Heroic Wolf

How useful is a hook kick in a full-contact, minimal rules fight? My friend who is a very good tkd competitor says its actually good for little else than pushing a group of people away (btw, I've never seen him use it when sparring me). Does the hook kick have any merits when one is fighting just a single opponent? It probably hits way less hard than a muay thai roundhouse/shin kick or an axe kick, but has the ability of hitting the opponent in the head from an angle that winds around the opponent's guard. Any ideas?

eXcessiveForce

I've knocked people out with it. assuming you are talking about the same kick that our system calls a hook kick. very effective if you know how to use it.

__________________
eXcessiveFORCE.

If you must use force, make it excessive.

Heroic Wolf

My idea of hook kick is what you do when you spin around and hit them with your heel. My friend said it has nasty power due to the spinning motion, but I still find that hard to imagine (maybe I haven't been hit with it very hard yet, lol). What about axe kick? That seems like a nasty kick in general and especially with shoes on. Also, are the crescent kicks useful for anything? I've always thought that crescent kicks only have a slapping effect

eXcessiveForce

I use crescent kicks in tight usually after jab cross, as the guys hands get tied up trying to keep safe my kick smashes him in the side of the head.


Hook kicks can be done without spinning and that is generally how I use them, off the lead leg. although if the opportunity presents itself i'd throw a spin hook. But they need to be set up properly, and you need to be very good at them to attempt them in full contact environments.

__________________
eXcessiveFORCE.

If you must use force, make it excessive.

Heroic Wolf

But couldn't muay thai-style roundhouse kicks smash the side of the opponent's head better than the crescent kick can? Also, isn't the crescent kick you are describing more of an outside-inside axe kick than a pure crescent kick (that uses the sideways whipping motion and not downwards chopping motion)?

eXcessiveForce

Totally different tools. When I throw the crescent it can do a lot of damage, but it has two purposes, it will either draw out the gaurd letting me land the punch square, or it will smash them in the side of the head while they were guarding against my punches. I throw the kick nearly at the same time as the punch so the would hit at the same time with lots of forward pressure. 3 weapons engaged all at once.

A crescent can be turned into an ax at the apex of the kick, but ax kicks have some major disadvantages.


The MT kick would be more in line with a round kick which could also work but would be a completely different motion and set up.

__________________
eXcessiveFORCE.

If you must use force, make it excessive.

Tom Yum

The hook kick generates snapping power - enough power to knockout. The kick is delivered from a side-forward stance and can be used deceptively as a progressive indirect attack with other side-forward kicks. It can also be used if your strikes drive your opponent from punching to kicking range.

The hook kick can reach around a boxing style guard and still hit under the ear, the neck etc.

YouTube - Billy Blanks= KTFO

__________________

DickHardman

isnt that just a sidekick??

that was a very basic tkd combo too. sidekick set up with a backfist. the backfist to the face is used to distract in order to deliver the devastating sidekick.

__________________
"Don't taze me bro!!!"

I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black

The Grand Deception
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OneWjG74er8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7eQg0nqH5A

eXcessiveForce

nope that's a lead leg hook kick.

__________________
eXcessiveFORCE.

If you must use force, make it excessive.

DickHardman

whats the difference between the two??

__________________
"Don't taze me bro!!!"

I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black

The Grand Deception
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OneWjG74er8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7eQg0nqH5A

Tant01

Angle of attack. A side kick is a thrusting linear (straight) kick. The lead hook comes in at an angle and is a circular (hook) kick









I think...

__________________
While the old form, jujutsu, was studied solely for fighting purposes, Kano's new system is found to promote the mental as well as the physical faculties.

T. Shidachi, 1892

l0rca

Hook kicks generate snapping power, yes. But I'd say to really get mileage out of them, put your hip into them, and throw them with a kind of Thai mentality, winding your hips through the movement, snapping deep and into your target. Hook kicks like this can be used to stick hard shots into the ribs and thighs (try it out on the bag: step into the range, slightly to the side, then throw the hook kick as hard and winding as you can. It shouldn't take too much practice until you realize that you can use this movement both to cause your opponent to re-align as well as deliver a blow of rib-shattering potential.)

You can skip into a high hook kick, much like a hard side kick ("Bruce Lee style"); with this sort you can really abuse your downward motion of the skip and put tons of power into the kick.

If you spend a lot of time on hook kicks, they can be used to break through guards--you can fake a Thai kick, slightly chamber it, and come across the other side of the person's face with a hook kick. Instead of going high though, you can also throw a low one into their other shin.

Spinning hook kicks are also good to practice. If I am to spin, I prefer a heel kick, but if you see (or 'feel') them closing the gap as you spin, you can change the heel kick to a close spinning hook to still make an effective kick. Learning spinning hook kicks then gives you the ability to dynamically change the range of your spinning heel kicks, adding a better dimension of functionality.

But of course, with EVERYTHING I mentioned, you should note that their usefulness is rare, and I'm sure a safer substitute could be argued in every situation. But hook kicks are damn near impossible to telegraph, and there is power there. It's a tool you can use to surprise your opponent, and if nothing else it can slow their timing and plan against you.