The Front Kick.

Simple, effective, fast and versatile. It is the Martial Arts kick you may find the most difficult to defend against if you have not read it early. It’s the one you can attack with, fake your opponent with, keep your opponent at bay with. And it’s the kick you can unleash the easiest when you have been caught off guard.

Yet it is one of the most variable off all the kick’s, in that it comes in many variations; low to high, instep, ball of the foot or heel.

Then there is the thrusting front kick, snap, stamp and of course jumping front kick.

Well, where do you start and what is the best kick for what situation?

The start.

As with all things Martial Arts, it depends where you are now. If you are experienced or at a senior level then you’ll be familiar with a lot of this already. Although I sometimes come across practitioners who write off the front kick as one for the beginner or as a simple kick which is not worth spending valuable time on. And instead opt for a more complex kick, be it a roundhouse kick or a spinning kick.

So if you are advanced, read-on anyway as you will no doubt re-acquaint yourself with what is a very effective and useful kick which should be practiced often and kept as sharp as possible.

If you are a beginner or at an intermediate level, then think back to your first few sessions in Martial Arts, where there was some emphasis on stances (foot work – How to stand and position your feet and body for the purposes of Martial Arts).

Now, if you got this right you will have covered a bit on balance and how to move your body from one position to the other... 

Assuming you are okay with the above. You would start with a ready fighting stance. Assume we are going to kick with the right leg.

From your fighting stance, Start by moving your right guard (arm) forward to serve as a potential defence or fake attack upon which you will simultaneously raise your right knee first. Upon reaching the desired height, you would then thrust out your right foot with the ball of your foot pointing out towards your target.

Upon making contact, you will continue to push through with the kick. This will have the effect of increasing the impact of the kick or forcing your opponent back in retreat or pain. 

There, you have just executed a front thrusting kick to the mid section of your opponent.

This can can also be used when retreating or if caught off guard by adjusting the position of your feet... This can be done by swopping the kicking leg to the back leg via a scissor action while jumping back.

See you at the next Martial Arts in session.