Uramawashigeri

[Chirath]

In my dojo we have recently started practising Uramawashigeri. How effective is this move? And what is the best place to hit it with?

 

Thanks In Advance,

 

Chirath

[pers]

It is a close quarter kick ,one must master basic kicks before he can truly deploy this kick successfully .This kick when badly executed would be very risky and dangerous to the executioner .In shotokan ball of the foot is used .typical senario is you move to one side to avoid a incomming attack and at the same time pivot on the supporting leg and raise the other leg as of mawashigeri ,the leg travels in an ark out and back in towards the target (back or side of the head ) and Bang ! then it is qiuckly withdrawn back and then down .did it make sense ?! hope so

[Shorin Ryuu]

Hi. I've found that the "best" targets for these kicks are low. Of course, that's my philosophy regarding every kick.

 

Okinawan styles tend to make this a sort of toe kick and aim for the sensitive soft tissue on the inner sides of the legs. It is very effective in disrupting either the opponent's breathing, balance or both, which I consider one of the essential steps in winning.

 

As mentioned above, it is obviously a close-quarters kick, as full extension of this would be dangerous to you. Other than that, I don't see how it would otherwise be "difficult" to execute.

 

As an interesting sidenote, there was never a "mawashigeri" (as opposed to a uramawashigeri) in traditional karate. It is more of a recent innovation popularized in sport karate. I'm of the opinion it is because it compromises too much of your balance, mobility and speed if you want to execute a mawashigeri of any significance. It's the same reason why kicks of any type are low in traditional karate.

[P.A.L]

consider this application

 

in front stance you are engage at close quarter as soon as you dis-engage slide back and same time use Uramawashi like a slap to the side of the head.

 

I use this technique for point kumite of course in a real situation or full contact as we do in shorin ryu there is no room for this kind of moves.

[Shorin Ryuu]

Hmm, it seems there may be some differing definitions of what we all consider a uramawashigeri. Reading the other posts more closely, what I'm talking about might be a little different from what others may be talking about.

 

Rather than coming from the outside, it comes from the inside. Meaning rather than snapping into the target from the outside, you go in to out. Say you were just standing with legs shoulder-width apart and wanted to do an uramawashigeri with your right foot. You'd have lift your right ankle towards your center (more towards your left side, really). Your knee would then be pointed more outwards (this resulting setup is more or less the opposite of what we call a mawashigeri). It's not quite an exact science, as the angles will change a bit depending where you are aiming, but the right foot will be around the region of the left knee, with around a forty-five degree slant from the right knee to the right foot. It's harder to put into words... Obviously, the power behind this technique is all in the snap, as you can't gain any thrusting power with this technique. You also can not gain too much height, as the mechanics are detrimental towards it.

[Killer Miller]

Actually, I was quite fond of this kick. However, you had to be in close, kick to the inside thigh area to creat shock and open up the mid and upper section of the body.

 

On one of the other threads about sparring stance where cross was talking about the boxing position, this is the kick I would usally use to create the opening I was referring to. However, this kick is worthless above waist height...

 

- Killer -

[P.A.L]

maybe i am wrong but i think the kick that "killer miller" and "Shorin ryuu" in his first post are refering is Ura-Mikazukigeri (reverse crescent kick) with toe or top of the foot for kicking inside of thigh. to my understanding Uramawashi can be executed effectively only on head and back of neck areas.

[Shorin Ryuu]

No, the execution isn't like a crescent kick. The execution is like a mawashigeri, only the setup is oriented differently. I'm sure there's probably another name for it (maybe), as the mawashigeri wasn't a traditional kick (and hence ura-mawashigeri wouldn't be the name for it). Or, maybe they just didn't care about the name, which is a quite distinct possibility.

[pers]

Hi. I've found that the "best" targets for these kicks are low. Of course, that's my philosophy regarding every kick.

 

Okinawan styles tend to make this a sort of toe kick and aim for the sensitive soft tissue on the inner sides of the legs. It is very effective in disrupting either the opponent's breathing, balance or both, which I consider one of the essential steps in winning.

 

As mentioned above, it is obviously a close-quarters kick, as full extension of this would be dangerous to you. Other than that, I don't see how it would otherwise be "difficult" to execute.

 

As an interesting sidenote, there was never a "mawashigeri" (as opposed to a uramawashigeri) in traditional karate. It is more of a recent innovation popularized in sport karate. I'm of the opinion it is because it compromises too much of your balance, mobility and speed if you want to execute a mawashigeri of any significance. It's the same reason why kicks of any type are low in traditional karate.

 

Traditional karate as you have mentioned had no mawashi geri and it is fairly new and I agree that low kicks are more practical in real fight situation and karate as a martial art is really designed for this purpose .

 

how ever a low ura mawashi geri is not that effective because of its mechanism ,it is more effective when used against the side of the head for the shock it produces .I find for low kicking to the knee and tigh area ,mawashi geri and kekomi much more powerful and effective .One must master mawashigeri first before he can appreciate ura and then ushiro mawashigeri ! I used this kick with success in my nidan grading against the opponent that I felt confident with and scoerd IPPON !

[Shorin Ryuu]

Actually, it depends on how you are kicking. The kick I am describing is a snapping kick and used against vulnerable and sensitive targets along the inner leg. Note that the mindset is entirely different than sparring or tournament fighting. It isn't meant to hit the opponent and push them back 20 feet. This kind of kick served two main purposes. The first was to imbalance (with the added bonus of distracting) the opponent in order to position the opponent to end the fight (meaning a takedown or other hold that could very well be fatal). The second was that it was a very serious attack in and of itself, as the nerve clusters and soft tissue are vulnerable to that kind of attack. In those days, a blood clot could easily kill, and a blood clot can be formed through a snapping toe kick to that area. Those with precision could incorporate more advanced pressure point techniques into this, but it isn't exactly necessary either. To be more exact, the kick I'm describing is little more than a front snap kick. It's simply more angled in the setup.

 

Saying the "ura mawashigeri" is not that effective shows a lack of understanding (no offense) about this kind of kick.

 

To ask you all a question, doesn't the you are all describing sound more like a sort of snapping hook kick or something? In which case, it is pretty effective when kicked low as well.