Welcome, it’s Raj from 3CB.
Israel “Stylebender” Adesanya uses a devastating arsenal of kicks to deliver
pinpoint damage and keep opponents at bay and off-balance.
In particular, he uses a low rear leg kick to punish opponents in the pocket.
Let’s break down his technique and biomechanics to illuminate how he
generates that power & precision. The example I’m using is vs Paulo Costa.
The first thing to notice is that Adesanya’s up on the ball (forefoot) of his rear right swing leg.
This position tensions his achilles tendon and additional key plantarflexors (posterior tibialis,
peroneals, and calf complex especially)
like a stretched out spring that’s waiting to recoil.
When he pushes off the right foot to move up, it creates a quick thrust recoil
in those muscles to generate an explosive forward thrust. This is
called the stretch-shorten cycle (SSC) and is critical to explosive movements.
Secondly, notice how Stylebender plants his front stance leg with his foot and leg
externally (outwardly) rotated. This tensions the internal rotators of his hip and leg
and creates another stretch-shorten cycle to generate explosive hip rotation on the swing.
As Adesanya gets into the rear leg kick swing, note the full body coordination and synergy on
his rotation - his left arm mirrors his right leg coming forward and his right arm serves
as a counterbalance for his torso and mirrors his left leg for stability. This coordination
is key to optimizing Adesanya’s power because generating speed and explosion on a rear leg kick
is truly a full body movement - from the shoulder down through the torso and core to the low back
through the hips and upper legs. This is called the “serape effect”. In this respect, Adesanya
reminds of a top end power pitcher who display similar top to bottom rotational coordination.
As the right leg swings past the left, Adesanya’s body is superbly balanced around midline.
His left stance leg is completely stable throughout the kick and barely moves,
acting as an anchor for the rest of the moving variables. That stability
is a combination of superb balance, strength, and neuromuscular control. Additionally,
Israel’s right arm continues to pull downwards to create additional rotational torque and stability.
Adesanya makes contact on the low kick at full extension. That full extension combined
with Stylebender’s leg length (he stands at 6’4” with a leg reach of 44 inches) creates
a massive lever arm to generate force. From physics, we know that the longer the lever arm,
the more force is produced. Costa’s lead leg certainly got taught that lesson.
The last aspect and arguably my favorite part is that once Adesanya finishes his low rear leg kick,
he controls the follow through and immediately reverses course with a quick counter hip and
torso rotation, in conjunction with pushing off his stance leg. He’s immediately out of the pocket
and fluidly moves to the next sequence. Just ridiculous space and distance control,
a key part of what makes him such a dangerous fighter.