Kicking and Self Defence

Often a contentous issue this one. Frowned on by many as heresy and a short route to intensive care, what is the place of the "kick" in practical real life self defence? Wet slippery or crowded conditions could leave you in the worst possible place - on the floor, where the boot really comes into its own. Many people's kicks in my experience are rather too pushy and sparring orientated to deal real damage - so does this mean kicking is a no no on the "street" ? To my mind the kick can be a great asset to your arsenal if practiced and used intelligently. Personaly i feel that a mawashi geri / round house kick to the knee or thigh is well worth a try especialy when applied with a downwards cutting action. Similarly so called "dog kicks" or stamps to the knee or shins can be effective along with the sharp, snappy groin kick. Finaly as mentioned earlier, the stamp must surely rate as one of the finest finishing moves against downed opponents. Anyway as i said its a contentous issue...opinions? comment anyone?
Regards and good training

I believe low line kicks are quite effective- the majority of kicks we practice in JKD are below the waist. I especially like 'oblique' kicks- basically you kick an opponent's knee with the bottom of your foot. In school, I've used them to jam a kick before it gets off the ground (not recommended for self defence, of course), I also have a friend who was attacked in a road rage incident, and used an oblique to take his assailant down.

Interesting. I believe that kicks do have aplace in this area, but are limited by individual situations. It is unwise to perform many kicks whilst in a bar/pub/club for instance, but these may be effectual on the street.
One advantage Martial Artists have is that we are really in the minority. Thus when kicks are employed it can give an additional surprise.
The most effective strikes would be old faithful groin attacks using the knee or foot, in addtion to this is the blocking/striking of kicks with kicks. Moves similar to Ashi-buri, footsweep, can be employed ,along with mawashi-geri, but these must be practice techniques.
My air of warning is this, as soon as you lift your foot off the ground, you lose your own grounding. The higher the foot rises, the more unstable you become.
But, by God are they're effective you can pull them off!!!

Budo.


[This message has been edited by judderman (edited 09-21-2001).]