where on your shins do you make contact? or does it matter? should the point of contact be the front of the shin? or should it be a lil bit more towards the inside of the shin (which is flatter, therefore more bone and harder)?
the point of contact on your shin should be the instep, it's a space about four inches long that starts just at the ankle and goes up toward your knee... if you can hit with that small space every time you'll accomplish a lot. for the Thai kick this achieves a lot of things: it gives the leg further mass and propensity as it comes swinging out... basically the tip of your foot has the greatest amount of speed so the closer you can hit to those last four inches the harder you'll be hitting. NEVER do the Thai Kick as a snap kick if you're going for power. Always envision swinging through your target. Turn your hips over like a traditional round kick, but instead of snapping the leg swing it like a pendulum or a baseball bat that just flings out there and sails toward your target with massive energy from the waste. Lastly open your foot outward that you're standing on during the moment of contact, this is usually taught as a traditional pivot, but if you do it correctly and time it with the waste you'll have greater explosive power. do the thai kick this way, swung like a bat, turn the hips over, imagine swinging through your target, and you'll have no problem breaking someone's arm should they try to block it... hope that helped, that's how I train them joe
Sorry, not trying to cause offense but just to clear up a possible misunderstanding. Isn't the instep from just above your toes to the ankle? I'd imagine if you do make contact with your instep, and they block with a knee or elbow, you won't be walking for some time. I can't remember the name for the area you're talking about though.
Yeah thats right ckd, the instep is the top of the foot, not a strong area to kick with. The lower shin is used to strike with though! A strong area to use. The knee isn't used to block with, it possibly could be used, but long term use wouldn't do it any good at all
thanks guys! but i was more curious about the point of contact in regards to the center/inside of shin. when you make contact, where is your fott pointed? is pointed perpidicular to your target? or is it more of a 45 degree angle? (taking your right leg for example, is your foot pointed a lil up and to the left after making contact?) i guess what im asking is, when you feel your shin bone, you can feel that its flat and wider on the inside of your leg, where as the direct front of your shin is "sharper" and thinner. what part makes contact? reason im asking is my shins have been bruised up since i started thai, and im starting to suspect that maybe im making contact with the wrong part. i know everyone goes thru shin conditioning when they first start, but i thought it was more of a process where your shin become accustomed to the sting. my shins on the other hand are green and purple
Personally I just don't kick with the shin. Saves a lot of anguish. However I believe that you are actually meant to kick with the foot essentially pointed straight through the target, but I don't know much about Thai so if someone else disagrees, they're right.
Aah, just gotta love thoughs shin kicks, they are ferocious beasts! I really don't have a problem limping home if the other guys legs broken! Heeheeheehee! I was taught that the point to strike with is from the top of the instep to the lower shin. I'll agree if you kick with the instep with real power your probably gonna end up with some pain. Col
Generally, the longer down the leg you connect the kick, the more painful it is to your opponent (leverage and swing) You probably shouldn't shin-kick too much until properly conditioned. I did, and I have lumps galore on my kicking leg.
We've always been taught to kick with the lower shin area too. As many have already pointed out the instep is a bad idea as it puts a lot of pressure on the ankle and there are delcate bones within the foot. I think that the angle of the shin upon delivery very much depends upn the kick that you are doing. Sometimes you are driving up through the body (as in the sharp shin). Sometimes you are driving through the body (so pretty much 90 degree angle) and sometimes you are dropping down and through diagonally (i.e. you might make it look like a mid-section kick and then scoop it down into the thigh to benefit from gravity. There are lots of ways of deploying the Thai round kick. As for blocks this very much depends on what is going on at that moment in time. An aggressive attacking block would be done almost like a knee to the oncoming leg (not the knee cap of course). In other words as a limb destruction. Try the top of the shin where its really hard and push into the oncoming leg aggressively. I seem to see people around that kind of catch a kick on their shin... sure you do this to some extent if you are practicing with a partner and trying to not hurt them but I don't think this should not be how this technique is used properly. Of course sometimes you can only catch and its better than getting kicked full blast. Hopefully Yoda will reply to this as he mentioned that he proactices a whole bunch of shin blocks and different round kicks under Ajarn Chai.
Also thinking about it there are kicks in which pretty much the whole shin makes contact. Sometimes at a closer range or stepping out to the side... the whole shin hits the opponent horizonatally across the stomach for instance...
It is better to keep the contact area smaller, I'd rather hit the floating ribs, which would be roughly half the contact area than the stomach[?] Taking the roundhouse kick on the shin: You'd avoid taking the kick at full power, try and move in and make coontact higher up their leg. Your leg will be lifted so that'll cushion the kick compared to having your foot planted solidely. Being more advanced, you'd aim to do more damage to their leg, take their kick on the top of your shin, but make sure the top of your shin conects somewhere softer on theirs, ie thigh/calf/ behind or side of knee (when possible) Theres far more to it than exchanging blows and seeing who falls over first
Check out this link and scroll down a bit ... http://www.kyokushinmail.com/koya/KickInstruction.htm there is a good table on this page that shows roundhouse kick in different styles of martial arts, with the emphasis and the merit of each. There are also some still photos and some good high roundhouse KO clips to be found here!
I thought i would post this over an old post. I practice as much as i can, i been doing Thai for bout 4 months now. I was prcticing on the bag at my local gym, and i my kicks wernt up to scratch. Some days i will be on fire, with excellent technique. today it just wasnt working. Is this just a thing we all have( bad days and good days), or could it be that i need more practice. I dont mean to say my kick is excellent, but by my standards today was poor. Do you people havve bad days aswell?
Eek sorry man, i didnt realise how u were. Hows ure injury anyway? There is nothing worse than a Yoda who isnt in tip-ttop shape. Are you getting on ok? Take care mate, and i hope you fully recover soon (if you havent already)
