AXE KICK

[j123]

I agree with you in principle. One of the functions of the chamber (in theory) is to help bring the hips over and get the kicking leg over or around your opponent's guard. But as @shincheckin pointed out the late Andy Hug was very successful at using the kick w/out chambering his kicking leg. As many of his fights I had seen in both knockdown Karate and K-1 I don't know how I missed keying in on him never chambering his kicking leg.

He's a KK guy though right? Isn't the kick mechanics similar to MT without chambering?

 

[AshiharaFan]

He's a KK guy though right? Isn't the kick mechanics similar to MT without chambering?

I was taught to chamber the kicking leg by my Kyokushin instructor. I was taught to chamber my kicking leg when I was training TKD as well. Perhaps it comes down to preference or instructors teaching the technique the way they themselves learned it. Whether you chamber your leg or not as long as you are able to turn your hips and bring your kicking leg outside and over your opponent's guard you can be successful with it.

 

[shincheckin]

from the majority of videos of i have seen online, it looks like a Kyokushin kick is chambered.

 

[spacetime]

You can't throw an axe kick without chambering it. Be it either semi circular or front chambering.

 

[Paradigm]

You ever record a vid of your current axe kicking technique?

It should always be chambered. For starters the kick is much quicker when chambered and has the snap needed to get it past your opponent's guard with power. Also, it is not telegraphed when chambered AND when you chamber your leg there is far less the likelyhood of your kicking leg getting caught mid stride (coming or going). It is near impossible to get the kick around your opponent's guard without chambering it and makes the execution quite difficult and clumsy. If you haven't done so already you should really study Andy Hug's technique as closely as you possibly can to see what I mean.

I think the MT in you is what makes you not want to chamber your leg for this kick. While there are some kicks between MT and Karate that can be chambered for speed but not as much power (mawashi geri and mae geri in Karate) and others delivered directly to your target without chambering for more power but less speed (round kick and teep kick in MT) there are certain techniques in Karate that are almost always delivered with snap via chambering such as the side kick, crescent kicks (for those Karate styles that use it) and the axe kick.



That seems normal to me. I was thinking more along the lines of when I attended a Kung Fu class with my Ninja gear on complete with shuriken, hand claws, smoke bombs, grappling hook, Ninja-To and a hit list. The only skills I lacked at the time were the ability to slip out of handcuffs and escape police cars. I'm still working on that.