Is the roundhouse kick useless for defending?

Oh, no, I don't think so. Think about throwing it to the upper thigh (Muay Thai style) or into the knee. I don't think I would thow it head level, but definitely to the leg.

I agree with Bushido Man. When I teach roundhouse kick. I tell my students to learn the technique at knee or groin level. Then move up to head if they can. But if an attacker on the street grabbed my arms or grappled with me standing...the first thing I'd do is do a roundhouse kick to the inside of his knee. Bigger they are...the harder they fall.

I agree as well. I don't know the practicality of headhunting in self defense, but as a technique, it's quite useful.

If you can hit someone hard with it, it's useful. If you can't, it isn't.

If you can hit someone hard with it, it's useful. If you can't, it isn't.

^^^^ I take it you watched the latest CroCrop fight then

In general, we don't instruct students to kick higher than their own waist--but mainly to the knees, groin, and shins

If you can hit someone hard with it, it's useful. If you can't, it isn't.

^^^^ I take it you watched the latest CroCrop fight then

In general, we don't instruct students to kick higher than their own waist--but mainly to the knees, groin, and shins

I don't really like UFC but Mirko Filipovic is a good example of how kicking works if you personally can do it!

I believe anything can be useful in street defense if learned how to apply properly. I think we must remember that martial artists used to use all of the super-fancy movie-looking moves in defending themselves and they lasted like that for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years (depending on the style).

Don't underestimate any kind of technique. It can always be used. One just has to remember the words of Bruce Lee:

"Biting is a great way to defend yourself in close quarters. Bite if you have to. But do not plan on biting; that is a good way to lose your teeth."

"Be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup...Be water, my friend."

Meaning do the roundhouse kick of any kind if you have to. But be sure to adjust to what would work against your oponenet ("become the cup") and do not ever just do some kind of fancy kick because you want to. Because unless you get really lucky, it's a good way to get killed.

I believe anything can be useful in street defense if learned how to apply properly. I think we must remember that martial artists used to use all of the super-fancy movie-looking moves in defending themselves and they lasted like that for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years (depending on the style).

I am not sure to what extent even the super-fancy moves seen in movies would have worked in self-defense; even hundreds of years ago. Hundreds of years ago, techniques were accompanied by a weapon on a battlefield, and flash would really have no place. Keeping it simple is how to stay alive.

What about the legal ramifications of using kicks in a fight? Somebody told me a long time ago that punching someone is assault, but kicking them is assault with a deadly weapon. Of course, this could just be myth. Can anybody clarify this?