Using Your Head

Using the head as a lever to perform an arm break as in kata Kururunfa.

The head-butt, jokingly referred to as a Glasgow Kiss is a very underrated weapon but allow me to assure you serious damage may result. A well executed head-butt gives accuracy and direction to the entire mass of the body and is likely to break your cheek/jaw bone, teeth, nose or all of the above. An experienced fighter can initiate a devastating head-butt very quickly, but distance is crucial, your best friend in is your elbows, keep your arms up and stay awake!

On the world stage at the 2006 World Cup, we saw French Captain Zinedine Zidane perform a perfectly executed head-butt to the chest of a taunting Italian rival who was literally knocked off his feet. Stopped the taunting immediately!

The weight of an adult head is approximately 5 kilo or 8% of the whole body mass.

This may explain that if you tilt your head even slightly for periods of time and hold this poor posture, it may result in neck strain.

Because of the integral and commanding role the spine plays in movement of the body’s mass, limbs and also head it should be used more in combat applications. Martial Arts techniques incorporate manipulating the weight of the head to control the neck and spine in many ways.

This is a great partner drill to practice sensitivity and balance, that can be used to disrupt your partner by moving the head off its central point of equilibrium. Rather than resist and create tension in the neck and spine, simply use weight transference and rotation of the body to avoid being off balanced and ultimately controlled.