The crescent kick

[Mistassailant5]

I find crescent kicks to be very effective, but it is a hard kick to use because of its basic low power and accuracy, but the way I use it is to do a 360 degree spin and then a jump and launch the kick and I once got a KO from the kick. Try it the way I explained and you may like it more

[Jay]

I like the outside in cresent kick much like a thai kick but with your foot up it has a lot of power. Inside out im not too keen on, you lose balance very easily I find.

[panamaican]

I've wondered about the kick too. Sometimes, I think it's in the kata to train the general body movement more than a specific attack. In clinch range, I find that the crescent kick movement (but significantly lower than the head) shows up when I'm defending sweeps or when I'm trying to position my legs for a sweep/throw of my own.

[wolverine uskf]

I use outside-in as a lead in for a side kick with the same leg, or to knock a weapon out of line with my body. The inside-out i use as a lead in for a round kick with the other leg. I would say as for using it on it's own for an attack, you would have to be either very good at it, or in a Van Damme movie where looking cool makes people fall down, but thats just a power kicking guys opinion. (I do believe all techniques are useful to someone, and the basics we learn have been around longer than any of us. So learn them all, and choose the ones that work for you in practical application.)

[kamahlthedruid]

My dad (itf black belt) said that the crescent kick is good in close quarter combat. I've seen Mirco Cro Cop succesfully deliver a crescent kick to Andy Hug's face.

[Lee M]

Spin crescent kick is better although not going to have a great % of scoring/striking with it.

I personally just use crescent kicks for dynamic type stretching as other kicks are much more effectice.

Round kick, side kick.

[bushido_man96]

You can try to throw the crescent kick a bit lower, into the body, legs, or knees, for a different effect, and it doesn't require as much turning of the body as a round kick or side kick do.

[SamsIAmz]

As far as the outside to inside crescent kick that is in many karate kata, I regard it as only practice when you kick high. As with any kick it is good to get used to kicking high so you have the flexibility, technique, strength/power. However I find the cresent kick very effective in self-defense type applications for taking out the knees.

In the kata you tend to extend an arm, then kick your own hand. I find this is helpful to develop the ability to kick while having an arm extended as this prepares you in the case of a self-defense situation where your hands are already tied up and can't use them for added momentum.

I also feel that in many of the kata, the crescent kick can be substituted for roundhouse kicks or front kicks as it is somewhat an in between kick.

[Kuma]

An interesting variation for a low crescent kick is demonstrated in the second technique of this website:

http://www.superkarate.ru/metod/m_mc/kashiwagi/gedan_geri.htm

It's essentially a heel kick to the outer thigh, which is pretty effective.

[danbong]

that's interesting. My Shotokan club is the exact opposite. I think it is used once in all the katas (8 in total) before Shodan. It is used once in Heian Godan.

I can only remember one class (in just over two years) where we spent any sort of time on it. Definitely seems more of an advanced move.

At the shotokan school I trained at it definitely was not a technique that drilled on. On the other hand, it did appear in more than just heian godan for we pre-shodan katas. The crescent kick is in bassai dai which is usually a brown belt kata. It is also in hangetsu which is studied at the brown belt level in the association we belonged to, but I don't think other associations make it compulsory for shodan grading.