A kick in the 'wotsits'.

A few years ago, my TKW friend showed me how to defend against this sort of groin kick.

He brought his arm down on my leg and hit a nerve point, on the shin. It really hurt.

Is anyone familiar with this?

The pressure point yes. The technique no.

I won't try to block a kick to the gonads with the hands though. Miss and you break a few fingers. Miss even more, and he hits you anyway and then punch you in the face for getting so low.

Move. Irimi and tenkan exists for a reason.

Moving is always good, but there is a difference between blocking with the arm and blocking with the hand. It's like anything else: if you've never trained at it, and you just try it off the cuff when someone tries to kick you, you're likely to mess up and get hurt, but people who train to block with the arm can do so quite effectively and not get hurt.

It reminds me of that famous story of a woodworker chopping a tree.
When it starts to fall down, move! Tenkan !!
Don't try blocking with your arm,...

Mary Malmros wrote: Moving is always good, but there is a difference between blocking with the arm and blocking with the hand. It's like anything else: if you've never trained at it, and you just try it off the cuff when someone tries to kick you, you're likely to mess up and get hurt, but people who train to block with the arm can do so quite effectively and not get hurt.

I can accept that Mary. I'm a black belt TKW myself and I've done my fair share of low blocks. But I've also met some interesting people in Silat who has since given me a new perspective in the art of kicking the gonads. Most times the gonads is nothing but a teaser, so staying there to deal with it just leaves you where they want you.

Moving is much better as in prevention is better than a cure. Moving also doesn't mean taking huge steps or avoiding. Shifting chushin, irimi, are just simple examples before going into Ashi awase.

One of my senseis sometimes performs yonkyo on the leg. Much more painful than done on the arm...(but perhaps you already knew this, me being a newbie )

Carl Rylander wrote: A few years ago, my TKW friend showed me how to defend against this sort of groin kick. He brought his arm down on my leg and hit a nerve point, on the shin. It really hurt.

If you can block it with your arm then your head's in the wrong place - unless you're in some low krotty stance. You standing up?
Turn your hips, move your bollocks, then throw him to the floor...or something. The last thing I'd want to do is try to block a groin kick with my arm!
I do like these six-monthly technique questions for the last five and a half years though, keep 'em up.

In my opinion, force on force blocking is a bad idea. You risk a lot for very little. Also, very few people throw a single strike. If I throw a front/push kick to your mid-section/groin you better believe a straight right is coming right after it.

I spent a lot of time in TKD, and I believe the reason we were taught to low block was because we were not allowed to punch in the face. Once I started sparing people who were allowed I quickly realized that it was better to move my body then to expose my face. Straight kicks like that are very easy to deal with. It's kicks that change levels and round kicks to the arms/legs that are the hardest for me to deal with. Nothing is more fun then a numb arm/leg from eating a shin.

Michael Douglas wrote: If you can block it with your arm then your head's in the wrong place - unless you're in some low krotty stance. You standing up? Turn your hips, move your bollocks, then throw him to the floor...or something. The last thing I'd want to do is try to block a groin kick with my arm! I do like these six-monthly technique questions for the last five and a half years though, keep 'em up.

It worked alright! It hurt a lot, and he looked straight at me when he did it, never taking his eyes of my face.

I think, sometime this year, I will take up the sport. I need to get my back strengthened. I might study a bit of boxing, BJJ and kicking too. I hope I won't be saying this this time next year! Get the pipe and slippers ready!

You know, I just have to say, once again, how amazed I am at the depth of knowledge of people who have never studied something. It's like the less you've studied, the more you know.

Mary Malmros wrote: You know, I just have to say, once again, how amazed I am at the depth of knowledge of people who have never studied something. It's like the less you've studied, the more you know.

I've read Dunken Francis's book. I go on youtube.

I'm not kidding about that groin defense. Admittedly, he did it in slow motion, and he might have hurt himself if he did it full speed, which is what some people here are getting at, but it worked. Maybe it wouldn't full speed.

Where I come from, you're better of just cowering, if you're of a certain class, rather than doing anything to defend yourself. It's why I've taken so long to do it.

Heh, Carl, wasn't talking to you so much as the people who never trained to block kicks but who are sure it can't be done. It's like people who have never trained in aikido deciding that it must be all fake. Oh yeah, we're all experts here...

Actually,I've thought about it again, and I think I was duped!

My TKWD friend was always telling me that it was better than Aikido. I Think that this was part of it. If you did that sort of block full speed, it would be a contest between the strength of your armbone and the strength of your opponents shinbone and I think the shinbone would win.

Amazing that the duped me for that long!

We used to have to defend against this type of kick regularly whilst I still practiced Kyokushin...

Never ever worried about blocking low... most times you'd just drive your knee as hard as you could into the shins of your opponent as they raised the kick.

Timing is the key point and most people can't take more than one or two hits to the shins before they start to falter.

Many was the class leaving the mat with bruised and bleeding shins from this kind of defence.

Carl Rylander wrote: ...I'm not kidding about that groin defense. Admittedly, he did it in slow motion, and he might have hurt himself if he did it full speed, which is what some people here are getting at, but it worked. Maybe it wouldn't full speed. Where I come from, you're better of just cowering, if you're of a certain class, rather than doing anything to defend yourself. It's why I've taken so long to do it.

There is just so much FAIL in those two paragraphs I can hardly eat my breakfast!
I'm not in any way insulting you Carl, I'm just abhorred by both of those concepts.

That's the way it is, where I am!

To be fair, you can improve yourself, but it's an uphill struggle and it's a lot easier on you, if you just don't bother.