GOAT?! Hoost's Legendary Leg Kick KO's Explained - Technique Breakdown

every once in a while a fighter comes along with a technique so unique and so powerful that allows them to dominate even the most elite competitors true many grow to rely too much on their strengths and are eventually forced to face the stark realization that at a certain level they simply do not have the tools necessary to set up their ace in the hole but a rare few do lean on their natural talent and also continue to grow pushing far past what they once were in boxing this was manny pacquiao learning to use his jab and footwork to set up his powerful left hand eventually taking belts in eight weight classes and in kickboxing this was an elite martial artist so good that he lived up to his nickname of mr perfect this dutch fighter skillfully took from multiple styles and strategies to learn a million and one ways to set up his devastating low kicks i am speaking of course of the man many consider to be the greatest kickboxer of all time the legendary [Music] who's took multiple titles in muay thai savate and k1 winning the prestigious kickboxing organization's championship belt and astounding four times hoos was by no means the strongest biggest fastest or most powerful kickboxer in the world but what he did have was an absolutely insane low kick and the intelligence to put it to good use hoost was an elite leg kicker in large part because he was so good at defending late kicks how does this make any sense well hoos knew that a fighter's leg is never more vulnerable than during or immediately after they throw a kick so by defending kicks so efficiently hoos could immediately transition into a kick of his own taking advantage of his opponent's momentary weakness a big reason this tactic worked so well was unique way that who's checked leg kicks whose checks were actually a weapon in and of themselves in the same way head movement can turn into head butts and looked way hoose leg checks could turn into crippling knees that devastated his opponent's legs who slanded several knockdowns and even knock outs with his checks alone [Music] a big part of this working was the way that hoos preferred to turn his shin towards an opponent's kick assuring that bone would strike bone while many fighters including the great fedora millionenko prefer to lift their knees straight up to avoid damage hoost instead preferred to endure a bit more pain in order to cause his opponents a lot more pain but as effective as this was who's true secret as simple as it may seem was the way that he lifted his leg off the ground hoost would lift his knee straight up as usual for body kicks but for leg kicks who's like to simply pull his heel straight back not only is this quicker and a very effective way to stop calf kicks and sidekicks in mma it can also turn a check into a fight ending knee similar to the check that broke anderson silva's leg in half hoos drove the hardest part of his knee right into his competitor's shin always creative hoost would also hop or fall into a punch right off of this check one last benefit of checking this way is that it keeps the leg lower than usual which means that it blocked opponents attempting to kick whose support leg hoost himself was very fond of going after an opponent's support leg as they attempted to check but hoos did not rely on checks alone he also had a unique approach to bracing while he loved using the more common tactic of sinking down to take a kick and countering with a punch hoos could also brace very well while kicking he sunk so low that his knee at times made a right angle assuring that he had a more stable support leg in any dual exchange [Music] whose last defensive tactic was to slide his leg back sometimes blending the movement seamlessly into a rear leg round kick as sliding his leg back started his hips turning of course who's supponus attempted to check and counter as well but as dc put it there are levels to this many opponents quickly found that their counters had just been countered but hoos didn't just return counters he was enough of a master to throw intercepting counters too unless your opponent is in ganu it's safe to say the kicks hurt much worse than punches so it makes sense that hoos loved to slip punches in order to land leg kicks sometimes he would jab to draw a punch just to get a chance at destroying an opponent's leg but just as he intercepted punches with kicks hoos would intercept kicks with more kicks so who's entire game focused around his kicks but if an opponent could just get close enough they could smother hoost in the clinch taking away his most dangerous weapon or not astonishingly whose could leg kick just as well from the clinch he set this up the same way many moy cow tie fighters like to set up their knees he would turn an opponent with color ties or under hooks to off balance them at the same time he would sneak one leg back to make room for his kicks as if this weren't damaging enough hoost would often pair these with knees but if an opponent tried to knee hoost he would take out their support lick of course hoos could also just push an opponent away to create the space necessary but this is far more nuanced than it seems at first glance hoost had to move himself and his opponent at the perfect time and the perfect angle ideally whose could make contact with the back of his opponent's leg or he could frame off an opponent's head to place it in position who steered many opponents into ko head kicks this way [Music] but hoost was far from a one kick pony as he progressed over the years his boxing got much much better and who's to use this new found skill too you won't believe this set up more kicks [Music] in fact many times a punch would cause an opponent to move off angle and hoost would take advantage of this new space to score highlight reel ko kicks so you get it hoose had a million and one ways to set up his legendary kicks but what made his round cake so effective that he could base an entire style around landing it well hoost had an unusual way of throwing his kick to begin with it's already been mentioned that hoost would sink low into his kicks but he would also crouch while it's normal to move your head offline to stay safe from punches hoos took it to the extreme leaning deep to his left [Music] this not only allowed him a faster start to his kick similar to dempsey's drop step it also blended well into several other power shots when opponents saw who's dipped left they never knew if he was easing into a roundhouse body cross or loading up the lead head or liver shot [Music] another important component of who's kick was the way he altered the trajectory of his leg mid-strike boosts flexible hips combined with his crouch allowed him to throw his kicks with his shin near parallel to the floor this is the ideal structure and follow-through for a roundhouse kick but is difficult to pull off when kicking this low what's more as who's kick connected he would actually turn his foot up adding a last-second acceleration upon follow-through [Music] while hoos most likely turned his foot up as he straightened for defensive purposes it seems self-evident that the movement dealt extra damage to his opponent's leg in the same way that twisting a punch upon contact can cause extra bruising and swelling the results speak for themselves hoost is a testament of how to best play to your strengths as a fighter rather than arrogantly counting on his best weapon to work on its own in every situation hoost instead developed his style to remain flexible ensuring that no matter who stood in front of him he always had a path to victory and for me this is the sign of not just a fully developed fighter but a fully developed human being because in reality there is no perfect fighter in a sport where every technique every style has weaknesses to exploit then the only fighter who can prevail is one who can put aside their preferences truly see the shape of the fight and adapt so in that way it seems to me that hoost very much earned his nickname of mr perfect let everyone know in the comments what fighter you'd like to see next and why i'm gonna make a concerted effort to pick fighters and topics mostly from the comments this year as a bit of a new year's resolution also stay tuned for new series and arcs from mike tyson and other legendary heavyweight fighters from the 90s to muay thai and kickboxing classes from the modern martial artist this has been david christian wishing you happy training

Channel: The Modern Martial Artist

Views: 1,122,342

Keywords: Ernesto Hoost, kickboxing, martial arts, leg kicks, kick checks, technique, breakdown, hoost leg kick, ernesto hoost check, ernesto hoost leg kicks, ernesto hoost highlights, kickboxing analysis, kickboxing breakdown, kickboxing film study, kickboxing tactics, kickboxing technique, modern martial artist, technique breakdown, the modern martial artist, ernesto hoost technique, ernesto hoost breakdown, ernesto hoost analysis, ernesto hoost knockouts, ernesto hoost footwork

Id: N_6abTLXWyM

Length: 10min 49sec (649 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 05 2021