I think it's pretty much agreed upon that most of the time, if your gonna kick, kick low or maybe midsection. However, it seems like everybody that kicks low only uses the roundhouse. From my experience, it seems like even if it doesn't hit the person, low front kicks & instep kicks (aiming towards the shin) work well at keeping them away till your ready to close. Also, a couple of times in close, I've been able to stagger & charlie-horse the person w/ a heel kick to the calf. Does anybody else work with these or other low kicks? Or is there a good reason why 99% percent of low kicks are rounds?

Just wondering

I think it's pretty much agreed upon that most of the time, if your gonna kick, kick low or maybe midsection. However, it seems like everybody that kicks low only uses the roundhouse. From my experience, it seems like even if it doesn't hit the person, low front kicks & instep kicks (aiming towards the shin) work well at keeping them away till your ready to close. Also, a couple of times in close, I've been able to stagger & charlie-horse the person w/ a heel kick to the calf. Does anybody else work with these or other low kicks? Or is there a good reason why 99% percent of low kicks are rounds?

Just wondering


How Do Low Kick ?

Spar some ... thinks about your sparing ... review your sparing tape . Then tell us why a good number of kicks are rounds ...

*edit*
Though personal I throw alot of front kicks , chicken kicks , and push kicks along with my rounds ...

From my experience, it seems like even if it doesn't hit the person, low front kicks & instep kicks (aiming towards the shin) work well at keeping them away till your ready to close.
Could be. What do you mean by an "instep kick" though?


Also, a couple of times in close, I've been able to stagger & charlie-horse the person w/ a heel kick to the calf. Does anybody else work with these or other low kicks? Or is there a good reason why 99% percent of low kicks are rounds?

Just wondering
My guess is that round kicks are trained most by the people you comonly see doing them.

sorry bout being so vague...what I'm calling an instep kick is something we do at our school...leg/foot motion is almost like the blocking ankle throw in judo, where the arch/instep of your foot blocks low on their shin/high on the ankle...except it's done with a lot more driving force

sorry bout being so vague...what I'm calling an instep kick is something we do at our school...leg/foot motion is almost like the blocking ankle throw in judo, where the arch/instep of your foot blocks low on their shin/high on the ankle...except it's done with a lot more driving force

arch = arch

instep=top near ankle

I think you mean what we call a chicken kick ... and the contact point on that kick should be much closer to , if not the heel itself ... not the middle of arch ....

You can certainly throw snapping frontkicks under and into the kneecaps, but then you're just a dick. We have an old crazy guy in the Karate class who does it.

Not the deadly knee kick!!

*sigh...head in hands* I wasn't implying "t3h d34dly" knee kick.....'just a back the **** off' kick to the shin, maybe as the thigh.....and good luck in your first match, kid

throwing a teep into the top of someones leg is a pretty common technique in some places. real common in savate, seen it end fights. can be tricky to practice with in sparring because of the chance of smacking out someones knee.

throwing a teep into the top of someones leg is a pretty common technique in some places. real common in savate, seen it end fights. can be tricky to practice with in sparring because of the chance of smacking out someones knee.


We've practiced this kick in my thai class and I was simply unable to generate any force with the kick because it always turns into that awkward wing chun-esque oblique kick...

Front kicks (teeps) to the thighs and hips are some of my favorite attacks. The main problem I see with them is that if you aim for a thigh and get shin checked into the ball of your foot, it can hurt like a bitch. It has happened to me more than once, and has left me limping for a day after. If you use your heel as a contact point it's nowhere near as bad, but you also lose a decent amount of reach.

Also front kicks don't pack much power when compared to a rear leg roundhouse. A front thrust kick can do some good damage, but it's tricky to find the right distance to use a kick like that effectively. Although a roundhouse always has an ideal striking surface, I care much less if someone step into my round and gets hit higher up on my shin than if someone stuffs a thrust kick and I lose my balance.

I'm a bit scatterbrained in my organization of this one, but I'll sum it up and say that a teep to the thigh is a great kick for keeping distance or setting up your hands, but that front kicks don't deal much damage compared to a solid round.

I'm a bit scatterbrained in my organization of this one, but I'll sum it up and say that a teep to the thigh is a great kick for keeping distance or setting up your hands, but that front kicks don't deal much damage compared to a solid round.

Aye, but a well-timed rear thrust kick to the middle section can be devastating.

But ge digress.

At my gym we only used roundhouse low kicks. I always thought that the rules forbid any other kick to the legs (at least in kickboxing), am I wrong?

Yeah, we do the inside stomp kick. My FMA instructor referred to it as a tadjak (stomp). It's not something that is great during mma competition, due to the bare feet. With shoes on however, you can either rake their shins, or drive through a bit more on their shin or knee. Hurts like a mother. It works nice in knife fighting as well, as it doesn't expose your inner thigh for cuts to badly.

You can certainly throw snapping frontkicks under and into the kneecaps, but then you're just a dick. We have an old crazy guy in the Karate class who does it.


This kick is in Kun Tao. I imagine that with steel toe shoes, you could blast the kneecap into next week.

There's also the stomp kick to the knee, and a low side kick to the outside of the ankle. Good footwork is essential in getting either one.


I don't think a shin rake is effective against anyone who conditions their shins, either by hardening routines or repeated contact with a heavy bag.

This kick is in Kun Tao. I imagine that with steel toe shoes, you could blast the kneecap into next week.
When you have to say "I imagine..." that usually means you can't train the technique safely and as such it should be beneath your daily consideration. I wear steel-toed boots all winter and I wouldn't change any of my basic kicks.

throwing a teep into the top of someones leg is a pretty common technique in some places. real common in savate, seen it end fights. can be tricky to practice with in sparring because of the chance of smacking out someones knee.

All the savates low kicks should hit the thigh, not the knee. Only exception is coup de pied bas, which is allowed to shin. :profe: