Fancy Kicks .... ?

I am always impressed with the ability of people who can perform jumping spinning 'fancy' kicks, but do you honestly think they are effective ?? I think they are more gymnastics than Martial Arts, what d'ya think ?

Jay

 

Maybe not in a fight but maybe it helps in another way....

 

Yep they sure do look good but probably not any use in a real fight.

I do think that they will provide the user with a good training tool to work on leg power, balance, co-ordination etc.

 

.... there is a time and a place for every kick Jay.

It is quite surprising to a non-martial artist to be on the receiving end of a jump spinning hook kick to the kidneys.... take it from me!
Having the ability to draw that front leg up and having opponent 'think' you are going to kick with that leg.... and jump up and spin and kick with the other is IMO effective if done effortlessly.

 

yeah the kind of stuff john just said is right.

 

Got to agree with johndoch on that one. I haven't always thought that though, my mind has been opened to other methods by MAP!

 

i don't think you would ever use fancy high kicks in a real fight but they do show off the sort of ability that you hae as exectuing them correctly is extremly difficult

 

Yeah suppose. At range they might be effective, but against a skilled martial artist (or some one just as skilled as the kicker) they would be able to tell and dodge the attack, or counter.

 

Well i like doing 540's (a rotation and a half before kicking at head height).

Don't even get me started on how they would totally never work in a fight.
But they took me a long time to learn, on my own, and they look sweet - as.

And thats about it.

 

I'm sure it looks good, but so does a double somersault and that aint gonna work in a fight (Ok I know ... I've seen the video clip of the guy somersaulting over someones guard - and THAT hurt !).
I guess I'm just jealous really .. whenever the song 'Kung-fu fighting' plays any of my mates that know I'm into MA's always go ... 'come on show us some stuff' They aint too impressed when I just lie on my back with my legs in the air and say 'this is the guard' ... but they would be if I could do a 540 !!!

Jay

 

I did a bit of a flying kick over a wheelie bin when I was a little younger and lighter! It did impress my friends, I didn't let on that it wasn't what we do in fighter or I didn't have a clue how to actually use the thing to effect, I should have showed them the guard, ooooh fash get Jay!

 

Double Summersaults? I can do them too (I need a wee trampoline though).

Although we actually learn some of that stuff at tkd. The other week we were doing practises for a demo-team. One person had to bend over, and about 4m behind him someone held a target at headheight and we had to jump over the 1st guy and jump-sidekick the target. Was sweeet. We were doing split sissor kicks too, and backflip kicks. Ohooh and these weird double sidekicks where you use both legs jumping and pump em

Its nice to do that once in a while you know, doesnt always have to be about the sparring or technique =)

 

-For the streets, keep it simple and effective. Also, it is much harder to defend this type of self-defense technique in criminal or espescially, civil court. In the ring, there are very good technicians who, with the proper set up, can and do nail skilled opponents with these. At one of the Grands at one of the NASKA 5A tournaments, I saw one fighter nail another w/ a 720. The opponent read wheel kick and rushed in to counter and got slammed. Also, at Battle of Atlanta a couple of years ago, Kim Do KO'ed a guy in the team competition w/ a kick off a flip. This is only point fighting (my least favorite), but if you outclass your opponent or if you can fake them out, you can land some really pretty combos. Some of my teenage students like to do this to just add a little insult to injury and let their opponent know they don't belong in the same league as them. I was once young and stupid too. I have since learned to be FAR more concerned about being effective and keeping myself safe. Hopefully, my kids will learn this the easy way, rather than the hard way. The best way to get nailed is to let your ego take control and show off. (The last words of most rednecks "Hey, y'all. Watch this!")

 

I am all for fancy kicking I mean after all I am a korean stylist. The main thing for me in tournament fighting is to look good. My reasons for entering competitions in sparring now a days is not to win the competition, it's a time for me to show off to the audience (hey i'm young, what can I say). I throw every fancy kick I can, because after all the audience is watching and that's what they want to see. I personally love hearing the audience in the background go "wow" and "OOhhh" or hear them say little comments like "that's gotta hurt"or my favoride "Daaammnnn" in the ring i don't wory about the effectiveness in the street, why? Because i'm not in the street.

This brings me to my other point. In the street fights i have had, I have never come across another martial artist, it is usually some guy that want's my money or just want's to fight with someone because he's drunk. I have never seen an attacker with a tremendous amount of skill. so as to my high kicks, are they effective here? of course, the guy doesn't know what hit him. Of course i leave out the flashy kicks. Just think if you used your leg to sucker kick instead of sucker punch. Ouch. This is also my philosophy, if I feel a situation is about to go to fighting, you better believe i'm going to get the first hit, just remember your only legal if he touches you first, but this has probably already been established in the first disagreement stage of fighting so your gravy. This is the main reason I train in both an offensive strategy and defensive strategy. To tell you the truth those are the only two strategies I do have. Well i'm getting off track so let me stop right now.

-John

 

thats a fair point sfjohn, i mentioned it before but it was never really talked about, when we talk about high kicks we talk as if the other person is a ufc figther capable of taking us striaght down. we don't know who we fight, so can we take the chance? and even the unskilled fighter can crash into us ending up brawling on the floor in seconds, or maybe we'll ko them in seconds, only conclusion is, there high risk, use at your own risk!

i think the natuaral reaction for people that see a fancy kick, is to associate difficulty of doing kick with its effectiveness......

 

Alot of people cant really kick. And those people often assume a high kick isnt effective for that reason.

I dont think any other style can kick high as effectively as tkd, as now there is such a emphasys on it with the 2-point score in wtf tkd now-days.

 

I'm sure the ladies would be impressed after showing them a few techniques

 

I can do high kicks to an ok degree

Trouble is they lose a lot of power so I keep em low to mid height and max power.

Works for me also the higher the leg is it should be easier to catch them hence the MMA takedowns.

I can do them sort of for show but thats the only time the come out as I aint that hot at em.

Ok for me though


SONSHU

 

I find when new people start in MA esp where kicking is involved they tend to instinctively catch the attacking kick as sonshu describes. I found this to be the case in kickboxing and newbies were told not to do it.

So does TKD/karate/kickboxing train high kicking techniques by creating a false sense of security as they stop people catching kicks?

 

Interesting point

I know my higher kicks could be caught - hence I dont use em much also I know with my spin kicks even for a split second I am not watching my main opponent and on one leg.

Yet lower is quicker and has more power so it feels safer for me. I guess (thoughts only) when you are starting to train in Karate or Kickboxing etc you have no footwork so you naturally catch it. When you get the basic idea you are trained to catch less and to block the kick also to use footwork.

Any views - Gotta chip as I am off training!


SONSHU