A headbutt or butt is a targeted strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of an opponent, such as the nose, using the stronger bones in the forehead ( frontal bone) or the back of the skull ( occipital or

parietal bone The parietal bones ( ) are two bones in the skull which, when joined at a fibrous joint known as a cranial suture, form the sides and roof of the neurocranium. In humans, each bone is roughly quadrilateral in form, and has two surfaces, four bord ...

). The word is both a noun and a verb.

Mechanics

Headbutts can be used from close range such as from the clinch, or on the ground. They are typically applied to the head of the opponent, since the head is often a readily available target and has several sensitive areas, but can be delivered to any part of the body. It is considered a quick, very effective but risky maneuver, as a misplaced strike can also cause injury to the person delivering the headbutt. An effective headbutt can be performed with a forward, rising, sideways or backwards motion; each being effective from different positions. Parts of the cranium with thick

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

and high local curvature make for good weapon areas, and these include the forehead near the hairline, the outboard curved part of the

, and the

occiput The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone lies over the occipital lobes of the ...

. Ideal targets are usually the fragile areas of the head, including the bridge of the nose, the

cheekbone In the human skull, the zygomatic bone (from ), also called cheekbone or malar bone, is a paired irregular bone, situated at the upper and lateral part of the face and forming part of the lateral wall and floor of the orbit (anatomy), orbit, of t ...

s, the hinge area of the jaw, the temple, and the top edge of the eye socket. Hitting the opponent's teeth or

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

is likely to cause mutual damage. The chin of the enemy is also a generally bad position to headbutt unless striking from below up into the bottom of the chin, similar to an uppercut. In the United Kingdom, a headbutt is sometimes referred to as a ''Glasgow kiss'', a tongue-in-cheek reference to the city of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

's violent reputation.

In fiction

The character Yosser Hughes in '' Boys from the Blackstuff'' was noted for headbutting people and inanimate objects.; In one scene, his young daughter headbutts a social worker. Headbutts often feature in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

and fighting video games. In '' The Mummy Returns'', Evelyn O'Connell headbutts some opponents, which she learned from her husband Rick O'Connell.

In nature

Rams are well known for butting with their heads and horns. From this, the terms battering ram and hydraulic ram are derived. Goats are also well-known for butting. Many males in various animal species employ butting during courtship to show off their strength to potential mates. Cats engage in a gentle behavior that resembles headbutting, where they "bunt" a person or another animal with their forehead scent glands to mark their territory with pheromones.

In sports

Contact sports

Headbutts are generally forbidden in most contact sports and, if performed, result in penalties and even disqualifications. However, it is a strike allowed in

Lethwei Lethwei (; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) or Burmese boxing is a Full contact fighting, full contact combat sport originating from Myanmar and is considered as one of the most brutal martial arts in the world.} * * * * * * Lethwe ...

(which is the only professional sport allowing the strike),

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

, muay boran, combat sambo, some full-contact karate rulesets/variants - namely Kūdō - and in the self-defence art of krav maga. In traditional boxing, official game style regulations are used if the headbutt is accidental. If a match does not reach halfway, it is no contest. If it reaches past the official match point, then scores will be calculated. It is also the primary focus of the

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

n martial art Testa. Headbutts were a commonly used technique in

vale tudo Vale Tudo or vale-tudo (; ), also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few Regulation of sport, rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventua ...

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

before the introduction of the unified rules of MMA. Similarly, although the art itself forbids any kind of strikes, some masters of

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

taught the use of headbutts under the name of ''atama ate waza'', as demonstrated by Kyuzo Mifune and Mikinosuke Kawaishi.

Association football

Intentional headbutting is irregular in

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and even attempting one will warrant dismissal by a red card. Famously, during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, French team captain

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

headbutted Italian player Marco Materazzi, after an angry exchange. Zidane received a red card, and Italy won the match on penalties. It was his last professional game, and ended his career on a "discordant" note. This moment was later immortalized by a sculpture titled "Headbutt" by French artist Adel Abdessemed. In February 2011, Gennaro Gattuso was suspended for four matches after confronting and headbutting Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach Joe Jordan at the conclusion of a UEFA Champions League match."Gennaro Gattuso given four-match ban for headbutt"
. BBC Sport. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2013. In 2016, Roy O'Donovan was handed an eight match ban, one of the longest bans in A-League Men history, after he headbutted Phoenix defender Manny Muscat. In August 2022,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

player Darwin Núñez received a red card for headbutting Crystal Palace player Joachim Andersen after several rough tackles between each other during the match.

Ice hockey

Headbutting is not allowed in ice hockey. In the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

even an unsuccessful attempt at headbutting warrants a double minor. An actual headbutt is a major penalty and a game misconduct, and a match penalty is mandatory if the referee rules that there was reckless endangerment.

Handball

On March 3, 2014, Milena Knežević headbutted Anita Görbicz during the last seconds of the game between ŽRK Budućnost and Győri ETO KC in the EHF Women's Champions League group stage. Knežević was banned for the next two matches.

Wrestling

On April 9, 2017, Japanese wrestler Katsuyori Shibata headbutted Kazuchika Okada during their match at Sakura Genesis 2017. The headbutt was so hard that it caused Shibata to start bleeding from the forehead. After the match, Shibata collapsed backstage, from where he was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a subdural hematoma. Scottish wrestler

Drew McIntyre Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June, 1985) is a Scottish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. Galloway began ...

uses a headbutt as part of his moveset that is called the Glasgow Kiss.

References

External links

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