punching vs kicking

[Himeji]

Kicks are excellent for anything below the waist: groin, foot and especially the knee. A good round kick could easily cork someones thigh. Unfortunately, not every one is fast enough to whip out a kick unnoticed (including me). The actual shock when kicked in the head is great, not only because of the physical aspects of power speed. But the mental deflation of confidence when you know that someone could lift there leg and kick you and have absolute control, it is a humbling experience.

 

Hands are excellent. However they do allow people to move in on gaps left open by the punch.

 

There must be a reason why styles were founded with kicks. Or we would all be doing only hand drills in class. its a 60/40 thing in hands way.

[delta1]

They compliment each other, so why limmit yourself to one choice? For that matter, why limmit your hand strikes to just punches, or your natural weapons to just hands and/or feet?

 

I'm not a high kicker, though I can reach the average head if I want. High kicks are generally too risky. But I work out regularly with some kickers and have taken the occasional boot to the head, so I don't completely discount high kicks either.

 

I guess I'd say train what interests you, and train it well. But don't restrict yourself. You really don't know what tools you'll need with the next opponent. Besides, it's fun to shock someone who thinks they know how you fight, just to see the look on their face if nothing else!

[TKDMASTER]

I agree, I think a good 50/50 si the way to go. Dont limit yourself to on capability. I work on my kicsk as much as my punches.

[Wing Chun]

i dunno,

 

the thing is if your doing it for practical self defense i really reckon 60:40 to punches is the best. u are most likely going to punch in a real fight and i would rather be better of knowing punches than kicks, you can slowly bring up your kicking knowledge and you wouldnt be in too much danger if u got into trouble but not knowing how to use your hands could prove to be a problem.

 

high kicks yeah you cant discount them, they can do the job but then so can theadbutting the guy in his groin, in theory, but really theese comments are so stupid, they canw ork but they are not gonan ahppen, its is so impractical to do that in the middle of a big ruckus. the only high kick i see as having a value which may be likely to come to use is a nailing staright kick or super kick or wotever u wanna call it. like a straight punch going straight to the guys face thta could be useful. kicking itself as in ow kicking is very usefula nd should be trained.

[Martial_Artist]

High kicks not gonna happen? Hey WingChun, tell that to the three guys I knocked out outside a parking lot of a billards hall with three high kicks. Head, neck, and solar plexus(the last guy wasn't really knocked out, but he was screaming like a girl while writhing on the ground, so he was out of the fight.) Or tell that to the guy who jumped me behind a 7/11 with a stick and the roundhouse to the side of his face that ended that fight. Or tell it to the wierdo who tried to attack me with a pair of nunchaku as part of his gang-initiation who fell from a high roundhouse to his solar-plexus.

 

I could go on, but these comments are really stupid, right? I mean I could use high kicks, but it's never going to happen, right? To that, my friend, all I can say is: if you want to limit yourself, that's your choice. High kicks, done properly can end confrontations quickly. As I said before, you should be able to do them as easily as you can punch, because you never know when you might want to use a tool to end a conflict and then realize you don't have that tool.

 

But, then again, what do I know of it?

 

MA.

[amp]

Some types of kicks are extremely useful, like kicking people in the knees (from behind to make them lose balance if you're nice, in front if you're a jerk and want to snap their knee backwards). In a fist fight, that loss of balance can make all the difference.

[Wing Chun]

good arguement martial artist but then again i said it could happen. but i still reckon it unlikely i bet far more people in this thread of forum have ended fights with fists though. i know what you mean about limitations tho, you should try to have the right skills to handle any type of situation, you should have ur main way of fighting but should also have other skills that enable you to survive if another sort of situation does arrive. however there still is now doubt that is is better to punch, i love kicks (high) aswell but how sure can you be with a kick compared to a punch? come on you can so easily be taken care of with high kicks, esspcially if the opponent has any sort of training whatsoever. you sacrifice balance and the risk if you get caught out are tremendous you are finished. also i doubt those 3 men in the parking lot were the most fastest and dangerous of men, they must have been slow drunk and stupid and weak and dont even try saying they were dangerous, how can the other two just standf back allowing you to kick one at a time, if they ahd anysense they would have pounced on you while you were throwing the first kick, as for the others well you were lucky and i bet you had loads of space, but still i respect that it is good to know how to kick.

[Kyle-san]

also i doubt those 3 men in the parking lot were the most fastest and dangerous of men, they must have been slow drunk and stupid and weak

Generally speaking, that's what most fights are going to consist of. Last time I was at the bar, three drunks were trying to pick a fight with anyone that'd look at them just because they were drunk and acting agressive. The minute someone took them up on their offer they backed off and left.

[omnifinite]

My instructor once had a sensei who could kick so fast he could be practically kneeling, go into a roundhouse to the face, go back to the previous position, and do the same kick again, and if you were lucky you could block/dodge the 2nd kick... maybe.

 

Flawless technique will make something useful real quick.

[Martial_Artist]

The three guys in the parking lot weren't drunk, but they sure weren't the brightest pebble in the river if you know what I mean. They were pretty much standing right next to one another walking towards me. They didn't see my kicks. They were trying to pounce me. I met them first and kept them out of close range. The whole ordeal lasted approx. less than three seconds. Three guys came at me and I kicked them all really fast. It's not that hard a thing to conceive. If I can kick as fast as you can punch then I will beat you every time because my leg is longer than your arm and a whole lot more powerful.

 

Yes, kicking can leave you vulnerable, but then again so can a missed punch. I have taken many a poor punch and used that to defeat the rhythm of my opponent and win the fight.

 

About the other times. Luck had nothing to do with it. I don't believe in luck. If something is going to happen it's either because of my training or because of the lack of my training. Those are the only forces that affect my fighting. Either I have trained enough or I haven't trained nearly enough.

 

I have had demonstration fights with guys who say the same thing, "Come on, you can be so easily taken of with high kicks..." and every single one has learned something new about high kicks.

 

Now, all of this goes back to my original statement. Not every tool will handle every situation. Sometimes a kick to the head is not the best option. There's no argument there. But sometimes a kick to the head is the best tool for a certain job and I won't be caught not having that tool in my toolbox.

 

MA.