sidekick

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Forum
1

Ok, in my life,I have been thaught 2 ways to do a sidekick.

Some say the supporting leg should be bent for more stability and other things…

Some say the supporting leg should be strait for more power…

Both seem to work well and give stability and strenght, I have been doing it the leg bent for one year then, I was told it had to be leg strait and did it for a year like that , and recently I have been told I should do it leg bent.

anyone knows whats the real way of doing it, or it doesnt really matter?

2

i’ve never seen any benefit to keeping the base leg straight, honestly.

speaking of confusing variations, i was taught one in which the base foot doesn’t turn at all (so that the hips don’t turn at all). that variation gave me fits. but it did lend itself to hand followups, which is precisely what that teacher had in mind.

stuart b.

3

there was another side kick thread not too long ago - do a search. you may find something pertaining to this there.

4

thanks

5

range will determine which.

you can use either.

In Shaolin, the joints are never hyper extended, but they are quite straight.

The joint should always be ready to “spring” so locking it is often bad form.

use what is effective for you, not only in practice and demonstration, but in application.

peace

6

I tend to agree with Kung, plus a few.

Range, whether you want power or speed, your position relative to your opponent, the flow of the fight, and how high you are kicking will determine how you do it. I tend to keep my supporting leg bent because most of my side kicks are low, fast snapping kicks. And Kenpo likes to keep a mobile but stable base.

7

thanks alot to all, Ill keep the knee bent,alway made a bit more sense to me.

8

To express power thru a side kick, or any other technique, one must be taught the proper use and how to of “Fa-Jing”. The center of the Universe is the waist! “Fa” (Express, to put out) “Jing” (Energy Power). We have exercises to teach the whipping chain movement, and the use of pelvic, heel & shin. This takes a Teacher who knows of this, and time.

9

i have always had trouble understanding the side kick. i can do one against a heavybag, but i can never put it to use. i think its because i maintain a farely “frontal” stance.

10

Keeping the supporting knee slightly bent should be good for many kicks.

11

the straighter i had it the more i’d be worried that someone would break my leg.

12

A good point you have there.
Even a knee is pretty hard to snap if it is bent.

13

kung lek,

what effect does a bent or straight supporting leg have on range? i’m not sure i’m picturing this properly.

stuart b.

14

But would a kick without turning the suporting foot, not turning the hip at ALL even be considered a side-kick?

15

The straight leg kick has a bit more range because , when bending the leg, you move the hips a little towards the back, so bent leg=less range

And for what Kristopher said, I think if you dont move the hips, its not a side kick.

16

its still a side kick in my book. i kick both ways (pivoting on the supporting leg and not) and i am able to get about the same amount of power either way.

17

… actually i favor not pivoting.

18

babbon87,

Originally posted by babooon87
The straight leg kick has a bit more range because , when bending the leg, you move the hips a little towards the back, so bent leg=less range

by how much? that difference sounds negligible to me. i really can’t imagine that a difference like that is going to make the difference in power, penetration, etc. it might in terms of actually touching an opponent. but bringing an appreciable amount of force to bear on a target? i kinda doubt it.

And for what Kristopher said, I think if you dont move the hips, its not a side kick.

and that’s a valid point on your part and kristoffer’s. but i disagree. not because i liked that variation on the sidekick. truthfully, i hated it and have never used it since. but that doesn’t make the term invalid. (man, why are all my debates lately about semantics?!)

what defines a kick? presumably not the position of the hip. the hip position is, for many people, the same in a round, sidekick, or hook kick. what defines a kick, to my mind, is trajectory and foot position. and in this teacher’s version, the foot is turned to the side and the trajectory is straight inward, just like other variations on the sidekick.

i think he did this because of his traditional japanese background, but heavily modified for his kickboxing coaching. i’ve noticed in traditional japanese karate, the base foot doesn’t turn over as much as in some other systems. in some cases, dramatically so. but in all cases, it’s not all that pronounced because of the side-on stance.

in this case, it was very pronounced because of a more squared-up stance (making followup crosses easier). his point was partly that a common sidekick makes it more difficult to followup with a big rear hand. it’s a concern i’ve heard echoed by several kickboxers (and addressed by several sanshou proponents).

anyway, as far as i’m concerned, it remains a sidekick based on those criteria. but i don’t practice it anymore. not like that.

stuart b.

19

while we’re dissecting the sidekick, what’s people’s take on this:

to stick, or not to stick. that is the question.

do you retract the kick immediately? or stick it for a sec? why?

stuart b.

20

more people in the ‘no pivot’ camp than i’d expected.

:slight_smile:

for me: bent knee, full pivot, immediate retraction