After you have learned the Headbutt to the Side, you should try the variation that’s taught in this video. This is a less telegraphing variation that often works better in a self-defense or sparring situation.
Transcript:
“How you doing? This is Randall with KravMagaTraining.com. In this video I’m going to cover the headbutt from the side and I’m going to show a slight tweak or variation to it so that way you don’t telegraph your headbutt or intentions as much.
Now here’s what I’m referring to is the standard headbutt to the side is really just like the headbutt forward or the forward headbutt in that you get your head lower than their head. Turn look at them. Tuck your chin down. Drive your head in. That’s the general idea of it. If you want full details on it I have another video called forward headbutt that covers all that.
But anyways. What I’m going to show in this video is just how to, like I said, modify it a little bit so you don’t telegraph it. So here’s the problem with the headbutt to the side, how it’s normally taught is that when you change your levels and then you turn your head and completely look at the person like this and drive it into them, it’s effective but what I’ve found is that when you try to do this when you’re sparring is that the person knows that what you’re trying to go for and the reason why is because you’re basically doing this. Change your levels so they know what’s going to happen. What I like to do is not turn my head completely to the side. What I mean by that is I’ll turn it at a slight angle like this and then I’ll use my eyes, the corner of my eyes, my peripheral vision to still maintain contact. The reason why I do this is because it’s a little bit more subtle in that instead of turning and looking like this so he knows what’s going to happen, I, when I do this, it’s, it’s a little more subtle. And a lot of times I’ll use this headbutt when I’m doing weapons defenses. Like if my hands are occupied trying to take away a knife or a stick or a gun, this comes in handy because I can keep my eyes down here. And while we’re too busy screwing around fighting for the weapon, I can drive that headbutt in. So if, I don’t want my head completely forward because then I can’t see the target. There’s a good chance I’m going to miss. I’m going to hit with my temple. But at the same time, not completely like this. So it’s a little bit of both. I’m kind of turned a little bit at an angle. Using my peripheral vision. And then after that it’s all the same technique. Like I said, if you don’t know all the details to a good headbutt check out my other headbutt video. Forward headbutt. It covers all those details.
So once again. If you don’t want to telegraph your intentions, don’t turn your head completely like this. I know that’s the standard, textbook way to do it but what I’ve found through personal experience when I’m sparring that I’ve found that works a lot more effective on my sparring partners is just turn a little bit. Kind of at an angle. And then, like I said, use more of your corner of your eyes. Your peripheral vision. I can still see his face. I’m not going to miss. I can still see it but I’m not making it glaringly obvious that I want to headbutt him. Just like this and then kind of arch forward like this. So it’s not completely like this where I’m going to miss and I’m blind but it’s not completely like this either. Little bit of both. Kind of turned at an angle, corner of my eye. ‘Boom’, like that.
So for those of you guys who are experienced at the headbutt from the side, experiment with this little variation, and more importantly, try to do it in sparring. Anytime your hands are occupied when you’re fighting. Whether it’s fighting over a weapon or you’re just tying up and clinching in regular sparring, I’ve found that this little subtle detail will hide your headbutt a lot better and you’ll get a more successful hit rate with this. Especially the first time you pop someone in the face with it really good during sparring sessions.
Anyways. Play with it. Hopefully this will work out, especially when you’re sparring. Thanks for watching.”
“Krav Maga teaches you to use your entire body as a weapon to protect yourself.”
