OK I realise I’m getting off the beaten track here, I mean – MMA kick? Bas Rutten?? This is about as far from chi sau as you can get. But as I’m a fan of Bas and I think this video is interesting… here it is:

Fight Science MMA – Bas Rutten Kicks a Crash Test Dummy – More amazing video clips are a click away

But wait a minute. What’s an MMA kick as opposed to a Muay Thai kick? By definition, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA duh!) includes Muay Thai so your MMA fighter may really be a Muy Thai fighter. There is no such thing as an MMA kick. And talk about a confusing report: earlier on the presenter says that Muay Thai fighters use shin bones but then to confuse matters in closing he explains that Bas is able to deliver such a powerful kick by, surprisingly, using his shin bone. Err… so like the MT kick then…? This is my first gripe.

My second gripe is that this isn’t a comparison of different styles of kicking. This is a comparison of two different fighters and how powerfully they kick. Pit Bas Rutten against anyone and he will have a good chance of kicking/punching harder than them.

So are we to conclude from this stoopid video that 1) there is such a thing as an MMA kick and 2) MMA kicks are harder than MT kicks? This is just the kind of ridiulous ‘pop science’ that really riles me. It’s presented by someone who is uninformed (not his fault) and unfortunately influences other uninformed people who will undoubtedly go off and regurgitate this rubbish.

But, crappy testing aside, what a kick! I’m glad I wasn’t that dummy.