Roundhouse Kicks

Posted by: Hachiman

Roundhouse Kicks - 07/03/01 10:30 PM

I have seen two types of roundhouse kick. One gets the leg parallel to the floor right at the start of the kick and the kick comes in a wide arc with power coming from twisting the body to swing the leg. The other one starts with raising the knee in front and then swinging your foot to the target as you rotate or turn over your hips.

The first type is a powerful kick but not necessarily more powerful than the second type. I originally learned the second type. I learned that the fold for the kick is in front to help mask what the kick will be. For example, this kick starts out the same way that several other kicks start out (front kick and crescent kick to name a couple). Therefore, you can change your kick if you need to before you actually launch the kick. After starting the first type of roundhouse kick, you do not have much choice but to finish the kick. Although easily read and blocked, it would be useful at certain times such as setting up for something else or when you want to put all you’ve got into it. To me though, the second type is faster, more deceptive, easier to throw from either front or back foot, and just as powerful.

Both kicks have the base foot turning so that the heel is toward your target. I have seen other styles that do not turn the base foot but I have also seen people severely damage there leg, knee, or ankle by not pivoting. It also helps in turning your hips over to generate more speed and power.

Hand placement is also important. Some people drop their hand, which is on the same side as their base foot, toward the floor. While this allows someone to kick higher, it opens up the groin area for attack and makes it easier to lose your balance. To protect the groin during your kick, you need to position one of your hands there. Some people use their kicking side hand while others use their base side hand. If using your kicking side hand, your base side hand needs to come up in front. Personally, I find this limits my rotation movement some. I prefer to block my groin with my base side hand and keep my kicking side hand up in front. This helps me keep my body upright so that I have better balance and I can get a good rotation.

What do you find works best and why?

Hachiman
Posted by: MrVigerous

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 07/16/01 07:20 PM

Personaly i use the "leg parallel" version for my right leg (rear) round house kicks and the knee raise to hip turn version for my left leg (front) round kicks. I say rear and front for right and left, but these are of course interchangeable. Obviously the first version tends to generate more power and my right leg is my dominant " power leg".
The second reason for this choice is that i like to u my lead (left) leg round house much like a boxers jab, for distancing, digging the oppponent and the odd stinging shot. The knee lift to hip twist and strike method of releasing a roundhouse kick is quicker and therefore facilitates my goals for my front leg kicking more easily.It is also easier (as u suggested) to dummy and opponent with this set up as it can easily become a front kick a side kick or a hook kick. As far as hand/arm placement is concerned, yet again i alternate. With the rear leg (right) head high roundhouse ill drop the corresponding arm (right) down to the side and covermy head with the left. However with my front leg (left) head hight round kicks, i also cover with left hand.With body and leg (chudan and gedan) hight kicks ill cover with both arms in front.As to the rotation of the supporting leg, i certainly advocate that the heel of the supporting leg should face your opponent at the end of the kick. For me this is purely for reasons of facilitating full release of torque and ergo maximum power. However, a face to face jodan mawashigeri from yoi dachi and thereby with no twist of the supporting leg/heel is easily acheivable with no associated knee or leg injury as long as you have worked sufficiently on your hip flexibility.Long winded but i hope this answers your query.
Regds


[This message has been edited by MrVigerous (edited 07-16-2001).]
Posted by: P Carney

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 07/20/01 09:37 AM

actually, I was experimenting with both of these last night on a heavy bag. Although the kicks I've learned (from JKD and Thai) don't chamber, I have to agree that it's better to chamber the front roundhouse. It is faster, but in my experience not as powerful. The thai kick I use for my back leg is very powerful, especially from the mid section down. This is where I target almost all of my kicks, although lately I have been adding high kicks to work my flexibility.
Another type of roundhouse I like comes from arnis (not sure what the name is). It starts off going high, almost a feint to the midsection, before arching down and through the leg. The momentum, etc, makes it a great kick, almost two powerful to perform on a kicking shield. It's drawback is the commitment- because you're drawing through the entire kick you have to give all or nothing.

[This message has been edited by P Carney (edited 07-20-2001).]
Posted by: judderman

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 10/30/01 03:18 PM

I have found that the 'hurdling' form of mawashi-geri, is the most basic and most powerful.
I believe that its purpose is to develop flexabitiy, balance, hip rotation etc. From this a practitioner should in time develop a very fast, strong kick. However the second type is, as you say, much faster and more deceptive. A better fighting technique, I believe that this is obtained from learning strong hip rotation.

