Side Kick versus Thai Roundhouse Kick

That's not always true. It depends on your footing and on when you see it anticipate/time the kick. Front leg stops using the leg at full extension rather than chambering, pressing forward from the hip to generate pop and aimed at your opponants opposing hip, can be very effective at halting/interrupting your opponent's kick and putting them off balance. It is not a powerful strike by any stretch but it is quick and easily thrown and effective at what it does: far nicer than eating a kick and more deployable than a check in the right situation.

 

Also, sole of shoe beats knee or shin. The more power they put into it, the more it's going to hurt them.

In line with what Hannibal said with the jab analogy; if you have the opportunity and skill to kick an oncoming leg with full power, sure, why not. But that isn't going to work as often as something designed for the task.

 

I've seen more knockouts with roundhouse kicks than side kicks, including in the full contact kickboxing scene. You rarely see the Thais use side kicks. More an angled variant of the teep.

The power and damage generated from a roundhouse kick on the spot compared to a side kick is incomparable. I think they're best used for setups and defensive measures.

In my opinion and personal experience.

It's all about drawing the guard down with minimal effort to deliver a finishing strike with maximum power. In a fight this is a very common tactic. Good example being a teep (or front kick) followed by a roundhouse.

I'd you throw every strike in a fight at full power you will tire very quickly. Learning to pick the right tools for the job is the most important lesson any fighter will learn.

 

I'd wager the angle of the kick is more likely to produce a KO, and it's not purely a consideration of power.

It comes down to how much you train them too. Rear leg roundhouses have the whole centripetal force thing going for them, but if you can't pivot properly and you spend all your time breaking boards with sidekicks, I reckon you'd be better off with your sidekicks. Obvious statement is obvious, but still...

 

Yeah you're right about stating the 'mindset' thing. However i would like to differ on what i wrote about stopping,holding-off and jamming. All the 3 terms i used need to be powerful enough to do the former and thus being powerful enough will understandably inflict damage to the opponent.
-Fact is i myself had a powerful lead side kick defense that caused an incoming opponent to bounce back and hurting them in the process. Maybe it is just my English that is not clearly explained earlier.

 

Side kicks are used relatively often in San Shou, if for no other reason than it's harder to catch. My observations are that there are a lot of people with pretty weak side kick technique, and that throwing rear leg sidekicks with speed and power and the ability to use them in combinations takes a lot of practice.
Interestingly when I've done John Titchen's events I've used sidekick a lot more than I do kickboxing.

 

There's a few side kick knockouts on here
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGHPhqpU6fs"]wushu SANDA sanshou - KNOCKOUTS (chinese kickboxing) - YouTube[/ame]

 

Agreed.

There appears to be a continued difference in definitions. Hopefully some more context will get us on the same page.

I have always used the word punch to mean a forceful strike with the hand. I have always used the word kick to mean a forceful strike with the foot.

There are plenty of things that you can usefully do with your feet that are not kicking. In the same way that there are plenty of things that you can usefully do with your hands that are not punching - Trapping, jamming, pressing, suppressing, hooking and so on.

In point fighting there is a kick called a “Stop Kick”. This is done with the front foot and aimed at the opponent’s torso. The mechanic is similar to a straight arm, it simply fends off the opponent’s body-mass. Using this mechanic it is not possible to generate any appreciable power. However it still scores.

What is taught in mc dojos often has its origins in point fighting. Often this “Stop Kick” is the only way to kick with the front foot taught in mc dojos. The use of this “Stop Kick” is then rationalized in self defense techniques as a way to fend of the attacker and set them up for a strike with power.

My original comment is addressed to the use of a “stop kick” in this context.

looking back at the original post i see that I created some confusion by saying "jamming or stop kicks" In my head I was thinking using a "Stop Kick" against the opponents torso to jam them. As this is the context I am used to using the the term "Stop Kick".

 

I originally replied to this thread here: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1074959256#post1074959256

I prefer the side teep mechanics over the classical side kick mechanics I was taught in karate.

As for round kick, side kick, and front kick... it doesn't matter which one you use as long as your technique is good and it is the right tool for the situation. Comparing kicks is like comparing punches. Are we going to say the right cross is better than the right hook, and completely discount situations when a right hook is better? You got to have good technique with both and then apply in the right situation.

How much of the conversation isn't really about which kick is better, but actually about bad technique? Saying a front snap kick doesn't have the power of a front thrust kick, could just be an example of saying your front snap kick isn't using good technique. The power from a front snap kick is focused on the ball of the foot, so the striking area is smaller compared to the front thrust kick. You need to pick your targets appropriately. Ball of the foot to the groin, liver, spleen, solar plexus takes accuracy but can stun, even drop an opponent. If you are lacking power, most likely your mechanics aren't good. There is a point with a front kick that you step through the target, using the knee like a piston instead of just a hinge. That window in time is smaller for a front snap kick than a front thrust kick, but it still exists in the mechanics for power in the snap kick. Many with bad technique are missing this in their mechanics.

Front thrust kick and side teep can strike better with the bottom of the foot (emphasizing the heel as the striking surface). Again, target area is important based on your weapon. Target areas for front thrust kick are higher for knocking someone back... you target high on the chest or the face (which can be knock out).

Front stop kick is more like the stiff arm version of the kick. Best targets are hip track, inside thigh, and other low targets.

It is important to use the right tool for the right job. One important trick that really good kickers use is that they start the delivery of kicks from the same ways. This is because when you do this, the opponent can't tell which kick you are throwing at first, so you keep then guessing. So at first they can't tell if it is a step, a knee, or a kick. Then on top of this, once they know it is a kick, they don't immediately know which kick it is. IME.

 

Spot-on Rebel Wado!

 

One thing I've noticed, having recently got back to Taekwon-do, is that (IMHO of course) the round/turning kick suffers less when you start to slow down and lose flexibility.
My flexibility has gone down in the last few years but I can still throw a decent turning kick. My side kick is awful!
There seems to be much more crucial details of joint angle and positioning in a side kick than a turning kick (not that a round/turning kick lacks technical detail of course).
In other words it seems to me the side kick is less forgiving of technical faults.
Not sure what point I'm making really. Seemed pertinent 5 minutes ago.

 

Thanks. I didn't even get into the more specialized or secret kicks, such as the toe kick to the adam's apple or up the conception vessel. Or even the stomp kick done right instead of what we see as a stomp kick in 99% of the videos online.

All kicks take flexibility. I bet you could do a low side kick just as well as a low round kick. It all, IMHO, balances out with contact. I think I can do a high round kick better than a high side kick, but then once I start adding heavy contact, I realize that flexibility is limiting me on both. With the round kick, I might hit with the weaker part of the shin or smash the top of my foot or my toes because I don't get the angle right because of a lack of flexibility.

With that said, it might be different for me because I've gone down the path that all my kicks look basically the same, so what limits I have on one kick, I have the same limits on the others too.

In any case, no one should be kicking without being properly warmed up. Just asking for injury otherwise.