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Home   >   Self Defense   >   Tools & Tactics   >   Is Martial Art Kicking Worth the Trouble?

Is Martial Art Kicking Worth the Trouble?

By on October 1, 2011
self defense kicking

In this post I thought I would switch it up a bit on you and talk a bit about the physical side of combat. I hope you don’t mind. I am big into the Psychology of Self Defense as you can tell. So I thought I would do one that wasn’t mental.

 

I would like to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of kicking in the street.

 

It does not matter what art you do, whether it be Karate, Kung fu, Aikido, Thai Boxing, or MMA. Chances are you have practiced kicking before.

 

Most people who train in the martial arts and self defense systems like training kicks. In fact, some martial arts have hundreds of kicks. While some self defense systems only have 1 or 2.

 

So what are the advantages and disadvantageous of kicking?

 

Here are some advantages (in no particular order):

1. Some Kicks are extremely powerful. Enough so to knock a man out.
2. They can catch a person of guard. Sometimes they will never see it coming.
3. They can distort someones base and take them to the ground
4. There are many different areas of the foot & leg to hit with.
5. Did I mention that they are Powerful? :)
6. The legs are much longer than your arms
7. Can be used in Long range, medium range, and even close range
8. Low-line kicks can be devastating
9. If one fails, another can be sent out quickly.
10. They Just Look Cool!

 

This is not in the slightest a complete list. Just a few for you to think about.

 

Now what are some of the disadvantages to kicking?

1. The second you lift one foot off the ground, you are off-balance
2. Kicks above the waist are to easily stopped and can be grabbed easily as well.
3. In a real fight, you just don’t have the time or the space to kick
4. Your support leg could be kicked out from under you.
5. Takes much more energy to kick than palm strike or punch.

 

etc. etc.

 

I could go on, but I think I will leave it alone from here and see what you all think. Do you like kicking? What are your favorite kicks and how do you train them?

 

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STAY PRIMAL, my friends

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About Coach Karma

Coach Karma L Senge has been in Personal Protection / Self Defense as well as the Fitness & Nutrition world for over 31 years now and continually teaches around the world. He has held seminars for many government agencies around the world as well as seminars for civilians. He currently teaches seminars in the United States, Europe, India, and throughout Central America. As well has oversees many training groups around the world.
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Aidan metayer
Aidan metayer

I don't street fight. Any self respecting practitioner of karate doesn't. But let me make something clear. Any martial artist worth anything will tell you fancy kicks are impractical. I only use simple front, side, and roundhouse kicks. I have been in more than enough padless sparring matches to know which techniques a usefull. And although these arent the same as a supposed "street fight", they are a good way to judge a technique. A swift front kick to the Tonden (area just above the pelvis) folds the opponent in half and generates distance. I will stress again though. I can only kick effectively because I have been trained a lot with kicks. If you havn't been, kicking is useless. Do you have any background in martial arts Kevin? If so, what kind? I'd be interested to know.

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