Side Kick Question

[tonydee]

Well to both bushido and sensei all I can say is that the hips are the important part of the side kick and many other important techniques. Far more important than the base foot. I'm not sure why this is so difficult to understand except that perhaps it's been focused on incorrectly by martial artists for so long. The hips are important. The base foot only ends up at 180 degrees because that's where it needs to be to get the hips in the proper position. Otherwise it's completely irrelevant. As I have said before body physiologies differ and this is what can affect the final position of the base foot. At no point however should the final position of the foot be used as a judge on whether a proper side kick has been effected. Figure out where your hips need to be and then turn your base leg the appropriate amount to get them there. It's as simple as that. It doesn't matter which version of a side kick you do. Try it. It works.

I like your general point. I think it's more relevant for stances though... I'm tired of hearing of "shoulder width" walking stances and "90 degree" back/L-stance as if those measures were absolutes of excellence from black belts and instructors. They should understand the stances' parameters are driven by the ability of the legs to move and support the body optimally....

For side kicks, generally the position of the supporting foot necessary for good hip movement is close to optimal - the stronger the hip movement the more it necessitates certain foot positioning, particularly for what I described earlier in the thread as a thrusting variant. Still, I've seen some people flexible enough to move their hips through the correct angles without rotating their supporting foot far enough, and it can leave the base leg vulnerable to counterattack, as well as making the body unstable and frustrating post-kick recovery or follow-up.

For many other people, a cyclic situation occurs: the rule-of-thumb guidelines help get them in the right ballpark to start experiencing the correct hip movement, so the insights necessary to further tune the overall movement - and the foot positioning as part of that - arise in turn.

Cheers,

Tony

[AyaShindou]

Depending on what direction your supporting foot is in determines what leg muscles you are working...Both ways are worth learning. I think there shouldn't be a kick a martial artist can't perform. Meaning, a good martial artist should have absolute leg control and flexibility. I personally like throwing out a side kick with my supporting foot facing the opposite direction. It just allows you to throw out a much faster and stronger kick.

[tonydee]

Discussion's probably long forgotten, but for whatever it's worth I've finally got around to uploading

....

Cheers,

Tony

[joesteph]

Frankly, Tony, the way he demonstrates the side thrust kick is an aid for me for the back kick. I think that there's a correlation between executing the two.

[tonydee]

Frankly, Tony, the way he demonstrates the side thrust kick is an aid for me for the back kick. I think that there's a correlation between executing the two.

Yes - as it says on the video, the two use the same direction of hip movement. Learning back kick first is probably the best way to learn that type of thrusting side kick - train the muscles until they're very familiar with it and then it's easier to reconnect to the motion using other footwork or when starting the kick from the opposite side of the body from which it needs to rotate in....

Cheers,

Tony

[bladevampirek]

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!

I Kick like this..

with my standing leg pointing toward the oppisote direction of my opponent but if it hurts you doing it any way i would not recomand it , you could be experiencing pain because your not flexible enough you can view my stretches here.. http://bladevampirek.110mb.com/kb/mmain.html

i hoped i was of some assistance.

[tonydee]

I Kick like this..

...

i hoped i was of some assistance.

Can you explain the application? What point on the opponent are you targetting? Hard to imagine how the final position could be of use for anything except the chin, and the way the leg lifts precludes being close enough to attack the chin as the leg would get caught on the opponent during the lift....

Cheers,

Tony

[Marcson]

Hey there guys! My name is Marcson. I just want to ask a question. How many times should I Stretch my Side kick A Day?

[bushido_man96]

If you get warm, stretch every day. I think that if you don't have that time, then stretching every other day should show results, as well.