In short one is the precursor to the other.
A little like the long, deep dachi associated with Shotokan Karate, moving to a more upright freestyle stance one associates more with Wado Ryu Karate.

Budo.
Posted by: nuthinflash

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 04/08/02 07:56 PM

why not go halfway between the two methods mentioned ?

Then you get the grunt AND the speed.. as well as not leaving your nadgies open for a crippling counterkick.

Not wanting to insult anyone but I find the hurdlers method too telegraphic.

I bet if you tape your sparring sessions you'll see your kicks run this method anyway ! Try it and let me know...

cheerrs
Posted by: reaperblack

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 06/12/04 09:35 PM

OK so I have been using all three of the roundhouses mentioned for years. For my purposes i will refer to them as linear and circular roundhouses, linear being the knee up in front, and full contact roundhouse. They all have their merits and no one is more powerful than the other if you practise them equally. If you perform kicks from a relaxed state they are all powerful and it doesn't really matter what stance you are in, or for that matter if you are even on the ground. The full contact kick is really designed to cripple the lead leg, much as you would expect a muiy thai fighter to throw, the target is the bottom of the muscle (just above the knee) and if done right is very painfull even in light contact. The linear roundhouse is both deceptive and faster than a circular roundhouse (shortest distance is a straight line) but much harder to use as part of a rotation of a series of kicks. As far as worrying about your groin, here is an interesting fact, any kick above the knee can be countered with a simple sidestep and groin kick, in particular a toe kick.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 06/20/04 01:50 PM

There are many different kinds of roundhouse kicks.. The kind you use depends on your body-type and your stratgy..

I mostly use a lead-leg roundhouse kick in the style of Bill Wallace.

When I use a back-leg roundhouse kick, I pick it up and bring it straight forward like a front snap kick. I point my knee at the target in the and throw the leg out.. I don't pivot and turn my hip until the last possible moment.. Doing this, I generate a lot of speed and power..
It can also be confusing to the opponent who is, until the very last moment, expecting to evade, block or counter a front kick..
Posted by: Telepath

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 07/02/04 04:20 PM

I must admit i am very similar to the way "MrVigerous" mentioned his kicks.. but it's not like my right leg is always a parallel RH kick or my left leg is always chambers first... when i fight i switch my stance more than most people i have fought.. i am equal in bolth stances but i throw certain technuiqes from a certain stance.. it's just my style tha way i fight.. i have developed certain combonations with my right leg leading and then certain combonations with my left leg leading...but whichever leg is leading i chamber all of my kicks, including the RH, and with my rear leg my RH kick is usually always a parallel RH kick..........

Questions for everyone.. when you perform the RH kick in sparring or real encounters do you use the ball of foot method, instep method or the thai shin method... also which version of thr RH kick do you associate with each method?
Thank you

[This message has been edited by Telepath (edited 07-02-2004).]
Posted by: reaperblack

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 07/04/04 10:12 PM

sparring: instep little more reach and I use the linear kick cause it's more deceptive and faster.
self defense: shin or toe, I would never kick above the knee and I would use the shin against an ankle or knee or the base of the muscle tissue right above the knee. Same targets with a toe but also adding the inside of the thigh, or the back of the knee. I would use these because I want to off balance my opponent as fast as I can to resolve the situation with either a lock, limb destruction, knock out, or kill. Of course depending on the situation.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 07/07/04 06:54 AM

We do all our kicks from the frontal knee raise position the method is documented in this article http://www.usadojo.com/articlesbalanceparadigm.htm

Alvin Kan
Progressive Protection Systems www.martialarts-int.com
Posted by: haiazuki

Re: Roundhouse Kicks - 09/17/04 12:23 AM

from what i know the first kick is inded very strong but a bit slower and predictable than the second. it is used to train pratitioners the proper twisting of the hips and th proper method of kicking to make the leg stronger and the mechanics of the body properly done. The second kick is used for fighting, it is deceptive and elusive and more faster, if the first kick has been practiced for a long time, this should be very powerful as well, since by this time, the hips and legs should be used to his kicking method.

I do use both in fight however, the first one if i wish to make serious damage, the second one if i want to make an elusive and quick attack.