Side Kick Question

[Tae Kwon DOH]

When performing the side kick, should the foot of supporting leg always point away from the direction of the kick? My instructor said that the foot of supporting leg should be perpendicular to the direction of the kick. When kicking like this, I experience pain in my hip joint. However, if I point it opposite of the direction of the kick, I'm perfectly fine.

My questions is: which form of the side kick is correct w/regards to foot placement? I will talk to my instructor about this.

Thanks!

[tallgeese]

Milage will probibly vary but the version I've always been taught is the support let rotates to point the heel in the direction of the kick. This allows the hips to come into a posture that allows for maximal thrust behind the kick.

[ninjanurse]

I agree will tallgeese however, it does depend on the actual purpose of the kick. A "thrust" requires more hip rotation than a "snap" and the application will determine the delivery. In my experience, korean arts do not usually teach a "snap kick" but I could be incorrect.

[bushido_man96]

I think you are right, DWx...not many side snap kicks in TKD. If you only kick waist high or lower, then you don't really need to pivot as much. However, the higher you kick, the more you need to pivot the base leg foot to open the hips more. If you don't pivot the base foot heel around, then you will find yourself leaning your body in the direction the base foot is pointing. At this point, your body is not behind your kick, and you will lose stability and impact resiliance.

Pivot your foot around all the way; I think you will find that it works better for you.

[DWx]

I think you are right, DWx...

Think you meant ninjanurse

Just to add my two cents anyway.. I also agree that its probably better in many cases to fully rotate the foot so the foot is pointing away. It will open up the hips fully and for things like pushing kicks it helps you to drive the leg through. Although, like Bushido_man96 said, if the kick is lower than the hip it probably isn't that necessary to get the full rotation.

[tallgeese]

Certainly not to actually put the foot on the target at lower levels. But I still think that any actual power to cause damage will be negligable without pivioting the foot, even when striking a lower target.

[tenshinka]

When performing the side kick, should the foot of supporting leg always point away from the direction of the kick? My instructor said that the foot of supporting leg should be perpendicular to the direction of the kick. When kicking like this, I experience pain in my hip joint. However, if I point it opposite of the direction of the kick, I'm perfectly fine.

My questions is: which form of the side kick is correct w/regards to foot placement? I will talk to my instructor about this.

Thanks!

Rotating the foot serves a couple of purposes, foremost it is a needed action to properly align the hip for impact into the target. The proper rotation of the foot (as I originally learned it) is about 45 degrees, pivoting on the ball of the foot, the toes point away from the direction of the hip.

Be careful not to hurt yourself though...develop gradually!

Best Wishes!

--josh

[bushido_man96]

I think you are right, DWx...

Think you meant ninjanurse

Just to add my two cents anyway.. I also agree that its probably better in many cases to fully rotate the foot so the foot is pointing away. It will open up the hips fully and for things like pushing kicks it helps you to drive the leg through. Although, like Bushido_man96 said, if the kick is lower than the hip it probably isn't that necessary to get the full rotation.

Oops, my bad!

But, yeah, I agree here.

[boyo1991]

well, ive always been taught to point in opposite direction for that exact reason, but ive also realized that pointing the foot in opp direction gives more balance and stability *nods*

[joesteph]

When performing the side kick, should the foot of supporting leg always point away from the direction of the kick? My instructor said that the foot of supporting leg should be perpendicular to the direction of the kick. When kicking like this, I experience pain in my hip joint. However, if I point it opposite of the direction of the kick, I'm perfectly fine.

Whether it's a side kick or roundhouse, there's a lot of torque on that supporting leg. For me, it's in the knee. Turning the foot so that the heel of the supporting foot is in the direction of the kick is easier on my knees. The feeling in the hip that you're getting is probably because you want to kick to a good height, which goes right to the root of the supporting leg, and that's foot placement. Turning the foot gives me height without feeling it in my hip; if I don't turn the foot and keep practicing side kicks, the knee feels it, as I said above, but I also don't get height, which I believe is due to the hip being "locked" instead of allowed to turn more with the body. The hip joint is a ball-and-socket that has so much flexibility for the leg's side extension and no more.

Perpendicular sounds like someone working on a stretching exercise for the leg at the hip insertion, and would be done slowly, without true kicking force, perhaps even leaning against something for support.