A low kick to the thigh does not look like much from the outside. A few clean ones and the leg can stop doing what it is told.
Tap any strike on this page to hear FightFlow call itQuick answer
Orthodox opponent, facing you
The outside and inside of their front thigh
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, on your right. Against a southpaw, inside and outside swap.
A leg that can lift can check the kick. Most low kicks land when the leg is busy carrying weight or the eyes are somewhere else.
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 thigh
Punch high, kick low.
You
Jab, cross, lead hook to the head.
They
They cover the head and plant their feet.
Finish
Rear low kick to the outside of the front thigh.
Three punches high pull their guard and attention up. The hook also turns your hips and loads the rear leg for the kick.
In the app: 1-2-3, rear low kick
Open in FightFlowWeight lands on the front leg.
You
Hold your range.
They
They step in with the jab. Their weight lands on the front leg.
Finish
Rear low kick as the foot lands.
A leg that is carrying weight cannot lift to check. Kick it as it lands, with your lead hand up: their jab is still coming.
In the app: Rear low 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.
“Kick the nerve on the outer thigh and the leg switches off.”
The nerve on the outer thigh carries only feeling and controls no muscle, so it cannot weaken the leg directly. No study has tested whether kicking it, or any other nerve, makes a leg buckle.[3]
“Low kicks target the sciatic nerve.”
The sciatic nerve runs deep at the back of the thigh, under the hamstrings, not on the outside where a low kick lands. No study of kicks injuring it was found.[4]
“Training or fighting on a dead leg is fine once you can walk.”
Walking is not the test. Go back to hard training or contact only when you are pain free, can bend the knee nearly fully and have your full strength back. One footballer walked home after a thigh blow and needed emergency surgery the next day.[5,6,7]
Call your local emergency number (999 UK, 112 EU, 911 US) or go to an emergency department, and do not drive yourself, if after a kick the thigh pain is severe and keeps getting worse, feels out of proportion to the kick, or is not eased by painkillers or raising the leg, or the thigh feels very tight or hard, or the leg goes numb or tingles, even hours after training. These can mean compartment syndrome, which needs surgery fast: nerve damage can become permanent in less than 12 to 24 hours, so do not wait overnight to see if it settles. A normal pulse in the foot does not rule it out.[8,9,10,11]
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.