really" do you mean "very"? It depends. Guys like Jose Aldo, Anthony Pettis, Mirko Filipovic, and Cung Le use their kicks VERY effectively. Guys like Clay Guida, not so much.
Do you "need" them? Strictly speaking, you don't. But they can add a dimension to your striking that ups your chances of winning. They increase the range from which you can attack, they can strike from head to toe, they're more powerful than punches alone, they're a great way to finish a combination, they're about the only way to attack your opponent's legs (mobility) when you're standing up... Why would you NOT want another weapon in your arsenal? Why would you purposely limit yourself? Even guys who aren't great kickers (Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Rashad Evans) have used them to set up punches, or even end fights.
Considering a good kick can be twice as powerful as stepping right or elbow, and the best fighters can throw a tons worth of power into a kick... enough to cause serious debilitating damage or even death...
Yes.
They are nice to have in your arsenal.
I am a kickboxa cause they picked on me and made me sifin in High Tracks because they also said I have sex with Salet the Kickboxer which is homosexual intercourse but they want me to know black belt jokes cause they finally want me to have intercourse with the opposite trash.
Your legs are so much stronger than your arms. Unless you have no clue at all how to kick a half way decent kick is most likely more powerful than a punch. You are also, normally if taught properly, farther from the other guy when kicking so you are much less likely to get hit while kicking.
Yes, kicks are extremely important. You can definitely leave the high risk kicks out of your arsenal, but major ones like a good push kick and a good roundhouse type kick are essential.
The problem as I see it is that many fighters really never develop their kicking skill to a high enough level to be able to rely on and use their kicks as effectively as they might otherwise. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to develop kicking skills to that level and many fighters really stop short of being able to because of that. A good example is a round house kick and how many fighters do you see kicking with the ball of the foot for instance? Very few really and another example which there was a question about just a few months ago was to how to stop spinning around if missing after throwing a round house kick that came from a fighter. Evidently he had never been taught that when you throw a round house kick you help counter that momentum by moving your hands, lower arms, and elbows slightly in a counter direction to help counter that momentum of your leg and foot coming around.
I see fighters, including pro fighters all the time spinning around like tops when they miss or their round house kick does not land. They tend to get away with it also because their opponent over reacts, stepping back too far and then can close fast enough before that fighter then has regained his balance and sometime of position from which he can defend himself from. Occasionally you will see a well trained fighter not do this and instead only step back just far enough and then step in and counter or just step in and counter his opponent in mid kick. That also requires training and an understanding of kicking which in part takes me back to what I originally said. Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone are two examples of fighters that can use their kicks effectively and have the skill, knowledge, and ability to do so. Both of them also have a background in kickboxing where they learned and developed this before ever getting into MMA and are examples of what I am saying here I think.
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if you kick correctly then yes they are extremely effective. your legs are really powerful so if you kick with enough force you can really weaken your opponent.
yes kick can be effective. Watch ufc tonight and count how many leg kicks are thrown.
I didn't think they would be, but I'm amazed to have seen some guys really use them effectively.
Are kicks in MMA really effective? Do you really need them in your arsenal?
