Enkidu you are correct, lateral or angular movement is in fact your friend, in this and in almost ANY type of combat. As a rule in Tang Soo Do straight in and out attacks and defenses are not encouraged and in fact the originator of TSD, a Korean with a distaste for the Japanese, designed the art as a weapon to be used against hard Japanese styles or as you put it "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots." As was said in a previous post the fighters in the vid were very young and somewhat inexperienced. Although a Hop Side kick can be used offensively it is much more effective as a defensive attack when an opponent is closing or attempting to close on attack regardless of their footwork or the direction they are circling. Correctly done a Hop Side kick telegraphs movement very poorly as it is an instantaneous exchange of foot position accompanied by a simultaneous kick, most time the kick has hit before the opponent realizes what the kicker has done. I agree that many martial artists and instructors appear to ignore a great deal of the overall equation where footwork is concerned, I also see as idiotic the concentration on the Sport aspect of a martial art, making it a martial sport not an art of combat.
I have kicked opponents in the head with roundhouse, heel, spinning heel kicks and side kicks so it is not unrealistic to land one. To defend against them, side step the sidekick and always get your hands up like a boxer or Thai boxer and move around. Don't be static. Move! Man, I smacked one guy who was static in the face with a front leg roundhouse once sparring that was beautiful! Not boasting, just remembering my youth! I was 31 yrs old at the time. My favorite kick is the skip in sidekick like in the video above. But not to the head. I think that a medium to low kick is much more likely to score. I once kicked a guy who had a pair of "nunchakus" in the chest and he fell on his butt and slid about ten feet on the grass. That taught me a lesson. To be careful with this. He landed very close to a metal spike protruding from the grass. I probably would have been convicted of something for my stupidity! I was 18 and it was in military school. I pushed him more than hit him because he was my friend. I was a captain and we had an inspection by the Army so we had a clean up day and most kids would screw around. I asked him to put them down, he dared me to take them away, so I caught the cycle and when he swung back, I skipped in and pushed him with a side kick motion. Georgia Military College, class of 79. Never joked around with Karate again! Sorry for the tangent! R
Defence against anything = don't get hit. :/ Run, bob, weave, duck, cover, block, step out of the way, put objects between you and them (chair, table, car, a door, etc), parry, etc.
Thats the problem with coming in late on a thread, someone else has basically already stated your case LOL!! Whats been repeated over and over is to move... Like Mr Miagi said in Karate kid II... Best block, not be there. High kicks, in my experience, are great finishers, would never open with one, too many things could go wrong if your timing is just a little bit out. Having said that, landed a high kick once in sparring, started with a lateral movement, opponent moved forward as I moved forward/diagonally left. As I moved through, delivered a hook kick to the BACK of his head, wasn't scored because at the time it was an " illegal" technique. Effectiveness of kicks on the street. Get the impression a lot of people think that they aren't, I beg to differ. My own son sat a bully on his ass at school with a well placed side kick (I was so proud, bought him a lego as a reward! ) I believe if delivered properly, they can have a shock and awe effect - and I have known guys who's kicks were lightening fast, so yeah, I do think they have their place in street.
Anything you learn - short of catching the baseball bat with your hand and head-butting someone's chest - is practical and useful. The level of practice necessary for execution, and the circumstance where it finds its use though, is another matter entirely. If I was good at kicking, I enjoyed kicking and I primarily practised kicking, then on the street - kicking would be practical. It's what I would theoretically be best at. For the level of practise necessary, my natural 'fighting character' and throughout my entire fighting experience, kicking just doesn't work. I can't see it working. Not because it doesn't work, but because it'll never work for me. Many people share this idea. They don't want to do the years of practice to be comfortable kicking in a fight and survive, or they don't see it possible...or they naturally move in a different method. Boxing/MMA/Krav Maga...even some of the eastern/south eastern martial arts treat punching first, kicking second. Not to be confused with "punching effective - kicking ineffective" or "punching superior - kicking inferior", it's just "punching easier - kicking, not so much." - For the record, by 'kicking' I mean beyond low-kicks and the push kick.
For facing attacks. Stop the knee. High or low. The kick can only go where the knee points. If you simply redirect a little and they can miss a lot. For spinning kicks. Block the hip. As their back is to you. Disrupt their momentum by interupting the spin from the hip. Most of the time they fall down. Of course there are plenty of evasion / retaliation strategies with footwork. So you simply aren't there. But when room is limited and options are slim. Cutting their attack short is a good option. Ducking is good too.
Have been a bouncer, competitor, personal security, idiot teenager in DC, etc. . I've had fights that ended with a headkick. One situation was 2 of 3 attackers. There have been many fights I knew it just wasn't a good idea. I believe this question is really over-quantified. You fight. A target presents itself. You hit it or you don't.
In TKD we train to kick high so it makes low kicks easy... and as Master Of Nothing just said, 'you fight. a target presents itsself. you hit or you don't.'
In muay thai we use many high kicks in combinations to end fights, when defending against a high kick how you defend it is all about range, If you are on the outside you either need to move at an angle to get out of the range or move towards the attacking leg to close the distance and stifle the power of the kick, so in essence taking the hit but at a fraction of the force, or otherwise using a forarm block at specific angles to deflect the energy of the kick, The last one I do not recommend if you do not do regular conditioning and have not been trained in that technique unless in an emergency as if not done correctly can result in your arm getting broken.
in tkd we get taught to avoid kicks, never block them or try and catch them. to easy to muck up and get yourself hurt
problem is its not always possible, my 2nd senior instructor and close friend is a 3rd Dan TKd and he even takes kicks especially to the legs, head kicks are difficult to land because of the distance that you guys like to fight at as well as head speed based on experience but once you in a ring environment for instance, range becomes close mixes it up
If i sense opponent is about to kick, i side kick to a weak spot. The side of knees, knees, etc. This will likely damage the leg and compromise my attacker’s balance. I could also kick the groin to cause pain and then move in to finish him off with a knock out hit.
