how do you feel about round kicks?

[ShoriKid]

I like them. A lot. I can land them to the head, setting them up with a hand combination to help cover the telegraph they have. My two favorite ways to apply it when sparring, and I'd just as soon use them in a real mix, would be to the inside of the leg and the liver. Both with the ball of the foot. Penetration gives a lot of damage, gets past the guard of most and if you "miss" with the ball of the foot, the shin lands anyway.

One of these days, I'll get the conditioning up to land with the toe safely. I have to think too much to make it safe right now.

[bushido_man96]

I would utilize low line round kicks, to the upper legs especially, and to the knees, for self-defense for sure. Most of the time, if you are in a pretty decent athletic stance, a low round kick is pretty easy to throw.

[bushido_man96]

Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, during his PKA days, executed some of the most difficult kicks, especially the roundhouse and hook kick, with ease as well as them being extremely fast, 60 mph, to the head level.

I had the privilege of attending one of his seminars in Texas. It was amazing.

Now that would be a fun time! Learn a lot?

The thing about side kicks is that they are easily telegraphed because there is a little more set up in them than there is in a round house kicks.

I agree, and this is why I don't throw a lot of them in sparring. My instructor was a big front leg side kicker when he competed, and is big on them in sparring, too. I'm short, stocky, with wide hips and stumpy legs, so a side kick setup is really tough, unless I'm standing side-on, which I don't. So, I'm more of a round kicker and front kicker. I like to punch, as well.

[Zaine]

Now that would be a fun time! Learn a lot?

Tons! He is not only a great martial artist, but he really grabs your attention. A great guy!

I like to punch, as well.

I tend to gravitate towards keeping a fight too close for kicks. I love hand techniques. Yes, a kicks is the most powerful strike you can physically do, but hand techniques really do it for me. There are so many and they're just so cool!

[Dobbersky]

The round kick is a staple kick. Because it does take a little time it usually has to be dressed up in a sparring match to land but in a self defense situation you would probably get a long way with just the round kick.

I got hit in the head Tuesday night with one by someone who wasn't trying to knock me out and it was no fun (the stars were pretty though.) So, yeah, fire away: legs, ribs, head. What ever you can do. What ever is open.

My Best friend was doing a Demo with a guy from another club and got his Cheekbone broken from a round kick to the head. (my only issue was my friend was told to take it easy because the other guy was "injured" I bet you can guess what we both thought of that!!! We're not doing any more "InterClubs" with them anyways

[myataschool]

I think the choice of kick depends on the situation. While I do agree that there are some advantages to focusing kicks to the lower part of your opponent's body in a street fight, I think a round kick to an untrained opponent's face/head would be unexpected and effective. It all boils down to what you're comfortable/effective with and the situation.

[Zaine]

I think a round kick to an untrained opponent's face/head would be unexpected/.

I don't know about this. Head kicks are pretty popular in movies and that is what a "street fighter" is going to be thinking about. They might expect a head kick more than anything else because they are familiar with TKD as a popular system of martial arts as opposed to some other system that has little to no kicks to the head.

[myataschool]

I'd certainly be more apt to stick with basic techniques that I know would be effective, but if I saw an opportunity to deliver a headshot, I'd definitely take it

[Kuma]

Roundhouse kicks are some of my favorites, especially low kicks.

[bushido_man96]

I think a round kick to an untrained opponent's face/head would be unexpected/.

I don't know about this. Head kicks are pretty popular in movies and that is what a "street fighter" is going to be thinking about. They might expect a head kick more than anything else because they are familiar with TKD as a popular system of martial arts as opposed to some other system that has little to no kicks to the head.

I see your point here. I also have heard a lot the arguement that the kick could be caught, and then the kicker would be in a world of trouble. And this would be true. However, how many people that you might go up against, in a "self-defense scenario," will have trained to catch kicks like that? And it is said that "you don't rise to the occassion, you sink to the level of your training."

Another example I would bring up is how often do you see kicks caught in MMA matches, performed by experience MAists with lots of training and practice against kickers and kicking. Not many, that I've seen, yet.

So, I'll admit that it could happen, and I wouldn't want it to happen to me, so I don't think about kicking high in self-defense. But I don't think the "catch the kick" arguement holds a lot of water, either.