which part of foot do you guys use for roundhouse kicks?
The shin 
Are you talking about if you should kick with the instep or pull the foot back and kick with the toes? I would pick instep, even tho it’s possible to break because it’s a lot of small bones, because I’d be afraid of jamming my toes or something. I think it would be difficult to kick someone hard with a roundhouse kick using the ball of your foot, especially in the middle of combat.
i like to use the top of my foot/shin, but my school i am told to use ball of my foot. with my left foot, i have no problem but with my right foot, i have had foot and ankle injuries and unable to use ball of my foot, always jamming my toe. if i recall correctly from my tkd days(that was long time ago), we use to use the top of our foot.
Originally posted by IronFist
I think it would be difficult to kick someone hard with a roundhouse kick using the ball of your foot, especially in the middle of combat.
Not at all. Same as anything - train it on the bags and then start to apply it in sparring. However, if you have injuries that affect aspects of your trianing, then you need to take that into account.
I use the shin most of the time. Getting hit with a thai style kick feels like getting hit with a baseball bat. I use the instep when kicking to the head and neck and I use more of a snapping motion when kicking that high for the sake of speed.
what is you guys’s opinion on the cresent kick? WHy doesn’t anyone use it in mma?
Dig in with the shin.
Instep to shin area. Gives you more striking surface and room for error in range.
Originally posted by Strangler
what is you guys’s opinion on the cresent kick? WHy doesn’t anyone use it in mma?
because you would get taken down. years or testing has shown that in MMA competitions, low line kicks work best. The kicks with the most success are the teep and roundhouse. If you are thai boxing, and the leg goes high, you are setting yourself up for a cut kick. that said, high kicks are still performed, but are generally used with caution.
Also, from a power perspective, the crescent kick is inferior to the above mentioned kicks.
Instep and shin.
Originally posted by SevenStar
[B]because you would get taken down. years or testing has shown that in MMA competitions, low line kicks work best. The kicks with the most success are the teep and roundhouse. If you are thai boxing, and the leg goes high, you are setting yourself up for a cut kick. that said, high kicks are still performed, but are generally used with caution.
Also, from a power perspective, the crescent kick is inferior to the above mentioned kicks. [/B]
This just in…
Crecent kicks can be aimed at the knees and ribs. They don’t have to be high. My hip flexibility is horrible. I get much more power with a crescent than a roundhouse.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress…
yohu’re right, they can be - no need to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for that. A crescent to the ribs will still likely result in a takedown, due to the chambering of the leg. If you are able to step in on it prior to its extension.
as for your hip, you can’t turn your hip over for a roundhouse? or are you opening your hips before the kick?
I don’t know how you’d chamber a cresent kick?
do you not chamber the same way you would chamber a front snapping kick? most people I have trained with throw them that way.
Originally posted by SevenStar
do you not chamber the same way you would chamber a front snapping kick? most people I have trained with throw them that way.
We don’t. We keep the leg straight and swing in an arc.
But we’re also taught to use them only in very specific situations.
Originally posted by SevenStar
do you not chamber the same way you would chamber a front snapping kick? most people I have trained with throw them that way.
Nope. A cresent kick is done with a strait leg. You start it off exactly like a stiff leg swing aimed to the side of your target, then at the apex of your natural swig, you torq your hips in the direction (in or out) of you target to get the arc. Leg will return to it’s starting position naturally if you succesfully kick through or miss. Will turn your body to the side if you connect solidly, with sets you up nicely for a follow-up technique.
I’ve seen an outside cresent kick thrown with a chamber to get more of a whipping action to it, but the leg’s in the same position at the moment of contact as if it was thrown with a straight-line arc the entire time.
My hip flexibility is bad too, but I have learned to poen my hips up prior to throwing the kick through footwork. I only throuw round-house kicks whn I’m in position to generate a lot of power on them by my position. Most of the time I use front thrust and side kciks along with my hands to move into position. My cresent kicks have some pop on them, but I’ve found there better for a set-up then a finishing technique. At least for me.
Originally posted by SevenStar
yohu’re right, they can be - no need to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for that. A crescent to the ribs will still likely result in a takedown, due to the chambering of the leg. If you are able to step in on it prior to its extension.
Like everyone else said, no chamber. Though, I will admit, they are easier to catch than a roundhouse.
as for your hip, you can’t turn your hip over for a roundhouse? or are you opening your hips before the kick?
I have like freakishly narrow hips, and I’ve even had X-rays to see if something is wrong with them, but they are just narrow. I have trouble opening my hips on any roundhouse kick thrown above thigh level. To go higher, I basically have to turn sideways and lean way back, which puts me way off center and an easy target for a sweep. So, they aren’t my main staple.
For the most part, I throw front heel kicks like they are going out of style to set my hands up or enter the clinch. I’m just not much of a kicker.
Almost all my outside crecents would be thrown with the intent of getting around the shoulder and landing it in an axe kick motion… inside is like a slap with the bottom of the foot.
our crescent kick chambers exactly like our front kick, and our round kick. We train a high knee centerline chamber on all our kicks, gives us options without telegraphing.
The path of the foot is something like a light bulb shape.
we do have a 2 man drill with a straight leg crescent, but that’s it.