The term "Roundhouse"...

[ramymensa]

Well, I've learnt it from you people. When I started posting in KF I found about the roundhouse kick .. it made me laugh at first, but I got used to it eventually

[Superfoot]

Thats interesting. I never knew the term "Roundhouse" was used in boxing. Is it in reference to a punch, or footwork pattern, etc?

The term "Roundhouse" when I have encountered it has been used to refer to the following kicks:

Spinning Wheel Kick

 

Spinning Hook Kick/Reverse Turning Kick varying in diff. TKD dojangs

In fact, when I first started martial arts, I thought the Roundhouse was those above kicks. Only after I really settled into training did I find out that this term is also used to refer to the kicks below:

Turning Kick

 

Round Kick

In Taekwondo, there are 3 kicks that all really come under the Roundhouse/Round name, but have varied so much, they are referred to in separate terms:

The Round Kick: A kick similar to the Shotokan "Mawashi-Geri" but uses a large swinging of the hip. The striking surface is the ball of the foot for breaking purposes, and the instep for competition. However, the opening of the hips to deliver the kick gave it a very telegraphed nature making it inappropriate for competition. This led to the birth of...

The Turning Kick: A kick similar to the TKD Round Kick, but the kick is launched at a 45 degree angle. The knee is chambered early, and the hips remain relatively closed.

The Down Round Kick: I do not know the lineage of this kick, but if you go to https://www.turtlepress.com and buy the Revolution of Kicking series, you will see this kick. Similar to the Brazilian Kick, there is no Front Kick-Downward Kick-transition. In the Down Round Kick, the leg is swung up at 45 degrees and then brought down (not sharply) at the same angle onto the opponents head with follow through. This is perhaps one of the kicks in TKD that requires a complete follow through motion before moving back into fighting stance. The others include:

Spinning Back Kick/Back Kick

Spinning Hook Kick

Side Thrust Kick

Slamming Kick

Crescent Kicks

Thrusting/Push Kick

Axe Kick

Crescent Kick.

[Shorin Ryuu]

From most teachers of old school karate that I have met, the "roundhouse" or "round" kick that we all think of is a relatively new innovation in karate. It was introduced largely for sport and performance purposes.

I'm obviously not saying no one has ever used it before recent times, just that most karate practitioners didn't use it.

[elbows_and_knees]

the roundhouse punch in boxing is the proper name for a haymaker. It's an actual technique, whereas the term hayamer is generally associated with a sloppy "street fighting" punch.

[shogeri]

Traditionally, when we think of roundhouse, outside of the martial arts, we imagine, either; a wide hook to the head in boxing; a wide curving pitch in baseball; or a circular building with a center turntable used for storing and repairing locomotives.

Mawashigeri is the term we used when referring to the kick in Okinawan Goju Ryu, and Shotokan.

Mawashi, of course, implying 'circular'...

In Japanese, which is not the same as Okinawan, the word circular comes in the following flavor:

maroyaka, marui, marukkoi, kaihou

However, the term mawashi has also come to imply 'sumo loincloth'...

Now we when say mawasu/mawaru, we are saying "to turn, or to revolve"

mawari means rotation

That's what I know for now...

Later!

[Flying_Tiger]

I do not know where the 'house' part of that name came from, but I can see how the 'round' bit came about. Instead of a straight front kick, you have this thing that comes AROUND from the side. I dunno. I'm tired...

[CTTKDKing]

I was told by one of the black belts in my school that he trained under a different Master previously. He asked this man why it was called a roundhouse kick and he said they called it that to explain the action, or movement of the kick. Think of your body as a house being attacked. You cradel your back leg early on then bring it around the house to defend the door in the front and snap strike to attack. Roundhouse.