I'm learning the Muay Thai style roundhouse kick in a MMA class. The way it was presented seems standard compared to everything I've seen on the web except I am taught to not take the initial step with my leading leg and I am being taught to keep my guard up at all times.

Looking at the mechanics of stepping vs. not stepping it seems that stepping with the leading leg may provide more momentum. But it may be a little less stable since during that split second of stepping, my weight would not be balanced. So not stepping leads to more stability with a less powerful kick.

The other aspect of keeping the hands in guard position at all times serve to protect the face and body from kick/strikes but some momentum for the kick is lost because the kicking side arm is not thrown down during the kick. So keeping the guard up leads to better defense but a less powerful kick.

This is taking place in a MMA class, not a Muay Thai class.

Has anyone ever seen the roundhouse kick executed in this fashion? Are my observations accurate or is this just bad form?

Stepping is a tell, in MMA, most only do it if they're going for a power hit, as the majority of kickers don't have the balance to recover afterwards. I would take a step only with the back leg and only if I wanted to do heavy damage.

The hand swinging is more of a preference thing, I keep my hands up, but I've been doing it so long that my hips snap into it the full amount anyway and I lose no power (relative to my swinging hand kick). The problem is that in MMA, they can catch your kick and make you eat a cross, which will result in you going to the ground, possibly unconciously. Now your hand up won't 100% stop this, but it will make your face less of a target, and you might just go to the ground feeling stupid instead of KO'd.

Alot depends on the stance your in.Because you now have to wrestle as well as strike the stance needs to be more square than just a striking stance but less square than a wrestlers stance.
So the foot might already be in the position it would be if you stepped.So no need to step.
If your stance is like that,I dont know.
The arms could still be used as long one comes across to protect your head.But the head could/should be used to drop your weight downwards,if its a low kick,and so moves anyway making it harder to hit.

Although I'm a karate-ka, I teach many of the same round-kick techniques:
> no pre-step - telegraphing your intent unless you use it as a feint to disrupt your opponents timing
> keep both hands up - a good idea from a defensive & offensive POV

I found that swinging the arm back is usually done because people are trained to kick & replace their foot to the original position - it acts like balast to get your foot back. I teach that a kick, to utilize all its properties, requires commitment.

That means not stepping back but going forward. If you're able to do this, you'll finds that your hands (if they remain onguard) are in perfect position to throw a couple well timed (instantaneous) punches. Your forward momentum will overwhelm your opponent.

owari