im new to martial arts and this forum, and i noticed that lots of people are bashing kicking and saying its useless in a fight. doesnt kicking do more damage and have longer range than punches? so why do they suck?

Naturally kicking is more powerful because the muscles in your leg are stronger and bigger. And you should have longer range because naturally your legs are longer than your arms. I think what people here were bashing is kicks targeting the head because it's a hard area to hit and easily countered(from what I've read).

kicks are far from useless but i think Hands are a little more important.

 

I persoanlly belive the kick/punch ratio of many stlyes is a little too high and they foucus too much on high kick.

 

kicking does leave you open for takedowns and limits your mobility

I think it is easier to block a kick in thins such as sparring and it is harder to be good with kicks.

IMHO, kicking is a valuable weapon, as long as you keep realistic targets. Targeting the head is dangerous to the kicker. Punching skills are more important, simply because the kicks are really only good from mid to long range...once you're close, you'd better be good with your hands.

Kicking is a secondary skill, punching is a primary skill is one way of looking at it.

 

Punching works without kicks. Kicking without punches on the otherhand...

 

Anything that puts you on one leg is dangerous. You are off balance and can't sprawl effectively. The range of kicking (on its own) is also hard to maintain unless you are fighting someone who is also trying to kick you.

Kicks are always more risky especially kicks higher than the waist. Taijutsu stomp kicks are very effective, and very powerful. This kicks are mostly used to create distance between you and the attacker. These kicks are mostly used when you are in your opponents blind spot, and if you target the hip and direct the kick downwards and follow it through, you'll put them on their bum. I think kicks in general are very effective and should be used when your opponent can't see where they're coming from or else it could risky.

Bruce Lee said something like this...

 

"I would no more kick someone in the head than I would punch them in the foot"

 

Just something to consider.

Yeah if I was Bruce Lee I would say that too, but I not. I'm much bigger, heavier, and not quite as flexable. You should have to be an acrobat to fight, not everyone is fit for that. There other kicks like the one I mentioned that almost anyone can do effectively. I've seen that kick used in UFC and it recked the other guy, why more people don't use this kick is beyond me. It doesn't look fancy that could be why, you don't see it on TV, that could be why, but it works beleive me it works. I look forward to someone trying to kick me with a high kick, they've just given me a beautiful gift.

Treebranch,

 

I think you missed Bruce Lee's point - he agrees with you. He would NOT kick to the head.