The Mighty Front kick

The front kick is nearly always the first kick taught at many martial arts schools. It is relatively easy to learn, needing only a few minutes of practice to be able to obtain the basic grasp of it. It has different ways of being applied with different areas of the foot for striking. So why is it not seen as a major kick for most fighters. Firstly, let’s analyze the ways of executing the kick,

Snap – After chambering the kicking leg (by bringing the knee to the chest) the kicking foot is snapped towards to the target using the ball of the foot to strike. As the foot is thrust forward the hips are also thrust simultaneously slightly forward, to add power to the strike. After a full contact blow is made penetrating the target, the foot is brought back to the chambered position and dropped to the floor. The preferred targets are the knee joint (front or side), just above the hip joint or the groin using the shin or instep to strike.

Thrust – Again after chambering the kicking leg, the foot is thrust towards the trunk area or thigh of the opponent with a simultaneous hip thrust to add power to the kick. Because of this kicking type being a thrust and not a snap, normally it is to difficult for the foot to be retracted to the chambered position so it is dropped to the floor with the hand held high for possible counters. It is useful as a stop hit. The striking area of the foot for the thrust, is usually the sole or heel.

Above tells us that the snap kick targets (knee, groin) are to dangerous to be used for competition. Hitting these areas need little power to be effective, where the areas for the thrust kick need a lot of power to be effective (trunk, thigh). Also well trained fighters can easily see the kick coming where a sneaky roundhouse comes in from the side and is harder to block. Because the snap is aimed low, it is much harder to see and defend.

So reasons why the front kick is not used by professional fighters could be that because the preferred targets are too dangerous for competition and should be left to the street, and that it is an easy to kick to defend against. Any views on this?

Marks

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