I was given a few Krav Maga lessons in the army, and the very first move they taught us… was to run away. The second move they taught us was to hit him in the head with a brick. But the third move the taught us - and the first actual martial arts move - was how to properly kick someone in the groin.
Then eye-gauging.
OK your persistance has busted us lurking guest. Our secret is out.
All males, usually between the ages of 5-7 years old, take the bloody testicular pact. The exact wording of the pact varies to some degree from nation to nation, but the ultimate bottom line is thus - no male will willfully strike at another males crotch under threat of the most severe punishments allowed under the auspices of mandom.
That is why it is not taught in martial arts, and not shown in movies and TV. Self Defence classes are OK as that is mostly teaching women to do it (and the occasional bloke who has obviously slipped through the net of making the pledge)
[Yes I know this is GQ - but if someone is going to willfully ignore the answer provided I see no reason not to provide other more obvious truths - Consequences of revelaing the secret Pact be damned.]
I think Valgard gave the most complete answer in #15, but I’ll try it again only slightly differently.
1.) In movies - It’s unsportsmanshiplike. It would be a bad movie if Rocky or Bruce Lee were to win a fight by a kick to the nuts.
2.) In a schoolyard situation - It’s like M.A.D. Same reason we didn’t nuke the USSR. If you go there, then not only does your opponent have free reign to go after your nuts, (which you DO NOT want at all), but no matter the ending, he will have the moral high ground because you resorted to that first.
3.) We’ve all been in a schoolyard situation where #2 was not yet understood. We now protect that area instinctually.
4.) A punch-to-the-face-knockout is much more satisfying.
I was in a situation where the other person - a female who attacked my girlfriend - tried very hard to kick me in the balls when I leapt in to stop the attack.
I have zero training or experience in fighting of any kind, but I found it very easy to sidestep her kicks.
She was so focussed on trying to kick my balls that when I got tired of sidestepping her kicks and socked her in the jaw, I doubt she even saw it coming. At that point she let go of my girlfriend, which was the required result, so we got out of there.
My insight from this is that females think male genitals are an easy target, but they’re not.
This has become the conventional wisdom (nice job Gracie).
But of course it has little empirical support. It might be correct. But the 2 physical confrontations on the street that I witnessed (one with fists, the other with blade and bat) did not end on the ground. One ended with mutual yelling and finger pointing. The other ended with burnt rubber, as one fellow drove away in haste.
Since you’ve rejected everyone else’s answer, I’ll come up with my own WAG.
Guys are socialized from a very early age to avoid contact with another guy’s genitals. Even in self-defense, that socialization is very strong. You know, you don’t want to catch teh gay. Women have no such qualms.
Retaliation. If the other guy’s nads are fair game, so are yours.
Enter - The new caps lock. For all your stubborn needs.
A knee to the groin is very effective if you are willing to risk the blows you might take to get in that close - which is why it is a foul in any sports-related martial arts.
A kick at someone’s groin is just as likely to end up with you on the floor, as it is in landing perfectly and putting your opponent down.
Kicks to the groin, though, are permitted in some sparring styles. (Practitioners wear a cup.)
My take is this:
Movies:
For the same reason that groin shots are forbidden i MMA, they don’t make very interesting fights. They don’t appeal to the viewer’s view of the character either. We don’t like seeing our heroes dominating, we prefer to see them win honorably and after taking quite a beating themselves. Taking a few punches to the jaw (however unrealistic) we might accept, but more than a nudge to the groin is beyond anybody’s suspense of disbelief.
In a bar room brawl
As previous posters said, mainly MAD. You don’t see groin kicks. You don’t see fish hooks, biting, eye-gouging or people being stabbed in the face with sharp objects either. Both guys expect to be able to come home that evening.
In real life
Frankly, because most people don’t know how to fight, and that’s probably a good thing. A real fight takes place on the ground, involves elbows instead of fists, knees instead of kicks, and involves a lot of nasty stuff that will most likely leave the other combatant permanently maimed. Look at Krav Maga and other combat arts as an example.
Cite on that? Getting kicked in the cup still hurts as hell as well, it just doesn’t knock you out for the rest of the day.
I can’t believe that no-one has raised the Marqess Of Queensbury rules for boxing - a staple of western fighting etiquette for over 150 years. In truth, it was the earlier Broughton Rules that introduced the injunction against below-the-belt hitting, and gentlemen since that time have believed that it is unsportsmanlike to do so - it is a pretty deeply ingrained thing. However, given that the rule was codified, it seems obvious to me that groin attacks were common in the no-holds-barred fights of the time.
In sports where groin strikes are possible, participants usually wear a protective device and have suitable blocks, and so the value of such a strike is considerably reduced except as a feint/distraction.
