The calf kick goes in below the knee, under where most people look to check.
Tap any strike on this page to hear FightFlow call itQuick answer
Orthodox opponent, facing you
Below the knee on their front leg
Your stance
Orthodox: left foot forward, the usual stance for right-handers. Southpaw is the mirror.
Tap a strike to hear the call exactly as FightFlow says it in a round.
Shown against an orthodox opponent, whose front leg is their left. An orthodox kicker lands on the outside of that calf with the rear leg. A southpaw lands on the outside with the lead leg, or on the inside with the rear leg.
The calf kick lands best on a leg that is carrying weight and cannot lift to check. Kickboxing rules differ: WAKO Low Kick bans kicks at or below the knee, so check your rule set before you drill it for a fight.
Each exchange is shown for orthodox against orthodox. In the app the calls follow your stance, so as a southpaw you drill the mirror image, aimed at the other side. Tap Hear it and FightFlow calls it three times, at the pace it uses in a round, so you can shadowbox it.
Target
Front calf
A planted leg cannot check.
You
Jab.
They
They step in or lean forward to punch back, with their weight on the front leg.
Finish
Rear calf kick.
A leg carrying weight cannot lift to check, and the kick comes in below where most people look.
In the app: Jab, calf kick
Open in FightFlowPunch high, kick under the knee.
You
Jab, cross, lead hook to the head.
They
They cover the head and plant their feet.
Finish
Rear calf kick.
Punches high pull their attention up, and the hook turns your hips to load the rear leg.
In the app: Jab, cross, lead hook, calf kick
Open in FightFlowTrain it in FightFlow
Every exchange above opens straight into FightFlow's Combo Builder, and FightFlow calls it out loud during your rounds in the same voice. 10 free training minutes a day.
“Calf kicks hit the sciatic nerve.”
The sciatic nerve splits at or just above the back of the knee. Below that its branches have their own names: the tibial nerve runs deep under the calf muscles, and the common fibular nerve wraps around the outside just below the knee, where a blow can hurt it.[6,7]
“If you can walk on it, it is not broken.”
You may still be able to put weight on a leg with a broken fibula, the thinner bone on the outer side of the lower leg. Any suspected break needs the emergency department, even if you can walk.[8]
Go to the emergency department now, and do not drive yourself (ask someone to take you or call an ambulance), if after a kick the lower leg has pain far worse than the kick seems to explain, pain that keeps building, or pain that painkillers and raising the leg do not ease; a calf or shin that feels tight, swollen or hard; or tingling, numbness or weakness, even hours later or overnight. There is no safe time to wait and see. New trouble lifting the foot, or toes that catch or drag, needs a doctor the same day, even if it does not hurt.[9,10,11,12,13]
This page is general information, not medical advice. If you think you are hurt, see a doctor. Where your gym or governing body has stricter rules, follow them.
The medical and rules statements on this page come only from medical references, peer-reviewed studies and official rule books, each checked against the source text. Fight technique is our own. Last checked October 12, 2026.