At UFC 168, Anderson Silva threw a low kick at Chris Weidman's leg. Weidman lifted his knee and checked it. Silva's shin snapped in half on live television.
One checked kick ended the fight, ended Silva's title run, and became the most replayed injury in MMA history.
That is the power of knowing how to block kicks.
Most people freeze when a kick comes at them. They reach down with their arm (bad idea). They turn away and hope for the best (worse idea). They eat the kick clean because they never learned any other option.
You have better options. A lot of them.
In our Complete Muay Thai Home Study Course, Scott Sullivan teaches a complete kick defense system organized by level. Low kicks, body kicks, high kicks, push kicks. Each one has a specific answer. Some of those answers actually hurt the kicker more than they hurt you.
Here is the full system, level by level.
Low Kick Defense: Use Your Leg to Defend Your Leg
The low kick is the most common attack in Muay Thai. It chops at your thigh, deadens the muscle, and takes away your mobility round by round. If you cannot defend it, you are in trouble.
The fix is simple. As Scott puts it in the course: "Use your leg to defend your leg."
When a kick targets the outside of your thigh, bring your foot up and turn your knee outward. Point your knee directly into the path of the incoming shin. Your knee and upper shin are harder than their lower shin. The kicker runs into your bone and regrets it.
For an inside low kick (targeting the inside of your thigh), the mechanic flips. Turn your knee inward instead. Same principle, opposite direction. Drive your knee right into their shin as it comes in.
This is called a "destruction" in Muay Thai because the block itself damages the attacking limb. A well-timed check turns your defense into their punishment.
The one thing you never do: reach your arm down to block a low kick. It feels natural. Your hand wants to go there. But a hard roundhouse kick will snap your forearm. Scott is very clear about this. Keep your hands up. Use your leg.
The knee check is your primary low kick defense. Learn it first. Drill it constantly. It is the foundation everything else builds on.
Body Kick Defense: Protect the Bone
A roundhouse kick to the body hits like a baseball bat to the ribs. You need to absorb it without getting hurt, and the difference between a good block and a broken arm comes down to a few inches.
When a kick comes to your midsection, bring your arm tight to your body and take the impact on two surfaces: the palm of your hand and the meaty upper part of your arm (the tricep area).
Here is the critical safety point. Your forearm has a bone called the radius running right under the skin. There is almost no muscle protecting it. A hard kick landing flush on your forearm will break that bone.
Scott demonstrates this in the course and makes the distinction very clear: "This won't break. This won't break. This will break." The upper arm absorbs. The palm absorbs. The forearm snaps.
Hide your forearm behind the rest of your arm. Let the thick muscle and your palm take the hit. Some fighters use just the upper arm. Some add the palm for extra coverage. Both work. The forearm alone never works.
For the other side, the same technique applies. Turn your body, take it on the upper arm and palm. You can also absorb a little on the meaty part of your arm while adding the palm as a safety pad.
One thing to note on higher body kicks that ride up toward the chest: the standard arm block can get overwhelmed. For those, use the palm as your primary shield. Catch the kick on your open palm and redirect it away from your ribs. Inside or outside, the palm gives you both absorption and steering. The palm is tougher than you think and it keeps the force off the bone.
Beyond static blocking, you have other tactical options. You can jam the kick by stepping forward before it develops full power. This smothers the kick and puts you in punching range. You can angle off to the side, letting the kick pass while you stay in counter range. You can even catch the kick and trap the leg. Each option has tradeoffs, but the basic arm block is your bread and butter for body kick defense.
High Kick Defense: Three Options That Keep You Standing
A kick to the head is the knockout shot. It comes fast, it comes hard, and if you are not ready, you wake up on the floor.
You have three defensive options. Each works in different situations.
Option 1: The raised arm block. Take the same body kick block and bring it higher. Your upper arm and palm absorb the kick before it reaches your head. This is the safest default. You stay in position and can fire back immediately. Protect the forearm bone the same way you do for body kicks. Let the meaty part of your arm and your palm handle the force.
Option 2: The double slap. Both hands come together to slap the incoming kick as it arrives. You are deflecting the kick rather than absorbing it. This works on both sides. It redirects the kick's energy and can throw the attacker off balance.
Option 3: The rock back. When a high kick comes, lean your head and torso straight back and let the kick sail past your face. No contact at all. Then return to your fighting stance and counter. This is the cleanest defensive option because you take zero damage, but it requires good timing and the confidence to lean into the danger zone.
All three options work against kicks from either side. The arm block is your safest bet when in doubt. The double slap gives you redirection. The rock back gives you a clean counter opening.
One key detail that makes all three options work better: keep your eyes on your opponent's face, not their legs. When you look down, you react late. When you watch the face, you catch the small tells that happen before every kick. An eyebrow twitch, a head dip, a slight drop of the shoulder. Those micro-movements give you the extra split second you need to pick the right defensive option. Look high and read, then your hands and legs do the work.
Mix them up so your opponent never knows what is coming.
