Groin
Kicks and Super Human Strength
It feels silly to even write about
this, yet the myth that kicking someone in the groin will give him
super human strength is still perpetuated by various sources. I
can see a basis for this line of thought, inaccurate as I believe
it to be. Looking to understand the thinking that leads people to
make these statements and theories, I find there is usually (though
not always) some logical thought process behind this, Personally
I have used snap kicks to the groins of attackers in real fights
with remarkable success. I have also been on the receiving end of
more than one groin kick and have found it to be quite an effective
target, sometimes much to my chagrin.?
One personal source of this misinformation
is a Police Officer who trains Swat Teams Self Defense by hard sparring
in the conventional martial arts manner. Since sparring is done
as a mutually agreed upon training exercise (symmetrical vs. asymmetrical),
the participants should and do learn how to protect the groin area.
Whether the groin is deemed an acceptable target or not, male students
tend to naturally protect their groin in this type of training.
When discussing the groin as a target, this Police Officer was emphatic
about his inability to deliver a strike to the groin in his training
sessions. His officers were able to protect their groin very effectively
while sparring. I know I certainly did in my days of sparring.
However, sparring is quite different
from real fighting. Even heavy sparring employs a degree of conscious
thought process and physical dexterity that is simply not available
in the full adrenal rush. I have seen many a skilled technical fighter
stand flat on their feet and throw ineffective haymaker punches
in real street encounters. Many of these incidents end up in a clinch
with both fighters standing squared off trying to get leverage over
the other. To the aware fighter it is often a simple task to throw
a front kick or a knee into the groin of their opponent. It sure
has worked for me, sometimes to my amazement as my foe dropped like
a sack of potatoes from a relatively light force strike. The groin
can be a very effective target. Hardcore no-holds barred fighting
contests do not allow full contact strikes to the groin for this
very reason.
There is a woman who owns a martial
arts school in Colorado. This woman emphatically tells her students
to never kick a man in the groin. She sites examples where women
have been severely beaten after attempting ineffectual strikes to
the groin. This is akin to saying never fight back, which law enforcement
agents used to say and have now totally reversed their stance. I
would imagine some poorly trained women and men in the past have
had this negative experience. But the overwhelming evidence is that
the groin is an excellent target.
My third source is from a friend who
grew up in New York City. It seems he feels the stigma of growing
up in 'The City' is that he’s supposed to be rough and tough. The
stories of his exploits are elaborate and in my book unrealistic
reports of flying spin kicks and other highly technical techniques
that he’s supposedly used in real fights. Always taking his accounts
with a grain of salt, the clincher came when we were sharing experiences
one evening. He was visibly offended when I mentioned having used
groin kicks in real fights. This was apparently outside his code
of ethical fighting, and he said as much. I remember being amazed
by this coming from someone who supposedly was such a fighter. Inner-city
survival would be pretty rough under such a code.
My sense is that he learned much more
about street fighting from watching movies and hearing the many
embellished stories than actual fighting on the streets. In other
words, my good buddy likes to "tell stories" to some degree!
My stance is that there is no such
thing as a 'bad' target if the defender strikes with conviction
and power. There may be better targets than others. But when it
comes to the male groin, no manner of conditioning or weight training
can make this area impervious to strikes while under duress.
Written by Bill Kipp - President,
International F.A.S.T.
Defense Association.
Read about the very popular video
set Street Self Defense 101 and take advantage of their special
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