Round House Kick

[Tant01]

Your Roundhouse...???

Since this thread is hot and getting a lot of views--let me ask this? How do you use your roundhouse kick best? Do you use it as a suprise weapon? A finish off move? Or other? Please explain. I am a JJJ man with a keen interest in kicking even though I am not a particulary great kicker.

Mawashi geri ? The front roundhouse or ushiro mawashi geri rear leg round (house) kick?


If you're a Jujutsu man then you know it's used to set up another technique, used to draw or stun or check. To take advantage of another open line of attack, to gauge distance for an attachment or maybe you just use it to break baseball bats.....

[Hardball]

I used to find it hard to land now I can land it as a suprise. I normally aim for the ribs or the torso since I am not able to kick to the head. My roundhouse is from TKD and I use the instep 90% of the time and the shin the other 10% of the time. I'm not the best kicker in the world but I compensate because I have dynamite in my fist.

[Tant01]

Let me think....

Being old and broken ain't bad enough I have to try to remember things too!

The fighting theory of jujutsu is maximum efficiency so kicking is just another trick to set up the THING you really want to do. If that means taking his back to choke him out or chopping off his head depends only on your intent.

"Chopping" being figurative for that dynamite fist or not.

[Tom Yum]

Apples and Oranges

The three main roundhouse kicks:

1) The instep - Taught at 99% of Dojos/Dojangs.

2) The ball of the foot - Taught at fewer schools. Getting kicked with the ball of the foot hurts alot more. Smaller/harder contact area = greater pressure.

Both kicks are thrown the same way. Knee chambers up and at the last second, you pivot from the planted leg, turn your hip over and snap the kick.

The kick can be delivered really quick, has good accuracy and is best aimed at soft targets (unless you hit with the instep). A good role model for this kind of kick is Bill Superfoot Wallace, He Ill Cho or Bruce Lee. Whom are karate, tkd and kung-fu practitioners, respectively. All men could throw the kick lightning fast and if it landed upstairs, lights out!

3) The shin - Its like a baseball bat and is delivered completely different than 1 & 2. The kick is a little slower, but packs way more power.

There are tons of great fights where a thai kick made the fight: Mo Smith vs. Conan Silveira, Mo Smith vs. that wrestler guy (forgot his name), Mo Smith vs. Tank, Pedro Rizzo vs. Dan Severn, Koakkalai vs. Mighty Mo...just to name a few.

[kwai chang pain]

Random thoughts on the roundhouse...

I've mainly trained in TKD for kicking and was taught to strike with the instep. However, I see the point about using your shin and have been putting off buying some muay thai dvd's to learn it that way.

I will say that a high roundhouse kick (to the side of the headgear) is a great sparring technique if you have the flexibility. Does anybody else ever pull with your hands for more power when doing a roundhouse??

I read somewhere that the roundhouse is a very natural body motion and is used the most in sparring. Dunno if I agree w/ it, but there it is.

[Piston]

Pulling you front hand down does help with power, if your kicking off the back foot, just like a punch. I try to stop this habit during drills and sparring cuz it means lowering my guard - never good.

[GranFire]

Never thought of it, honestly.

We are taught to use the ball of the foot, the instep for the one and only kick to the thigh...in reality, sparring I probably use the instep more. With foodpads...The ball of the foot does back some impackt: I had a silver dollar sized black lump on the side of my leg for two weeks once...I am sure that kick would have cracked a rib!

I collided with a kid's knee in sparring once, my shin was a yucky shade of green for a week...I don't think that would be my prefered method of kicking...besides...if I get that close, I am im punching distance, and I am trying hard to avoid that!

[13ang]

Well if you look at the three main weapons, you can see pros/cons to each one. The ball of the foot is great to penetrate someones defense and get into a place that the instep canot reach. HOWEVER, you loose some of your power and momentum when you do it this way, you can also break your toes of you snag them on something, and it takes a lot of training to build it up as a solid weapon.

The shin is sharp and hard, but it lacks in range, and it can be painfull if you have not built up the bone. I use this very rarely, unless im very close to the opponent, like I would normaly use a knee.

The instep is what I use when I kick the heavy bag(however ne of the masters at my school was telling me tonight to practice kicking the bag with the ball of my foot to build it up), and what I generaly use when im kicking a soft target. Some people in my school realy dislike this method of kicking, as its very easy to break one of the many bones in your foot if you catch an elbow. My friend got in a fight, the other kid tried to kick him with a roundhouse, kicked my friends elbow, and my friend ended up carying him till they could get some help. Some master at my school wont even score a point if you kick with the instep for this reason.

I think that every weapon has its place, however I think that everyone should choose their favorite, and use whatever is most effective for them.

[Fluffy]

For power I use the ball of my foot, in sparring I use my instep.

As for targeting - I hit whatever is open.

[kurt_myers0369]

Maybe you should ask yourself what you would rather be kicked WITH? Personally I would rather be kicked with the instep or ball than the shin, because I would like to walk away from the fight... The shin is deadliest. Period.

[kuk sool won]

really and truely it is where you strike from, if you can make a connection with the shin then thats great, but when you see a definate opening that can only make contact with the instep due to the extended distance then you would be insane to pass on the chance.

[GranFire]

How do you figure that the shin would have a higher impact than the ball of the foot, assuming the velosity is the same?

Last I checked, the preassure is greater when the area it's applied to is smaller...(seems to mee I'd rather take a shin than a foot...)

[kurt_myers0369]

Because the shin is a narder, larger, sharper bone. Not just a bunch of little bones. Would you rather be hit by a switch or a baseball bat?

[GranFire]

Would you be rather hit hit by a 2x4 or a lead pipe....

Being larger taked away part of the power, does it not?

Believe you me, one can kick plenty hard with the naked foot! Had the bruises to prove it!


Edited to add: Of course, one also has to aim better.

[kuk sool won]

The shin is still a harder surface than the instep. Thinking about it its probably a smaller impact area aswell. feel your Shin, its pointy, serious contact is only going to be 2 - 3 inches at the most in width whereas the top of the foot could potentially contain the entire width of the foot. As for length its going to be about the for both again. Due to the ankle joint there is always going to be some give when connecting with it.