Better Kicking Techniques?

Question

Which martial art do you think has the best kicking techniques, besides Muay Thai? Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Kyokushin, Shotokan, Goju Ryu, what? Not a which style is better question, but which techniques are better, as there is a difference.

Thanks in advance.

The level of contact used in sparring is irrelevant, as you could train full contact irregardless. What matters are the mechanics, or rather, the nature of the techniques.

Answer 1

I tend to favor the Japanese/Okinawan martial arts for kicking since they stress the use of the hip and the leg together for kicking. This reduces stress on the knee, especially when you are just throwing kicks in the air. Also with respect to using your kicks so many, (but not all) TKD schools teach you some tremendous kicks but don't teach you how to use or employ them as well as some other styles.

Answer 2

I am not sure about some of the styles, but Muay Thai and Kyokushin teach you to push into the kicks. By which I mean, when doing a shin/roundhouse/turning kick at the point of impact you push you entire body weight behind the kick. This in turn does more damage to the person you are kicking. I use these kicks al the time in competitions and sparring. They work especially well when striking the leg, I hit close to the top of the thigh (striking with the shin) and push the kick down the leg tearing the muscle and doing more damage. So these styles are the best for full contact techniques.

However if you prefer fast, controlled, semi-contact kicks where you learn to pull your kicks, but to fire them off rapidly I would go for Taekwondo. I sparred against a person who fights for England’s Taekwondo squad. His speed was unbelievable, kick fast than I could punch. We sparred 3, 3 min rounds, the first 2 rounds I let him do his thing until he started to tire. He must have hit me at least 100 times, but I could have just stood there with my guard down and he wouldn't have hurt me. It came to the last round and he was knackered, he came in with another barrage of kicks, I leant in with an over hand right. Which connected on the temple, then I through a hard shin kick to his thigh and he hit the deck. Me and my mates had to carry him home lol. Those two shots were the only shots I hit him with; he said afterwards that he had never been hit like that before. So he started coming to my instructors Kickboxing classes after that.

So to sum up it depends on what you are after light or full;-]





Edit: I train full contact and my ex instuctor put my into a semi-contact competition. He said I would win easily, but because my body mechanics were used too following through and not controlling the technique I got disqualified. Full and semi require different body mechanics and different technique, I prefer full contact technique as it is more realistic than semi;-]

Answer 3

Tae kwon do and Tang soo do are about the same in kicking where they both like to be high and aerial. Shotokan has good kicking techniques but most of them are low kicks. The other two I'm not sure of. Do like i did and mix Shotokan and Tae kwon do.

Answer 4

Muay Thai easily has the best kicks. Kyokushin is also good. tkd is fun, but most of the kicks taught in TKD are very not very powerful or effective. Muay Thai has the most efficient and powerful technique. You can see many videos on muay thai kicks on youtube.

Answer 5

Asking which art or technique is better, is still a "which is better?" question.

And again, Its all up to the person studying.

Answer 6

kung fu. balance and ready for the next move is what are behind those kicks.