first show my students the track of a kick. For example, I show them how a side kick is chambered, launched, extended, hits the target, retracted and returned to the floor. Once I see that they have the basic track, I let them discover how best to deliver it based on their physical structure. My job as the teacher is to ensure that they are employing the proper body mechanics, as they relate to their physique, to optimize their speed and power.
I also think it’s important to examine other ways to execute the same kick. We are blessed with a melting pot of styles and systems in this country, so we should take advantage and borrow and steal from each other. If you are a kung fu fighter but you really like taekwondo’s roundhouse kick, why shouldn’t you add it to your repertoire?
If you belong to a strict system that doesn’t allow for variations, I leave that to you to work it out with your teacher. I’m not suggesting that you be disrespectful or a traitor to your school, but if your teacher is unbendable, you have to decide if a rule is more important than a technique that may save your life. I’ve used my fighting art on the streets in Vietnam and as a cop in Portland, Oregon, so that decision has never been a tough one for me.
In this section, let’s take a look at a few variations of the front, round, back and side kicks. We will examine different parts of your foot and leg to kick with, as well as different ways to launch the kick. These kicking methods may be different from the way you regularly do them, so training alone is the perfect time to experiment, especially if your school has a strict policy as to how kicks are to be performed. Practice them away from your school and then use them on your classmates. When your kick smacks into them and they are left standing there scratching their heads, saying, “What the heck was that?” it will be interesting to hear their arguments against the technique.
The front kick, with the front or rear leg, is often the first kick taught to beginning students, though that doesn’t make it the easiest one to learn. Even an untrained person can do a kick that looks like a front kick, but to do it properly takes a lot of work. It’s important that you know how the body mechanics of the front thrust kick are different from those that make up the front snap kick. I’m not going to take the space here to describe them because every other book on the market does a good job of it. Just make sure you have a good understanding of the differences before you proceed to the variations that follow.
Angle Front Kick
This is one of my favorite front kicks because it’s so deceptive. It launches forward at an angle, half way between a straight front kick and a circular roundhouse kick. To do it, simply angle your lower leg out slightly—use your fast front leg or your more powerful rear leg, depending on which element you need at the time—and kick forward into the target. Kick with the ball of your foot, the top of your foot or your lower shin, just above your ankle. The difference depends on the target. For instance, if you are kicking an assailant’s thigh, hit with the ball of your foot. Kick him with the top of your foot, however, if you are firing at his groin or at his face as he is bent over looking downward.
A nice feature of the angle front kick is that an assailant can be turned three quarters away from you, but the angle of your kick allows your foot to “sneak” around his upper thigh and whack him in the groin.
3 sets, 15 reps — both front legs
3 sets, 15 reps — both rear legs
From your on-guard position (1), lift your leg into a slanted chamber (2) and launch the angled front kick (3).
Movement Continued
Movement Continued
Push Kick
This is an important kick that I never considered until I began watching full-contact fighters, especially Muay Thai competitors. As the name implies, the kick is a pushing action as opposed to a thrusting one. Although it can hurt your opponent, it’s mostly used to keep him off you or to set him up for a second technique. If you are quick and your opponent is slow, the push kick can be used to jam his hip as he chambers it.
Kick with the entire bottom of your foot or with just the ball. Use the bottom if you just want to push your opponent away or to stop him from advancing on you. If you have time to add a shot of pain to the push, use the ball of your foot and aim at his groin, thigh, or knee. You can use your rear foot, though most full-contact fighters use the lead since it’s closer and quicker. When using the front leg, shift your weight to your rear leg, bend your rear knee a little and push your front leg into the target. If you want to move forward as you push, move your rear foot up to the heel of your lead foot and then execute the push kick with your front leg.
Practice against a swinging heavy bag. As it comes towards you, push it away.
3 sets, 10 reps — each leg
Upside Down Front Kick
I learned this weird kick years ago from a kajukenbo fighter. He called it “cobra kick,” which is fairly descriptive as to how it looks when it strikes an opponent in the face or chest. I doubt its usefulness as a street technique, but it’s fun to sneak in when sparring and when practicing drills with a partner. Besides being a tricky kick, it’s a great exercise because it works the front kick muscles at a different angle. Here is how you do it.
Get in a left-leg-forward fighting stance. To chamber the kick, flip your lower, left leg outward while keeping your knee pointing downward (the position of your knee makes it difficult for an opponent to counter kick you to the groin). The chamber is complete when your foot, which is tucked as close to your rear as you can get it, is upside down and pointing at the target. To kick, simply thrust the ball of your foot into the target.
Air: 3 sets, 15 reps – both sides
Applying broken rhythm: Here is how you can use broken rhythm to set it up (“Broken Rhythm,” page 165). Throw two or three lead-leg roundhouses at your opponent, allowing him to block them. This establishes a rhythm and an expectation in his mind that when he sees your leg chamber, you are going to throw a circular kick. The next time, bring your chamber up as if you were going to roundhouse kick, but continue to swing your lower leg up until your knee is pointing downward and the bottom of your kicking foot is pointing at the ceiling. Since you have established an expectation in him, he will probably begin to block outward toward what he thinks is going to be a roundhouse. But you are too tricky and thrust your upside down front kick on a straight line right into his breadbasket.
Air: 3 sets, 15 reps –both sides
When escaping: It also works great when moving away from an opponent. Assume a left-leg- forward fighting stance. As your opponent moves toward you, retreat in your usual fashion by moving your right foot back to your left and then moving your left foot back. The next time he advances, do it again, establishing a rhythm in his mind. The third time he comes in, lean back to create an illusion that you are again moving away, but when he is in range, fire the kick in for the score. Ha,ha.
Air: 3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
Practice
