Kicking with the shin is a fundamental and highly effective technique in many martial arts and combat sports, particularly Muay Thai and Kickboxing. The primary reasons for using the shin involve maximizing power, durability, and impact on the opponent.
Benefits of Using the Shin
When trained properly, striking with the shin offers several distinct advantages over using the foot:
- Harder Striking Surface: The tibia, or shinbone, is one of the densest and strongest bones in the human body. Unlike the smaller, more fragile bones of the foot, the shin can withstand and deliver significant impact with less risk of injury to the kicker, especially when striking hard targets like limbs or ribs.
- Increased Power and Damage: Kicks delivered with the shin, often through a powerful rotational movement of the hip, can generate immense force. The hard, focused point or broad surface of the shin bone landing on soft tissue or muscle can cause considerable pain, bruising, and even nerve damage or muscle incapacitation (like a leg kick targeting the thigh).
- Greater Reach and Leverage: For certain kicks, like the roundhouse kick, using the shin allows for a longer lever arm than kicking solely with the instep or ball of the foot, potentially increasing reach and the arc of the strike.
- Potential for Conditioning: Through consistent training and controlled impact, the shins can become conditioned, making them more resilient to pain and damage over time. This process, often associated with Muay Thai, is controversial and requires careful, gradual practice.
As noted in martial arts instruction, the shin is anatomically suited for this purpose. Specifically, our shin is only comprised of two bones. And only one of which is going to be making contact with our opponent. This primary contact bone is the tibia, a large, hard bone that provides the powerful striking surface.
Where Shin Kicking is Common
Shin kicks are a staple technique in disciplines where powerful, low and mid-level kicks are emphasized:
- Muay Thai: Renowned for its devastating leg kicks and body kicks delivered with the shin.
- Kickboxing: Utilizes shin kicks for similar offensive purposes.
- Mixed Martial Arts (MMA): Fighters from striking backgrounds frequently employ shin kicks for leg damage and body strikes.
By leveraging the natural strength and density of the tibia, practitioners can deliver high-impact strikes that are both effective against opponents and relatively safer for the kicker compared to striking hard targets with the more delicate structure of the foot.