Shoes are good. They are inanimate and feel no pain.

Toes break. Heels can be hurt and ankles can twist.

Round kicks should be executed using different striking surfaces as the situation warrants.

JKogas,
What are savate style kicks and how are they more effective than others while wearing shoes?
Incidently, shoes are the reason I wouldn't kick above the waist in a real fight; they make it harder to pivot the supporting foot properly. When I am wearing sneakers or shoes built for traction the pivot doesn't work effectivly ..could blow out the knee. When I am wearing dressier shoes there is less friction than barefoot i.e. causing too much pivot..could cause a loss of balance. And this is before my opponent does anything!

I'm not saying that savate kicks are "better" or "worse" than other kicks. I'd say that it all comes down to the circumstances of the moment.

With that said, the reason I like savate kicking is because it's done with the shoe, and, with the very POINT of the shoe (at the toes --- it was originally designed for kicking with the point of a boot). These kicks aren't designed to go above the waist.

The kick is delivered with a bullwhip-like action. It comes off the ground with no chambering or telegraphing motion. It goes straight into it's target and WHIPS back immediately and set back down.

The striking surface being as small as it is, lends itself to better penetration into the target. It's a very fast kick and extremely effective for the street. As I don't like kicks that require a great deal of committment to execute, these are perfect for me.

-John

[This message has been edited by JKogas (edited 02-14-2004).]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Yoseikan Student:
Ender, please, unless you have thrown 100 punches to the jaw and 100 kicks to the knee in different real situations, who are you to state what works and what doesn't? Where is your database, the depth of empirical evidence from which you speak? With respect, if you don't know, speculate, but DO NOT STATE.

Sorry, I watched many fights and very seldom do I see an opportunity to strike with a kick that would disable the knee. The fights that I've watched involved too much movement for a solid kick to land squarely. I am not talking about MMA or kickboxing either.

Alec

[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE] By Someone here...
Sorry, I watched many fights and very seldom do I see an opportunity to strike with a kick that would disable the knee. The fights that I've watched involved too much movement for a solid kick to land squarely. I am not talking about MMA or kickboxing either. [/QUOTE]


I couldn't agree more.


Great post, that.


-John

I think it can work in a self-defense situation just don't earn the reputation as a kicker...or you'll end up having your leg grabbed. You shouldn't go out there with the intention to kick the heck out of your opponent with kicking combos. Concentrate on you hand techniques and use kicking/Knees/Sweeps to compliment them and set them up.

[This message has been edited by Shotokan (edited 03-27-2004).]

I believe that the primary problem with kicking, is that there just generally isn't the time. In most real fights that I have seen (and understanding human nature), combatants close the distance with each other very quickly, leaving little time for anything other than creating a stable base. You cannot do that while one leg is off the ground.

-John