Si
Martial Arts cups are roomier than the ones handed out in football, so your claim doesn’t necessarily hold. Cuong Nhu sparring is light contact and permits kicks to the groin. See 3rd post on this page: http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62019
Also Aysma: !pdf!: www.aysma.com/documents/SPARRING%20RULES%2007.pdf If you want a book, look at the bottom of page 56 here: Freestyle Sparring - Woo Jin Jung, Jennifer Lawler - Google Books
A few points;
[ul]
[li]In a “fair” fight hitting a crotch would be unfair.[/li][li]Contrary to popular belief, crotch shots will work on the fairer sex (I’d like to point out that anyone sufficiently well educated to know this is probably old fashioned enough that they probably wouldn’t use this information) if you know exactly what part of the anatomy you’re aiming for.[/li][li]Humans will always protect their crotch and, like all the other soft parts of the anatomy, the limbs are designed to swivel into place to block them. Back when I was a schoolboy and ambushing fellow male students with a “sack slap” (life just isn’t fair) was the norm about 75% of these attacks missed and hit the thighs.[/li][/ul]
Well, I don’t get into fights often, actually, not at all really for about 30 years now…
Keeping in mind anecdote is not data, and your mileage will vary: During an attempted rape, I kicked at my attacker’s groin. As it happens, I missed and wound up breaking his leg instead. So, based on my very limited experience, it’s a small target and easy to miss, particularly if the body the target is attached to is moving at the time. Also have to wonder if there isn’t a strong tendency for men to shield or block the groin with their arms/hands/whatever. So in real world fights people might, in fact, aim for the groin but instead get some other nearby body part instead.
:eek:
That’s certainly comeuppance for him!
I was trained in “Unarmed Combat” fighting in the Marines in 1989. One move was to grab the opponent by the shoulders, pulling down, while driving your knee into his groin. It was practiced with sea bags filled with bedsheets and pillows hung in front of your opponent’s chest, like wearing a backpack backwards.
Unfortunately, my roomie grabbed the top (“shoulders”) of the sea bag I was wearing and pulled UP instead of down as he drove his knee upwards. It was not a complete dead on target hit, but I was out of action for a few days, mostly bruised lower abdominal muscle, but whacked tally whacker as well.
It is a common fighting tactic, amongst those who are very bad at fighting. It’s why you’ll see it often in comedic movies. And it does happen in martial arts movies when appropriate.
I’ve been in one or two fights, and of those where the opponent doesn’t just cuddle you and tackle you down to the floor attempting to punch you (It would be impossible to strike the crotch well from that position) I’ve been attacked in the crotch once or twice. I was even taught by my father that if I was ever in a fight that you should go for that area.
I quickly learned that was a mistake. In a fight, kicks aren’t usually all that useful unless you’re into martial arts or are very athletic. A kick is very easily defended against, just a cause of grabbing and twisting, and your opponent falls. A punch to the crotch leaves you wide open for mistake, because you have to bend your body.
Using your knee is sometimes a good idea if you’re close enough, but there are problems: If you miscalculate you may find your OWN crotch colliding with their knee. You have to get very close, so whilst it may hurt them a lot, you may suddenly find yourself unconscious with a quick strike to your head.
It’s actually quite difficult to strike the crotch, especially if your opponent is moving. If you’re keeping your eyes on that area to strike it, you’re ignoring the fists which is what you really need to defend against. A good punch in the face can beat a knee in the groin any day.
Any position I can think of that would allow you to knee your opponent in the ground, leaves yourself wide open for attack. You’re better to take a few tips from boxing, defend, weave, strike etc. Always keep your distance.
Yes, quite. I figure I gave worse than I got.
As Fake Tales of San Francisco and others have pointed out, there are disadvantages to going for the groin shot and much to be said for keeping your distance. As it happened, my attacked had physical hold of me so I could not “keep my distance” and my arms were not free to use. I’m not a very big person, so perhaps he thought me an easy target. At the time, though, I played varsity soccer, worked on a horse farm, and lifted weights several times a week. Hence, I had the physical strength to do some serious damage. Truthfully, as I have not maintained that level of athleticism I doubt I could exert that much force today. I also had the advantage that my eldest sister was a martial arts and defense instructor and thus I had had some training in physical self-defense.
I would not recommend the groin shot as a first option in a fight, but it is an option.
If the fight is “on” most men are not leading with their crotch. They are wary of strikes and getting close enough and positioned for a knee strike makes you available for for grabbing and take down. The only way a crotch shot really works is as an up close “surprise” strike, and unless you’re being molested, people (esp men) are rarely this close to each other in a face to face scenario.
Plus there is the general notion that if someone starts going for your genitals all bets are off, and the fight may well escalate from a scuffle to the use of deadly, or near deadly, force. As people contemplating using crotch shots are usually (not always) women or overmatched smaller males this can be a significant risk.