Ben Posted August 27, 2003 Share Posted August 27, 2003 we have a blackbelt in our class at TKD, that does blindingly fast kicks to the upper body. so fast infact, that if you've seen it, the only thing you can do is just cover up and hope. infact, its more of a trust in his ability to hit the chest pad! i think he could get away with it because he just doesnt look the type that can kick to head height easily. i think mid-section and low kicks would be awesome in a fight. and as for the high kicks?... depends. i do WTF (wishes for a local ITF dojang for his bday ) and i like the fact my instructor tells us "if you're in a street fight, use low and mid-section kicks and try and run" instead of babble about him winning this medal, and that medal summary: IMO, its a *real fight* they are trying to hurt you, they are trying to take advantage, and most of all they just dont care. they are willing to go to any level to steal from you, or just hurt you. anything goes. low kicks and midsection kicks, mainly nice swift side kicks. [chances for a ball shot should always be looked for]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasori_Te Posted August 27, 2003 Author Share Posted August 27, 2003 Ben, IMO if you kick to the mid section your leg will be at least parallel to the ground. This effectively reduces your balance and control by half, the half of your normal balance point that is now parallel to the ground. The higher the kick the more committed the kick and the longer it will take you to retrieve. I personally don't kick at all unless I'm relatively sure that I can get away with it. And then it's a low kick. That of course is again just my opinion. A block is a strike is a lock is a throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dragon Posted August 28, 2003 Share Posted August 28, 2003 For all those against high kicks I say this.... Practice on your speed and flexibility because they are a USEFUL and devastating weapon. Common sense will tell you not to throw a succession of high kicks. You might catch him with his hands down outside of punching range, then what do you do?.... When the opportunity presents itself you have to be ready to capitalize on it and not limit yourself in any way. Okay whats the worst that can happen? 1. He catches your leg -if your kicks are that slow you shouldn't be kicking anyway 2. You're off balance -I've seen people with better balance on one leg than some have on two 3. He can sweep your leg and/or take you down -that can happen at anytime. Think about a football team that never throws down the field . The defense has one less threat to worry about so they stack the line, so the offense has trouble running the ball. Punches set up kicks and vice versa and if you dont kick, then all your doing is limiting your ability. So recognize or be hospitalized Cuz literally on a scale from one to ten I'm 25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasori_Te Posted August 28, 2003 Author Share Posted August 28, 2003 Since we're talking about an actual fight instead of sparring, the worst that can happen is you get yourself seriously injured or killed. In a street fight nobody cares how fast you are or how flexible you are. All it takes is one mistake. Granted, you could still make that one mistake with both feet on the ground. But, if you think your that flexible and that fast and can do what you want to your opponent, you're already making a critical error by underestimating him. You will hardly ever know what the person facing you is capable of until it's too late. So to counter that you must know what you're capable of and what you know best. If that happens to be high kicks then good luck. A block is a strike is a lock is a throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Practise is the Key Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Did you know it is very rare to see a kungfu person to do a kick over waist level in kung-fu very rare to kick over waist level hahahah I am still training however, having dabbled in Shotokan and Shotokai Karate. I am please to report that Kenshukai is one of the strongest and most disciplined styles ( i did not write this) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 Ben, IMO if you kick to the mid section your leg will be at least parallel to the ground. This effectively reduces your balance and control by half, the half of your normal balance point that is now parallel to the ground. The higher the kick the more committed the kick and the longer it will take you to retrieve. I personally don't kick at all unless I'm relatively sure that I can get away with it. And then it's a low kick. That of course is again just my opinion. ermm....summary: IMO, its a *real fight* they are trying to hurt you, they are trying to take advantage, and most of all they just dont care. they are willing to go to any level to steal from you, or just hurt you. anything goes. low kicks and midsection kicks, mainly nice swift side kicks. [chances for a ball shot should always be looked for]. if you did TKD, your kicks should be good enough for a kick to the midsection. if they are not... either practise harder, or look for something else my trainer is, i found out today, 4th dan... i know for a fact if anyone saw it and tried to block it - he'd almost certainly break something in their hand and *still* connect with the kick. i understand we are all not that good, but anyone doing TKD should be able to kick to the midsection with some accuracy and power. afterall... i was talking only about TKD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 29, 2003 Share Posted August 29, 2003 (edited) The kick is just another weapon in your arsenal. It is unreasonable to place a hard and fast rule that forbids kicks above the waist. The number of situations that using a high kick is more practical than a punch are few, however there is no reason not to capitalize on the highER kick when the opportunity presents itself. I find that oftentimes, DURING KUMITE i can sneak a kick to the side of the head when my opponent is distracted by my hands. Edited August 31, 2003 by Anonymous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasori_Te Posted August 30, 2003 Author Share Posted August 30, 2003 I never said you couldn't high kick in self defense. I said I would never high kick in self defense unless a sure fire opportunity presented itself and I've never seen one of those. I'm a firm believer in practicing high kicks. They promote several good qualities. I've used low kicks in actual situations before and they worked for me. I even used a midsection kick once and it worked for that situation. Of course that someone was running at me blindly trying to hit me with a bottle. My point initially was that high kicks are more dangerous for the person doing them than low or no kicks. A block is a strike is a lock is a throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 ack! sorry, misread a bit of it - was half asleep when i posted that! and yes, i agree high kicks are only worth it as a finishing style move when you're 99.9% likely to connect. the other 0.01% just makes you look a fool for missing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martial_Artist Posted August 30, 2003 Share Posted August 30, 2003 To original topic question: Yes they should. "I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.Imagination is more important than knowledge.Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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