I absolutely love kicking combos when going on the attack in sparring. Keeping your opponents guessing which direction your attack is coming from is always likely to score you more points, but if you don’t train them they won’t be there for you when you need them. Here are six of my favourites and how to train each one.

1. Fake kick to punch

This one is nice and easy, as well as deceptive. It works best when you have already thrown a few singular front kicks or side kicks to the body, and you notice your opponent tends to drop their front hand to block it. All you need to do is pick your lead knee up high, make sure it really looks like you are going to kick, then explode forward off the back foot into a hand strike. This works well with both straight lead hand jabs and a backfist. If they are in the same stance as you, step to the rear of their lead foot to reduce the likelihood of them being able to counter. 

To train this, use a target and when you are able to land it with speed and control, move further back. Learning how to cover ground with this one will make it faster and more reliable. You don’t always want to throw it from long range in sparring but training it this way is harder and will make you better at it.

2. Roundhouse to side kick

I throw this on opponents who tend to stay at long range and circle behind me. I start with either a full roundhouse, or just a faked one. Then depending on how far they move, I either put the kicking foot down and immediately kick again with a side kick on the same foot or just chamber from the roundhouse and throw the side kick immediately. 

Having two targets — like the pad attached to the bag, or a partner holding one out and one in their belly — is a good way to train this. If you have a partner holding pads for you, get them to circle behind you as you throw it to simulate the sparring movement.

3. Inside turning kick to side kick

This one is good for picking apart a tight high guard. Throw a high crescent/inside turning kick, but look to catch their lead hand. As you pull it down, they will often react by trying to pull it back up, opening their body for an attack. Tuck the crescent kick into a side kick chamber and throw it before your foot hits the ground.

Train this with two pads, one high, one in their belly; or use my sketchy bag and pad setup. Don’t just kick the high pad, try to grab it with your foot and smoothly chamber for the side kick on the way down.

4. Hook kick to roundhouse

This one capitalises on opponents who like to rush in for a counter immediately after you kick. Throw a hook kick to head height, but keep your knee high and pull your heel in for the roundhouse chamber. Immediately flick out the roundhouse as they come in.

Train this with two pads held around head height, stacked one on top of another, or use my setup. Practice a hook kick on one pad, straight into a quick roundhouse on the other. Hitting two different pads builds your dexterity and your ability to adjust and track a moving target. Bonus points for doing this off of a spin kick too…

5. Question mark kick

Every man and their dog’s favourite kick combo. The trick to it is to pivot on the ball of the standing foot after the front kick, to turn your hips into the roundhouse chamber. Make sure your knee doesn’t drop between the front kick and the roundhouse. Your foot should draw a ? shape and not pause or slow down at all between the front and roundhouse kicks. If you drop your knee or treat it as two kicks this will not be fast enough to land.

Train it with two pads, one horizontal and one vertical. The vertical one should be higher and pulled back from the horizontal one. Do a front kick motion and get as close to the horizontal pad as possible, without hitting it, then time the pivot of the standing foot to sneak your foot around the corner and roundhouse the vertical pad as quickly as possible.

6. Reverse question mark kick

If your opponent is expecting the question mark kick, this one will almost certainly catch them out. Start with the same front kick fake, but this time turn your knee out and go for a reverse roundhouse, or twist kick as some people call it. This can be tricky to throw with power but it’s perfect for point sparring.

Use the same setup as the question mark kick for training this one, but just turn your knee out and flick the foot around to the other side of the vertical pad. It can help to slightly turn your knee in on the front kick portion, making it slightly more S shaped than a true Question mark, but it works both ways and you should take time to find the technique that works best for you

Train them before using in competition

With all of these combinations, you can’t just randomly throw them and hope for the best. If you want them to work well for you, you need to practice them on pads first. Once you have the technique, start trying them in sparring practice. Go very lightly to avoid hurting yourself or your partner, then start to work out how to time them and set them up from your sparring stance. 

Take your time and figure out which ones work best for you. It is far better to master one combo at a time, train it and really understand all the mechanics. Some will come more naturally to you than others — it all depends on your own training history and anatomy.

Just throwing a load of combos will never work. You need sound basics, and then having a weapon or two to rely on can catch your opponent off guard and score you easy points. I hope this helps you enjoy and get more out of your sparring training!