"Need to Know" (5 Kicks)

[Kuma]

No knee strikes? And I'm assuming by "Thai kick" he means the low kick to the thigh?

My personal five would be mae geri (front kick), mawashi geri (round kick), hiza geri (knee strike), yoko geri (side kick), and sune geri (scoop kick).

[JusticeZero]

Mine are going to be weird, i'm sure...

Heel stomp kick.. this contains a knee strike as the chamber, so..

Spinning roundhouse kick from the ground (posting on hands and lead foot)

Foot sweep

Heel kick from cartwheel - weapon recovery and breakfall applications

360 spin kick - because it hits an area that's usually in a bit of a shadow of stance

[Fish_headz]

I am quite amaze that there are no side kick to the knee. I also think that a front leg side kick is also quite effective, though one needs to have a mastery of it. That can produce a enourmous amount of power just standing and can be thown and return quite fast. If you have space and put slight step behind in it, it becomes almost deadly.

[ps1]

The March 2011 issue of Black Belt magazine has an article by C. Lee Long, "Need to Know: The 5 Kicks Every Martial Artist Must Master," pp. 74-75.

I've read in a different article that the front kick and the roundhouse are all that are needed, but Long identifies five:

1. Front Kick

2. Side Thrust Kick

3. Thai Kick

4. Wheel Kick (roundhouse)

5. Heel-Thrust Kick

The photos and explanations given are very good in terms of self-defense, not sparring. Training/practice for self-defense, not in sparring, which has rules, would apply here.

In my opinion, this is really only three kicks:

Roundhouse w/variations (ball of foot and shin)

Front Kick w/ variations (ball of foot and heel of foot)

Side kick

So, given my way of thinking, I add a knee strike.

Those four strikes, studied in all their variations and uses, will be enough for anyone; sport, self defense, or otherwise.