TKD is all about the kicks (well, mostly) and I wondered if the gentleman in the video below, Tim Man (WTF TKD stylist from Sweden) , could be considered the world's greatest kicker? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc6KhJvg_uk"]YouTube - Tim Man, training[/ame]
Bingo. It's athletically impressive and obviously takes dedication and training, but it's all too XMA for me too. Mitch
Bourelly has got a sweet axe kick, but his technique is nowhere near as sharp as Tim Man's imo. Here's another vid (wait until you see the WTF sparring halfway through when he was just 12!): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH-Aw58_mx0"]YouTube - tim man tribute sampler[/ame]
that guy is inhuman. and to his credit, he did seem to put his hip into the punch at the end of the first video . not so much in the second one, but his stance was narrower and very long, which complicates hip use unless you have years upon years of shotokan training. now i wanna see him in a kicking competition with serkan yilmaz (both aesthetics and power kicking)
Tim Man (WTF TKD stylist from Sweden) , could be considered the world's greatest kicker? Erm....he didn't kick anything? Ergo he's not even in the "good kicker" competition. Now in the "throw legs in the air" competition he's definately up there. Kickers I like... Buakaw. Totally committed with every kick. Hoost. Wicked leg kicks. Aerts. Head kicks a go-go. Glaube Fietosa. Everyone love a nice Brazilian.
Heh I love Hug as much as the next man...he just isn't up there for me in terms of how decisive or effective his kicking was.
Impressive athletic abilities. It is too bad the martial arts action movie is basically a dead genre now because his timing and such is very good. That scene where he and the other guy are kicking with fire on their legs was pretty dang cool.
No. It is Mirko Crocop. Even though he has had difficulties as a fighter recently he did some amazing thing when he burst on the scene. You have to remember that the conventional wisdom was that high kicks 'do not work' in MMA. He came along and showed that if you set them up properly they can be the finisher...
You have to remember that the conventional wisdom was that high kicks 'do not work' in MMA. He came along and showed that if you set them up properly they can be the finisher... Nah mate...people realised that years before cro-cop. Maurice Smith was the guy that started that ball rolling. Pete Williams kick to Mark Coleman at UFC 17 in '98 arguably had more of an effect than even Smith's kick on Conan Silviera. Sure Cro-cop really took that strategy to it's pinnacle but he definately built on what others had started.
Maurice Smith started the 'striker renaissance' in MMA, but most still thought a knockout kick was something of a fluke. Crocop's early success with them got dismissed as flukes as well. It wasn't until he had done it consistently against a variety of opponents that people were like, "Gee. It might work after all..."
A lot of great fighters (and footy players ) have been mentioned, but the question still stands: could you label Tim Man as the world's greatest kicker? I would. Never have I seen such clean technique.
