BIOMECH Breakdown: Silva’s Front Kick Part II

By popular request, here’s the video I promised you guys if you dropped 40+ Comments on my inaugural-first ever-premier-debut edition of BIOMECH Breakdown!

Seems like everyone felt the same way about Silva’s KO of Belfort that I did.

Cool – we’re on the same page. :)

Before we get to the video, there are a few key points to keep in mind…

First, this video is not about teaching you the front snap kick (or whatever name you want to call it) – it’s about getting your body to the point where it can properly execute the technique.

Second, I got some Comments talking about Silva’s bad hand position, saying they weren’t up in guard, but the fact is that in a fight, there’s never a ‘right’ way to do something, because maybe Silva keeping his hands down allowed him to get within range to actually hit Belfort.

We could see from the fight that Belfort was keeping quite a distance and disengaging when Silva moved forward, so perhaps him keeping his hands low was on purpose to make Vitor feel more comfortable in close range.

The fact of the matter was that the technique and setup the way Silva did it worked at the precise moment he needed it to – it’s your job to figure out how and when to use a technique as is or to modify it to suit your specific situation.

Finally, one point that I did not address in the video (that I wanted to) was the fact that when you raise your heel up off the ground of the planted leg, it allows your hips to be more free, giving you more snap in your kick.

When the heel is down, the fascia that runs down the back of the body and down the back of the leg is taught, limiting range of motion.

This concept comes from Tom Myers’ Anatomy Trains book and teachings – something very interesting to anyone as interested in Biomechanics as I am. A highly recommended read for all the geeks out there.

That’s why raising up onto the ball of the foot allows for more power and snap into the kick.

Anyway, let’s get to the specific exercises and drills to train to kick with the power of the Spider:

Questions, comments, feedback? Leave em below.

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