Lead leg fighting

[karatekid1975]

I do fight southpaw most of the time (also right handed) ... I'm trying to work on both sides now. And I use a fair amount of lead leg kicks.

[Sam]

I think lead leg kicks mainly have their place for an almost defensive movement, or just sparring....

They can be applied realistically, but with practice there wont be a huge difference in speed off the back leg... but the disadvantage [as some have said i think] is that you turn your body full face during a back leg kick.

The vote should really have a "i use back and front"...

[Goju_boi]

I like the lead leg for several reasons:less able to be detected,faster speed,multiple kicks in the same leg(example:do a front kick and at the same time go and do a roundhouse). The only reason that I don't like it is the lack of power compared to my rear leg.

[ysc87]

i use the lead leg a lot more now, but that's because i learned how to do it faster without having to shift my bodyweight beforehand (stances). i used to use a back/cat stance in tkd, now i use the bai-jong stance in everything, so that keeps me fairly neutral in balence.

for a roundhouse or sidekick, you can shuffle your feet, and with your weight on your backleg in that instant, kick at the same time. faster, more powerful, non-telegraphic if you do it right, and has a better reach, because you just moved forward a foot or two in the process.

[Goju_boi]

now you are learning grasshopper

[TSDforChrist]

I love my lead led kicks, personally. I fight from a cat stance (not a back stance, though many schools call this the same thing) that's not quite square. I actually get as much power from my lead leg as I do my back leg, because of the speed involved. My right leg is dominant, and I favor fighting southpaw, unless facing someone who fights southpaw in which case I will switch. I also have a tendancy to do thrusting kicks, turining the hips over, from the lead leg, and not just snap kicks off the lead leg. Cross-stepping, or shuffle-stepping for lead leg kicks gives me more power than my back leg, beleive it or not.

In Christ,

Master Phil Stewart

4th Dan Tang Soo Do

[ShotokanKid]

For me, it depends on who I'm sparring. Since I work with young karate people (7-11 or so) I work from a cat stance. Good for jamming their kicks, and good for nailing them with a front leg shot. If I'm sparring an adult or a teen who knows what they're doing (I wouldn't do this for a purple belt teen) I work from the regular kamae stance and occasionally fire of a front leg kick.

[Rateh]

I find the best lead leg kicks are:

Lead Hook Kick

Lead Side Kick (thrusting and snapping)

Lead Pushing Kick

Lead Crocodile Kick

Lead Rising Ax Kick

OK, so what's a "Crocodile Kick" ?

It is a kicking technique in which the kicking leg is thrown 45 degrees upwards above the opponents head, then sharply thrown downward. The downward motion is facilitated by pivoting 180 degrees on the supporting foot. This kick can be seen to be utilised by Kyokushin practitioners, and Muay Thai stylists. Some Taekwondo students throw a kick like this, but to my knowledge, it is taught as a tactic rather then a coined technique. I have seen this kick performed numerous times, but first saw the name for this kick written in a book called Advanced Kickboxing written by Pat O' Keefe. I still wonder if this is the same person who started this site.

sounds like waht we call a "drop down roundhouse kick"

looks like a roundhouse kick to the head

then at the last moment ur leg so its going straight down, still striking with the same part of ur foot

am i correct that these are the same kicks?

i have never heard of another style/school doing these, though im not exactly an expert on what other styles and schools do

we dont do them much at all, but we do know them

[Goju_boi]

well in the k-1 game for ps2 all karateka and kickboxers do this kick.

[Ryokeen]

8/10 of my kicks are with my "lead leg". It's my fastest leg and I can sneek in many points with it. I use this for point sparring ro to check my opponent. In a real fight situation it may not prove useful to me until I develope mroe leg muscle. But yes I use it for most things I do... and that doesn't mean my hind leg can throw a fast strong kick, it is just much quicker with thef ront leg as it is so much closer to your target and there is little warning of the kick.