Set Up Efficient And Powerful Leg Kicks With Bas Rutten!
Who is Bas Rutten?
Bas “El Guapo” Rutten is one of the most sought after coaches in the world of competitive fighting. Bas Rutten was known for his aggressive striking and surprisingly effective grappling. Having attained the UFC Heavyweight Title as well as a 3-time King of Pancrase World Champion, Bas Rutten was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Why Attack the Legs?
Many fighters can benefit from attacking the leg more often. It is common for fighters to become headhunters, eyes set strictly on knocking the opponent out and ignoring the openings to attack the body and legs. There are many reasons to diversify your attacks and target the legs. When fighting an equally skilled opponent or a very evasive style fighter, killing their legs can slow them down and create the openings you need to get that knockout. Another side effect from continuously abusing your opponent’s leg is that they will be unable to bear weight on that leg. When they can no longer support their body weight with their legs, the power of their punches greatly diminishes. This makes the low kick a powerful tool you can utilize to gain an advantage over a superior boxer. Lastly, leg kicks do have the ability to end fights. It is not seen as often in MMA and Kickboxing (although it does still happen) but in Muay Thai it is seen more commonly. When a fighter can no longer stand or from the intense pain, they can no longer continue to fight.
How Bas Rutten Mixes in his Kicks!
Leg kicks can be brutal and devastating, here is how Coach Bas Rutten does it!
Breaking Down the Combination!
Let’s go over what Bas Rutten is throwing, then we can further look at why it works and why it is so effective.
- Left Hook, Right Low Kick
- Left Hook, Right Cross, Left Hook, Right Low Kick
- Right Cross to the Body, Left Hook, Right Low Kick
- Left Hook, Right Low Kick
- Left Jab, Right Cross, Right Low Kick
Why is this Effective?
Bas Rutten is a master of attacking the entire body, constantly making the opponent guess where the next strike is coming from. To start, Bas throws a Lead Hook and comes back with a Rear Leg Low Kick. The Lead Hook and Rear Low Kick are best friends. The rotation of the Hook allows your body to load up your right leg for a powerful kick without making the attack telegraphed. Once Bas throws his Rear Leg Low Kick, he returns to his stance, using the recoil from the Low Kick to set up another Lead Hook. The reason the Lead Hook sets up the Rear Low Kick is the same reason the Rear Low Kick sets up the Lead Hook. Once Bas lands his second hook he will continue punching, by throwing a Rear Cross (set up by the rotation of the Lead Hook) into another Lead Hook which Bas will end with another Rear Low Kick.
Now Bas has thrown one punch to a kick and then three punches to a kick. Every strike naturally sets up the next. Now Bas has them guessing how many punches until the Low Kick. Using the opponent’s own preemption against them, Bas attacks the body this time instead of the head. Bas now throws a Rear Cross to the body and follows up with a Lead Hook to the head, again finishing with a Rear Low Kick. By throwing the Rear Hand Cross to the body, Bas mixed up his targets as well as led with the Rear Hand this time instead of the Lead Hand, further changing up his pattern on the opponent.
Now Bas will throw one more Lead Hook to Rear Low Kick, just like in the beginning of the combination. Now the opponent does not know if he will throw a punch into a kick, multiple punches into the kick, as well as not knowing if Bas will attack the body first or change up which hand he leads with. But they may be catching on to the pattern that he is using. The pattern is Left to Right Kick, or Left, Right, Left to Right Kick, or Right Body, Left to Right Kick. No matter how Bas changes his targets or changes which hand goes first, he is essentially attacking with one side and then the other, which makes sense because the rotation from each attack leads into the next strike.
Knowing that a good fighter will catch on to his pattern, Bas changes up the next piece of his attack by throwing a Lead Jab, Rear Cross into a Rear Low Kick. This change in pattern can catch an opponent off guard because all of the kicks prior were set up by a Lead Hook not a Rear Cross. Bas Rutten goes on to further elaborate that the Jab, Cross, Rear Low Kick is so effective because the Rear Cross drives the opponent backwards, making their lead leg light and easy to kick out.
Diversify your striking arsenal with Bas Rutten’s latest instructional! Available NOW!