11 Ways to get a kidney stroke

Disclaimer: In this column, I present information about this now-illegal fighting tactic for a bit of historical delving.

First things first, however: Never use a kidney punch in an activity that’s categorized as sport or training. The risk is simply too great. What happens in a self-defense situation is a horse of a different color.

BY Mark Hatmaker

Firing shots to the kidneys likely has been a feature of armed and unarmed combat since human beings began walloping one another. Just when the term “kidney punch” became a thing is a bit unclear, but legend ballparks it on an early lightweight champion of the bare-knuckle boxing era, a man named George Dawson.

Dawson was born on October 7, 1867, in New South Wales, Australia, in a town that bore the colorful name Dark Corner. His parents had emigrated from England in pursuit of the Australian Gold Rush.

There’s not much known about Dawson’s early years beyond that he was encouraged to try the sport after the death of his parents and he was rather active on the Australian scene during the 1880s and early ’90s. He boxed more than 292 rounds in his career, and along the way, he picked up the lightweight crown of Queensland in 1887 and held the lightweight title of Australia from 1889 to 1891.

Dawson has been dubbed the “inventor” of the kidney punch, but this designation seems to have come long after his career ended. An article from the mid-1930s titled “The Boxer and Wrestler” declares Dawson the inventor. While it’s unlikely he invented it, indications are good that his reputation for using it was well-deserved.

Let’s have a look at a few applications of this mighty painful blow. First, however, we must pinpoint the target area. Reach behind your torso with either hand and feel for the soft patch of skin beneath your ribs and above your hipbone. This tender spot on your back about 3 inches away from your spine is the goal of the strike.

One already can see that with the target being on the back, it was most likely off limits in bouts that adhered to the rules of sportsmanship. But beyond accidental kidney punches and/or an opponent who “runs” (blatantly turns his back on his foe), there are a few sneaky ways to get this blow in.

Round 1: Side Step and Dig With the Rear Hand

Take a big outside step with your rear foot or, even better, make that side step 45 degrees to the front. Throw a loose rear hook toward the target. As your fist rounds the opponent’s torso, use your biceps to snap the punch into the target. You will not have a clean shot at the kidney without this snap, so keep it intact.

Round 2: Side Step and Dig With the Lead Hand

Take that big sliding step forward and to the outside. Then snap that lead fist into the target.

Round 3: Rear Thumb-Fist Kidney Punch

You can deliver this blow gloved or ungloved. It is similar to Battling Nelson’s dig to the liver. Keep all your mechanics, including the step and snap, but this time, make contact with the thumb side of your fist. The soft target area makes injuring the hand unlikely, and the biceps snap feels a bit stronger with the hand in this position.

Round 4: Lead Thumb-Fist Kidney Punch

This technique is similar to the “side step and dig with the lead hand” except that it uses a thumb fist instead of a conventional fist.

Round 5: Rear Cupping Kidney Shot

This sneaky little tool from the bare-knuckle-era provides a surprising percussive wallop. Make a “cup” with your ungloved hand as you would to bring water to your mouth from a mountain stream. Then use all the mechanics described in “side step and dig with the rear hand” as you allow your cupping hand to deliver a percussive snap to the target.

Round 6: Lead Cupping Kidney Shot

Surely you’ll be able to deduce this the mechanics of this variation. While the aforementioned methods could rightly be called techniques, the following are more correctly thought of as strategies for delivery, and for that reason they don’t warrant unique names.

Round 7:

While the preceding blows are a bit obvious, the following will allow you to “hide” your intent. As your opponent steps in with a long jab, hit in any of the manners described above. Timing the hit with your opponent’s incoming movement gives the appearance of an accidental blow that overshot the “intended” legal target.

Round 8:

For this one, you hide the blow off a rear straight thrown by your opponent. If he fires a lunging rear straight‚ sidestep 45 degrees to the outside and forward as you dig in the punch using your opponent’s lunge as concealment.

Round 9:

The kidney punch is easily fired from the clinch. Yes, it’s easily read, but on the street‚ that’s not an issue. In training, work the heavy bag by effecting a clinch and then snapping the punch into what would be an attacker’s kidney area.

Round 10:

Follow the same clinching progression outlined for Round 9 but use a thumb fist to strike. This can be readily practiced using the same bag drill.

Round 11:

This move is a combination of the “cupping kidney shot” mentioned above and the clinch. On the bag, you know what to do. Once again, this version of the kidney shot — like the others — is illegal in competition but extremely effective when your life is on the line.

Source: Mark Hatmaker, Blackbeltmagazine

Important: As already mentioned, the techniques described here are extremely effective, but strictly prohibited in competitive sports – both for reasons of fairness and to protect the athletes and their health.