This is a low kick aimed at the outside of an opponent's knee and delivered decisively. Because the practitioner kicks whilst lightly bending the upper body to the rear, this kick is devised to be effective with very little motion. Because of the distinctive kicking motion, this move is also called the Pendulum Kick. The area targeted by the kick is not directly vulnerable to a fatal blow, but when one of a person's legs can no longer be used, continued combat becomes effectively impossible.
Move Origins
The Side Reaper Kick is the classic low kick seen in many martial arts such as traditional/full-contact karate, muay thai, and many others. True to the description, kicking an opponent's legs is a very effective tactic in combat and many professional fights have been stopped due to leg kicks.
The knee being the target of choice for the Side Reaper Kick makes it a very high-risk, high reward maneuver. A low kick hitting the side of the knee from the outside can easily shear tendons and ligaments. For example, Nong-O stopped Liam Harrison in their rematch with a well-timed low kick to the side of the knee, causing Harrison to tear his ACL, MCL, and meniscus.
However, it's also a double-edged sword. If the opponent performs a "check" by moving their leg into the path of the kick, it creates a bone-on-bone collision that often leads to the kicker injuring their leg on contact. No one knows this phenomenon better than former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who's been on both the giving and receiving end of a leg break from a checked leg kick.
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