Krav Maga. Gershon Ben Keren

      Although extremely simple and effective, groin kicks can be relatively difficult to pull off in real life situations. This isn’t because the kick is performed badly, but because people have a natural tendency to pull the hips back, and drop their hands to protect themselves when there is movement towards the groin. The groin is a relatively small and well-protected target.

      Although groin strikes can be difficult to pull off, the effects of a good groin kick can be devastating—whether it is the in-step of the foot or the shin that connects. Even if a connection is light—or possibly nonexistent—a person will pull their hips back in response, setting them up for other attacks, and putting them in a disadvantageous position.

      If the person is standing square to you, simply pull back the hand that made the eye-strike (using the body/pull of the hip), and push the other hip forward, while raising the knee by pushing off from the toes of the rear foot. Then rapidly extend the foot—and shin—upwards into your attacker’s groin. This is not a flick, it is a powerful kick, delivered with full force. You should lean back slightly as you make the kick, so your body and leg make a see-sawing movement over the hip.

      Understand how one hip pulling back assists the other in coming forward, so that both hips are involved in the kick. This is how real power is generated. This double-hip motion is common to all Krav Maga Yashir power strikes, whether they are kicks, punches, hammerfists, or slaps.

      If the person is standing with one leg forward, you will need to move to their opposite side in order to attack the groin—e.g., if they are standing with their left foot forward, you will need to move to their right (your left) in order to expose the groin.

      Step out diagonally with your left foot, which will now position you offline from your assailant and them square to you, as if both legs were on the same line. As you take this step, deliver the kick.

      Putting Your Assailant in a Disadvantaged Position

      When an assailant facing you has one leg forward and the other back, they are in a relatively strong body position. If you can move to a point where your assailant’s legs are spread out on a line directly in front of you, they are in a very weak position and are not particularly stable. If a person is leading with their left leg, stepping to your left will expose them this way, and vice versa, if they lead with their right leg you should move to your right.

      If a person is standing before you with both legs spread wide, you can make a groin kick without having to change your body position. However, if they are standing with one leg forward, the groin will be protected and it will be necessary to move to a more accessible position first.

      If the person’s left leg is forward, you will need to move to your left, in order to expose their groin.

      Push off with your right foot and take a sliding step to your left. The pushing off motion of the right foot will initiate the kicking action of the right leg (all kicks should start with a pushing motion from the floor).

      Pull the heel of the right foot back towards your right buttock as you transfer all of your weight onto your left leg. At the same time, bring your arms across your body to maintain a high guard to protect yourself.

      Once the heel has reached the buttock and can go no further, the snapping motion of the kick can begin. The toes should be pulled back, in order to protect them, and contact should be made with the instep of the foot or the shin. It is wise to aim with the lower shin, so if the person pulls back the hips further than anticipated, you will still be able to make contact with the instep.

      Start to extend/straighten the leg, as you swing the shin/foot through towards the groin.

      As you extend and straighten the leg you should push the hip forward into the strike—this will involve you leaning backwards somewhat. This added hip movement will give power to the kick, and help knock the arms away if the person has brought them down to defend themselves.

      Whenever you kick, your supporting leg (in this example, the left) should always have a bend at the knee. This will allow you to straighten up, adding more “lift” to the kick, as well as allowing you to move after making the kick, without having to readjust your weight. This is something that is difficult to do with a straight leg, i.e., it would have to be bent first before it could move.

      With the right amount of force delivered with the leg and hips, you should be able to “lift” the person up. This puts them in an extremely weak defensive position to deal with any follow up attacks you make (you should never rely on one strike to finish the fight).

      Lead Hand Punches and Rear Crosses

      As you bring the kicking leg back, return to your original stance, pull your hands back into a more defensive guard. This will not only put your hands in a better defensive position, but will also set them in a position from which you can deliver strong punches (keep your hands open, rather than in fists, as this will keep the arms relaxed and allow you to tighten your fist fully on impact).

      The lead hand punch should be delivered with full force and commitment—it should not be considered as a “jab” or set-up punch, but one that has enough force to be effective in its own right.

      A common expression in Israel regarding lead hand versus rear hand punches is, “hospital/ graveyard,” i.e., your lead hand punch should put your aggressor in the hospital, your rear hand punch in the graveyard. This is because a rear hand strike can harness the power of both hips and all of the back muscles, along with a complete transfer of weight, and has more space to accelerate.

      Whenever you hit somebody with a closed fist, you are attempting to hit them with full force and power. There is never any point in throwing a punch if it doesn’t contain power—and by power we mean all of the force that your body is able to generate. When a punch is thrown, it should not be done as a distracting or disrupting strike, but as a blow that will cause damage. In order for this to be effective, two things must first occur:

      1. You must to be in an optimal position that will allow you to generate full and maximal power (you can use a strike to a soft target to get into such a position);

      2. Your aggressor has to be in a disadvantaged position, where the full force of your strike will be felt (if you hit them as they are moving back, for example, the full force of your strike may be lost as it is translated into additional backwards movement, rather than being absorbed by their body). If you can attack them when their feet are planted on a straight line in front of you, they will be in a seriously disadvantaged position.

      Starting