Spinning techniques are fun to watch… and fun to practice, too! But are they practical for a real-life self-defense situation?
Check out this video for my two cents. Let me know if you agree! Written summary below. 🙂
Spinning Techniques for Self-Defense
Turning your back on a bad guy is a bad idea, right? So, spinning around to throw a punch or kick doesn’t seem like a smart move. UNLESS…
You’re fast, strong, and in control. Yep–sparring sure is fun when you’ve got all the advantages!
But as you get older and slower, you might find those fancy spinning techniques don’t work so well anymore. You start missing. You start getting jammed and dumped on your butt.
As a result, you end up believing that spinning techniques won’t work–not in sparring and definitely not for self-defense. UNLESS…
You change the paradigm: what if you only spin around when the bad guy MAKES you spin around?
Example. Imagine getting clocked with a big overhand right. Your head turns and your left foot crosses the “center line”… which is exactly how you set up a spinning punch or kick! The only difference is the bad guy initiated the movement instead of you.
You know the cliché–use your enemy’s force against them. Well, here’s a perfect example of how to do that. The harder you get spun around, either by a strike or a shove, the harder you can return fire on the other side. That’s how you can turn something you didn’t want to happen into something that the bad guy doesn’t want to happen!
In case you missed it, I talk in greater detail about practicing to take a hit during solo practice right here: Martial Arts Home Training Mistake.
My Two Favorite Spinning Moves
Now, I’m not saying that every jumping, flying spin kick is worth practicing. Far from it! But I believe there are two spinning techniques that should be in every martial artist’s arsenal–the spinning backfist and the spinning back kick.
The spinning backfist. When I say “backfist”, I don’t literally mean striking with the back of the fist–too many small bones. To reduce the risk of injury, I prefer a side hammer fist. But the body movement is the same.
What I love about the backfist/side hammer is that even if you don’t think of it as a strike, the habit of throwing your arm in between you and the bad guy can still protect your head and act as a brace. Claiming even a little space when you get spin around can give you the time to shuffle back and regain your stance.
The spinning back kick. Since most bad guys are headhunters, they’re not as likely to see a low kick coming. Plus, once your front foot crosses the center line, your kicking foot is in a direct line with the bad guy’s center mass. It can be fired right away!
Even better, the back kick keeps your body aligned. If you try to spin all the way around into a crescent kick or any kick that squares up with the bad guy, you might get rammed on the side of the body or knocked back on your heels. Either way, you’re going down.
The back kick, however, sets you up to bounce off into a step. Then you can kick, turn, or run! So, for speed, power, and structure, it’s hard to beat.
For more tips on strengthening your back kick, check out, Fix Your Spinning Back Kick.
Okay! That’s my positive spin on spinning techniques. Practice the spinning backfist and the spinning back kick and train yourself to turn a bad situation around… literally and figuratively.
