For those of you who a side kick, what do you use it for?
To me a front kick/roundhouse seem better… faster, harder, more direct etc…
so what situations, distance etc?
Just wondering. 
After a roundhouse kick that has either missed or gone through the target such that my back is semi-exposed. I mix it up with the back kick, spinning back fist, sweep or just spinning around back into a covered & ready position.
So basically, when I’m outside of punching range and my back is semi exposed - if I kick with the foot closest to the opponent, it’s a side kick (normally done with a little hop for that extra oomph).
my side is sloooooow, so I only use it after I’ve created an opening through gate manipulation or if they are stunned after some other strike.
it is fairly strong though…so I count on it to hit pretty hard and can often get a good knock back if not knock down.
The side kick is my hardest kick. It’s not my fastest, and my flexibility limits it to the rib area or lower (which is all you need anyway 
) however, I find it useful to stop the momentum of an aggressive opponent, especially if you can open the door with good counter-punching or if they have a tendancy to flair their elbows while attacking.
Oh, and I always use the heel of my foot to strike when throwing a side kick, which may be different than some here. I never use the outer-edge of my foot.
Originally posted by Judge Pen
… I find it useful to stop the momentum of an aggressive opponent, especially if you can open the door with good counter-punching or if they have a tendancy to flair their elbows while attacking…
I also used to use the side kick for this purpose, but now I find solid teeps to be better for stopping aggressive attackers as it’s faster and I can follow up with more techniques immediately and I’ve been working on avoiding backward movement and the side kick needs a lot more space to be delivered properly.
I like the teep too; it’s just another kick in your arsenal depending on your placement and footwork at the time it’s needed. My side kick is still usually stronger.
Originally posted by FngSaiYuk
I’ve been working on avoiding backward movement and the side kick needs a lot more space to be delivered properly.
how are you movin backwards on a side?
why do you feel the side needs more space? more space in front as the leg is a bit longer extended from the side of the body but chambering space is the same.
Flexibility may be an issue. My teacher can nail me with his side kick at close to zero distance.
Originally posted by Oso
[B]how are you movin backwards on a side?
why do you feel the side needs more space? more space in front as the leg is a bit longer extended from the side of the body but chambering space is the same. [/B]
It’s my flexibility and the speed at which I can throw the kicks out. I tend to a more squared off stance nowadays over a traditional side ways or sitting back stances so a side kick requires me to step back to create the space to throw the kick out against an aggressive opponent with forward momentum. The teep is easier for me to thrust out in this particular situation.
ok, gotcha.
since I don’t throw a side as any sort of ‘speed’ kick, I usually throw it from the back leg…so, it’s all forward chambering and extension for me.
i definitely use a front leg ‘teep’ type front kick for defensive checking and jamming.
mostly, I just move in and dare the bas tard to kick me…
Oso, being the bear he is says, “I’ll eat your kick for lunch, then your jab for dessert.”
Re: Re: Side kick.
Originally posted by Ai Lek Ou Seun
You’ve trained for 14 years and you don’t know what a side kick is for?
Mebe it’s not in his curricula… there are a lot of very good fighters who have trained a decade or more in their art/style who do not train or emphasize many techniques… a simple point is boxing - there are excellent fighters (boxers) who have no idea when to use ANY kicks…
Didn’t you win the poll MK posted?
Oso, being the bear he is says, “I’ll eat your kick for lunch, then your jab for dessert.”
doesn’t mean I don’t get et myself sometimes…thas jus’ my stragedy.
I fight southpaw so i can use my lead side as my “foot jab”.
The goal is to get it as quick and flexible as the Thai version; however I’m not sure if it’s acceptible to toss at a thigh like the Thai foot jab is.
It’s a little hard to throw combinations behind it- but I believe that just takes a lot of dedication and practise; like figuring out how to throw it from a more squared up stance & return to that squared stance quickly.
Another aspect that requires practise is being able to chamber high and fire it (often straight upwards) at or almost at clinch range.
It’s a great distance-keeper and distractor. It can accumulate damage over time; or drop someone if it hits the right spot with the right power behind it. It’s hard to catch and can cover a great distance.
It’s a tool that requires a bit of attention and is hard to create if you’re not naturally inclined to do it; that’s probably why you don’t see more people with it.
I’d like to see CroCop get one (or at least a decent teep) - that guy needs a distance keeper.
Another aspect that requires practise is being able to chamber high and fire it (often straight upwards) at or almost at clinch range.
while the school I trained at for 11 years has a lot of dubious crap going on, one of the things I keep is that our basic 6 kicks (front, side, round, i-crescent, o-crescent, cross) all fire from the same chambered position and are practiced from high, tight chambers so that it’s not as easy to tell exactly which one is coming and so you can use them at closer ranges.
We would include a hook kick in that group, Oso, but we are taught the same way.
the hook, at high or low gate targets, is in the next group of kicks for us.
The more I do MMA type training, the lesser I think of the side kick.
The side kick is powerful and hard to catch, but unless you’re kicking to the head, it is not a high % KO kick, and for me, that factors into the “risk vs. gain” factor of the situation when one foot leaves the ground.
Granted it certainly a demoralizing kick if you get cough in the gut, sternum, knee, etc..! (I have a good side kick and I’ve used it and felt others..) but ironically thru sanshou, which uses it so well, I’ve drilled over and over how to avoid and catch or absorb and catch the kick - I kick you, you get kicked but take me down.. I don’t like that trade when grappling is involved.
For my value, use it to “check” when you’re moving and feeling him out for reactions..
thanks, ST00, good thoughts about the sidekick.
that’s exactly why I don’t throw my slow ass sidekick as the first technique of a combination…I would get caught and planted.