Having been an active street cop for the entire 33 years of my police career, as well as an active police trainer for 43 years, in this series I share some of the defensive tactics techniques that helped me prevail on the street. The series presents a variety of defensive tactics in a format that allows you to follow the instructions and practice the technique. Remember practice makes prepared.
A very common attack on the street is the front kick. This is the most natural kick to deliver during an assault and it is often preferred because it is powerful and one does not need a black belt to master it.
Step One: Power Pivot
As the kick is delivered from your stance you should power pivot. Using your reaction foot as your post, pivot your strong foot (gun side) 180 degrees behind you and toward your reaction side. This will immediately put you off the line of attack and the foot should miss.
Step Two: Hook
Your reaction side arm performs a scoop and hooks under the kicking leg as it passes, capturing it as your attacker begins to retrieve the kick. Re-enforce the capture with your strong arm. The assaultive suspect should now be standing on one foot while owing his balance to you.
Step Three Option One: Lift and topple
After capturing the leg, your strong hand slides to the Achilles tendon and lifts the leg up until your attacker topples on to his back. He may have a tendency to roll quickly to his stomach.
Step Three Option Two: Sweep the leg
After capturing the kicking leg, use your reaction leg to sweep the support leg, taking your attacker to the ground. One advantage this technique has is that depending on how you sweep the leg you can choose whether he lands on his back or stomach.
Once your attacker is on the ground it is you who decides whether you control him on the ground, transition to one of your defensive tools, and/or disengage and give commands.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the defense against the front kick is Pivot, Hook, Topple or Sweep. The good thing is that even if you don’t capture the leg, the pivot gets you out of the way of the attack.
The defensive move to counter the front kick, when performed properly, not only turns the tables on your attacker, but it also upends the table on him. To end with a pun, the counter keeps you from getting a kick out of law enforcement. As we used to say, “Pun spelled backwords is nup and that’s about anup out of me.”
Stay safe, stay strong and stay positive.
Photos by Anya Marcou. Techniques demonstrated by Lt. Dan Marcou and Aidan Marcou.
NEXT: Access Dan Marcou’s entire defensive tactics training series here
