Seems like the HIGH risk of either connecting with the foot and hyperextending your ankle or actually just connecting with your ankle would discouraged their use.
And if you are going to strike with the shin, just use a roundhouse.
Don’t use them myself, other than as exercises to open up/warm up the hip area.
I’ve always wondered about this as well. I’ve used it when sparring padded up pretty well, but I think i’d be too scared to use it without.
The only way an inside crescent makes sense to me is if you’re flexible enough to use more of the sole of the foot. But, that seems like a really high level kick that would have little chance of landing(low percentage technique).
As an aside, is it true that the Bak Sil Lum system doesn’t actually have a round kick? I’ve never seen one in their forms, and i’m curious as to why they would prefer to use the inside crescent instead.
The outside crescent kick is vey useful to be used to escape from many leg attacks such as “front cut”.
http://www.judoinfo.com/images/animations/blue/osotogari.htm
train them regularly never connected with my foot or ****ed up my ankle etc.etc
if i mess it up i tend to land with my lower calve which would still hurt the person its hitting given thats alot of leg im swinging
I used to use the outside crescent on occasion in sparring and competition, and it was effective for me. I never hurt my foot or my knee. It comes from an opponent’s blind spot, and if you know when to do it, it stands a good chance of landing, IME.
I never used the inside crescent kick, at least not high. I’ve used it as a low foot sweep.
[QUOTE=JamesC;1129482]I’ve always wondered about this as well. I’ve used it when sparring padded up pretty well, but I think i’d be too scared to use it without.
The only way an inside crescent makes sense to me is if you’re flexible enough to use more of the sole of the foot. But, that seems like a really high level kick that would have little chance of landing(low percentage technique).
As an aside, is it true that the Bak Sil Lum system doesn’t actually have a round kick? I’ve never seen one in their forms, and i’m curious as to why they would prefer to use the inside crescent instead.[/QUOTE]
the way I learned the sets were without any roundhouses, but aside from the sets we did train this kick, along with all others, and all punches. however i dont know if this comes from my sifu’s experience with full contact thai matches or not. we learned our roundhouses under the moniker ‘sabre kick’. i have met very few people who use this nickname. interestingly ive been told that thais view each body part in a martial sense with a corresponding man made weapon. however this is just what i’ve been told, and I dont know if its true or not. my sifu leanred his shaolin in cambodia at the temple he was raised in, so this may be the connection.
[QUOTE=JamesC;1129482]I’ve always wondered about this as well. I’ve used it when sparring padded up pretty well, but I think i’d be too scared to use it without.
The only way an inside crescent makes sense to me is if you’re flexible enough to use more of the sole of the foot. But, that seems like a really high level kick that would have little chance of landing(low percentage technique).
As an aside, is it true that the Bak Sil Lum system doesn’t actually have a round kick? I’ve never seen one in their forms, and i’m curious as to why they would prefer to use the inside crescent instead.[/QUOTE]
the way I learned the sets were without any roundhouses, but aside from the sets we did train this kick, along with all others, and all punches. however i dont know if this comes from my sifu’s experience with thai matches or not. we learned our roundhouses under the moniker ‘sabre kick’. i have met very few people who use this nickname. interestingly ive been told that thais view each body part in a martial sense with a corresponding man made weapon. however this is just what i’ve been told, and I dont know if its true or not. my sifu leanred his shaolin in cambodia at the temple he was raised in, so this may be the connection.
I’ve always viewed crescent kicks as integral to developing tripping/cutting power.
@YKW: interesting that you train them as a way to AVOID getting tripped.
In BSL, we used the slapping hand in coordination with the kick
It’s sort of like clapping the ears, only we used the instep instead of the other hand.
I once got one to work really well in sparring. My partner blocked the crescent kick easily, but my slap got through. I was so pleased. It was lol-funny as it came off as a total ***** slap. My partner was stunned that it worked. I kind of was too.
That being said, high kicks are risky, no doubt.
[QUOTE=MasterKiller;1129480]Seems like the HIGH risk of either connecting with the foot and hyperextending your ankle or actually just connecting with your ankle would discouraged their use.
And if you are going to strike with the shin, just use a roundhouse.[/QUOTE]
On 2 different occasions I was watching MMA on TV when someone broke their own legs kicking with the shin. An Asian girl was landing some pretty hard kicks and after one really hard one she put her foot down and the leg just folded over. I think the ref fainted on that one. The other was guys and one broke his leg during the kick. He kicked the guy with the shin and it just snapped over.
It seems to me that any kick that can also injure you might not be a good choice, and any kick that can leave you in a bad position might also not be a good choice.
Crescent kicks hit “the sides of the barrel”. So the set up is usually on a flank to get to either a flat chest or flat back. In the forms you always see some set up with the hands to either brace, lock, or deflect into the kick.
When done directly in front it tends to be a nice way to knock somebodies guard down for a second. Its kinda like a third hand. Crescent is a very up close kick. So I would use it at the end of a quick barrage of punches.
That reminds me of a fight scene from a Jet Li movie. Can’t remember which one, but he’s fighting someone inside a bathroom stall and does an inside crescent to the side of his head. It was impressive.
Unleashed?
I like to think of inside crescent kicks like a hook punch with my feet.
If you can still do your inside/outside crescent kick when you are 80 years old, you will still have a 40 years old body.
[QUOTE=MasterKiller;1129480]Seems like the HIGH risk of either connecting with the foot and hyperextending your ankle or actually just connecting with your ankle would discouraged their use.
And if you are going to strike with the shin, just use a roundhouse.[/QUOTE]
Depends on what you are using it for. For a power kick to the head or body, the roundhouse might be better, as you say.
For the knife disarm mentioned previously, the crescent kick was less risky. Contact was with the edge of hard soled shoe, so less risk of getting cut. Circular clearing didn’t require a lot of power or accuracy. Kick was good choice for speed, based on the square facing starting position. Trajectory of the kick made sure that the weapon ended up inaccessable. The range allowed room for followup from a distance and closing in or escape as necessary.
I Often use it around knee level, folding around the back, and various other sweeps. Also with bent knee as a guard.
There are many methods of using it. Kind of like an axe kick for example.
I met one guy who used it exceptionally well during sanda. He hit with the ball of his foot. How? First you have the ankle in such a way that the sole is pointing towards the target, then you kick in an upwards fashion to hit with the ball of the foot. Used against the Torso, especially when the opponent is standing side on, to hit around to the kidneys or liver at the back, bladder at the front etc.
I found it very hard to do, but powerful on the few times I could angle it right. I think this is just practice.
The general advantage of a cresent kick is that if you are flexible it requires no movement of the upper body. As such you do not telegraph the kick and it can fit seemlessly into your combinations while you are still in fist range. A turning kick requires more space.
I scored a good head hit in a tournament once with an outside crescent. They can be surprising and hard to predict when you’re fairly close range. I like low inside crescents to the thigh to check leg kicks. I’ve never had any problem as far as foot or knee injuries using them in the past.
I think cresent kicks are very underrated. In monkey style we use them many different ways at different heights and different angles. I have used them successfully many times in sparring. Most peeps aren’t expecting them. Especially at the angles we deliver them from.
I remember reading something many years ago by Funaakoshi. He said cresent kicks in karate were invented by peeps who wanted an easier form of roundhouse kick. I thought that was interesting.