Who here has used head butts?

Joined : 01 Oct 2007 Posts : 52

I saw both of those before and I'm mildly disturbed to say enjoy them both.

Funny enough we're doing a lot of head butts in Capoeira at the moment. I'm not at liberty to go into great detail as to the training but I can tell you that the Brazilians seem to like them. This may or may not be from the days of slavery when there hands were frequently bound of chained. Alternatively it may be from recent days where the street fighters amongst them found it a good pre emptive.

One detail I will disclose is that there is no grab in the training of them, the hands are in defence.

I find them difficult as I'm a tall bloke (6'2 186cm) and shorter people seem to have a lot less trouble than me.

I do know Mick Coup doesn't like them much and he's a very tall guy. He teaches them in a very specific way I thought.

I think Geoff Thompson liked to teach them to women because they were of a good height.

AXE
Jagunco

Subject: Re: Who here has used head butts? Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:52 am

Last night at training during one scenario, I was wearing a head guard and so was my antagonist, he had both my arms tied up so I gave him three rapid butts to the side of his face and presto I was free again to finish the job.

I liked it and would look to use them at extreme close quarters without hesitiation.

Alan

Joined : 11 Apr 2008 Posts : 25 Location : South Wales, UK

I personally don’t instruct many drills using head butts, but the ones I do involve full control the head, allowing me to land an accurate shot that will have great impact with little or no damage to myself.

A good example of this is to gain a position to the side of the opponent, where you are very close in and controlling the throat with the right hand (C Clamp) and the back of the head with the left hand - Grabbing the hair, if there is any or controlling with the left palm.

Once the head is fully controlled, using the throat to apply pain, then apply a strong head butt using the top of your head, not the forehead to the opponent’s temple area for a potential knockout.

Equally the head butt could be applied to any sensitive area of the face e.g Cheek, jaw, nose etc, all will cause pain, discomfort and disruption, which should be your aim!

Take Care
Al

Joined : 01 Oct 2007 Posts : 52

Sorry completely forgot to do this earlier but I got some details wrong of Mick Coup's opinion of head butts. Having got it wrong once I'll not attempt to dig myself deeper and will suffice to say he is actually quite fond of them Smile

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

A few years ago I spent some time on the mat with Trev Roberts.

He struck me at the time as being hard as nails, incredibly skilled and the kind of easy going, laid back person I enjoy training with and under. At the time I was well aware of his awesome reputation in the security profession, his skill as a martial artist was glaringly obvious.

(I later found out that he was an international class judoka, sambo player and undefeated in Jiu jitsu competition. I didn't find this out from Trevor himself who was modest and spent as much time on explaining his failures as his success. Quite simply the man is an awesome martial artist and a gent)

Here's his take on headbutts. Direct from Trev's five hour fighting series of DVD's. No-nonsense, straight to the point, effective and devestating techniques.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS3sJFt-H3A&feature=related

Subject: Re: Who here has used head butts? Fri Aug 08, 2008 8:01 am

I dont think that I would be attempting to "latch on" as Trevor does if his opponent doesn't go over, I think that I would be more inclined to repeat the strike, that will be a difference in the way we train I just feel that if I'm not pulled into a grappling situation then I'm not going to put myself in one, if the opportunity is there to keep striking that's what I am going to do.

Alan

Joined : 04 Aug 2008 Posts : 14

Hi

I have never used the headbutt - but I saw an Irish guy that I used to hang about with use it many times to devastating effect - it seemed so natural to him, like a goat, I think he actually enjoyed doing it.

If it didn't knock them out it completely changed their attitude and they did not want to know afterwards.

He was untrained.

Steve

Subject: Re: Who here has used head butts? Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:05 am

Hi Steve,
I'm curious, how did your "untrained" friend execute his headbutt? Did he grab his opponent's head or his lapel or did he just do it with no grab whatsoever or all the aforementioned? What part of his head did he hit with? And what target(s) did he attack--the nose, temples, or just the face in general?

Take Care,
Lito
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Joined : 04 Aug 2008 Posts : 14

Hi Lito

He always used the left front 'corner' of the top of the forehead sweeping down into the face. He was quite tall and athletic - I don't recall him grabbing anyone - but I do recall it coming out of nowhere like a pre-emptive shot - usually to the nose area. It used to surprise me & I knew him!

I recall he took a very short step with the left lead foot, usually after some distracting but aggressive verbal.

Steve

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

Hi Alan,

Trevor moves very quickly for such a big man. His anchors are transitional tools for control and definite purpose rather than just grabs.

As a very skilled grappler I suppose his tendancy would be to utilise close quarters grappling techniques but he does so as a secondary back-up to delivering a range of high impact head hunting techniques. His goal being control before, during and after the application of technique. Nothing ends until Trevor decides it is ended and guys don't get away from him until Trevor decides to let them go. Laughing