Push Kick Defense: Scoop, Shove, or Block
The push kick (or teep) is a straight-line weapon. It targets your belly and shoves you backward. You cannot check it the same way you check a roundhouse because it is coming straight at your center.
Three counters handle it.
Scoop it to the outside. When the push kick comes in, use your hand to scoop underneath and redirect the leg to the outside. This spins the kicker and opens their back for counters.
Shove it across. Instead of scooping outward, push the leg across their body in the opposite direction. This also disrupts their balance and gives you an angle.
Forearm block inward. Drop your forearm into the push kick and block it straight on. This is the most direct answer and leaves you in a strong position to counter immediately. Your body naturally cocks back from the block, loading up your rear hand for a straight punch or hook.
Scott walks through all three options in the course. Same system, either leg. Scoop, shove, or forearm. Pick whichever feels natural and drill it until it becomes automatic.
There is a fourth option worth knowing. Instead of scooping or shoving, you drop your elbow straight into the incoming push kick. Scott describes it as using your stance itself as the block. You keep your basic fighting composure, the elbow absorbs the kick, and your body naturally loads up the counter. The good thing about this block is you stay in your on-guard position rather than reaching out and opening yourself up. The response is almost "a beat and a half" rather than a full two-beat sequence. Elbow in, punch out. It works against either leg and most people are not expecting it.
The teep kick is one of the most underrated weapons in Muay Thai, and knowing how to neutralize it shuts down a major part of your opponent's game.
Advanced Destructions: Make Them Pay for Kicking
Standard blocking absorbs or deflects a kick. Destructions go further. They damage the attacking limb so the kicker thinks twice about throwing another one.
The elbow destruction. From your fighting stance, you barely have to move. The kick comes around, and you present the point of your elbow directly into the kicker's shin. As Scott teaches: you just stick your bone out there and let them kick it. A safety pad (your other hand) sits behind the elbow in case you miss.
Either side works the same way. The kicker's shin meets the hardest, sharpest bone in your arm. It hurts. A lot. After a couple of these, most people stop kicking.
Snap the twig. This one combines a slapping block with a rising knee. When the kick comes in, you slap it down with both hands while simultaneously driving your knee up underneath. The kicker's leg gets caught between the downward force and the upward knee. Like breaking a stick over your thigh.
Scott calls it exactly that. "Just like you break a stick when you're a kid. That's what I call snap the twig."
Both destructions work on kicks from either side. If you are training these, wear shin guards. Even a light kick to a well-placed elbow or knee produces real pain.
These are the techniques that separate beginners from experienced fighters. Blocking is survival. Destructions are deterrence. After eating a few of these, your opponent starts second-guessing every kick. And a fighter who hesitates to kick has lost a huge part of their arsenal.
Remember the Anderson Silva example from the intro. Weidman did not just block a kick. He destroyed it. The difference between passive defense and active destruction changed the outcome of a championship fight.
How to Drill Kick Defense with a Partner
Reading about kick defense is one thing. Building the reflex is another. You need partner drilling, and you need a safe way to do it.
Here is the training method from the Thai Pad Training course. Your partner does not throw full kicks. Instead, they smack your thigh with the bottom of their foot. Light contact, no shin. You get the stimulus of an incoming kick without the damage.
Your job: check the kick with the proper block, then immediately fire a counter kick. Block, left kick. Block, left kick. Build a rhythm.
Add a little stutter step between the block and the counter. Get your balance, reset, then kick. As the drill progresses, your partner increases the speed. The goal is to close the gap between "I see the kick" and "I am already blocking."
Start slow. Sloppy fast reps teach sloppy blocking. Clean slow reps build clean fast reflexes. Speed comes from repetition, not rushing.
If you are new to Muay Thai training, this drill is one of the first partner exercises worth learning. It builds timing, balance, and the block-counter connection that makes your defense actually dangerous.
Common Blocking Mistakes That Get You Hurt
Four errors show up constantly in beginners. Every single one leads to unnecessary damage.
Reaching your arm down for low kicks. Your instinct says "protect the thigh." Your forearm says "please don't." A hard kick to an outstretched forearm breaks bone. Check with your shin and knee, not your arm.
Using your forearm for body kicks. The radius bone sits right under the skin with minimal muscle protection. Take body kicks on the upper arm and palm. The difference is a few inches and a trip to the hospital.
Dropping your hands while checking. You lift your leg to check a low kick and your hands drop for balance. Now your head is wide open. Keep your guard up even while your leg is working.
Leaning forward into the block. Stay upright. Leaning forward compromises your balance and makes it harder to fire back. Your torso stays vertical, your leg does the work.
Fix these four problems and your kick defense improves immediately. Every one of them comes from the same root cause: fighting your instincts instead of training better ones. That is what drilling is for.
If you want the complete kick defense system with video instruction for every technique covered here, check out The Ultimate Muay Thai Training System. Scott walks you through every block, every destruction, and every drill at full speed and in slow motion so you can train at home. I hope you check it out.