Dropping the hand when throwing a high kick

[TheMMAchef]

Heres my advice....

If you are throwing a high kick, in one fluid motion you can drop the hand to your butt, get your other hand under your chin pointer out like a catcher mit to try and parry/block and incoming facial damage, and perform the kick.

When Tyrone Spong did it, he was almost leading the guy in while blocking. That is a form of feinting, not necessarily a "KEEP YOUR HANDS UP KICK".

Keeping your fists at your temples while doing a high kick doesn't allow you to get the twist and TORQUE you are looking for to decapitate your opponent I feel.

There are more than enough unique ways to do a high kick, the bottom line is if there aren't any LOGICAL OR REALISTIC flaws in the technique, then you should go with it.

I do not think you should drop BOTH hands of course.

 

[TheWaxMurderer]

I've never once seen a thai fighter keep both hands up. You bring the arm on the same side as the kick across as you kick to keep balance and produce leverage.

 

[RouseysCup]

ive seen many karate guys drop their hand as well and ive seen others that havent it comes down to personal preference not style

swing your hand down wont put any more power into your kick

and before the whole e penis measuring thing starts no i dont know how to post vids but if anyone is colorado and willing to take the time to come meet me and hold pads i will be more than happy to demonstrate:icon_chee[

Dude, your a cheesedick, and you're the one turning it into a pissing comp.

Look at all the vids of Thai fighters, and most kickboxers. They ALL swing the arm on a rear kick/high kick. Swinging the arm generates power through your body into the kick, through torque. I'm in Thailand right now at a MT camp, and Lumpinee champs are teaching us to swing the arm. you want me to tell them its wrong because some pencil neck from Colorado says thats not how to throw a kick?

Starting arguments for no reason. look at the proof. Your a ringworm.

 

[NAKMUAY18]

Ok, for the last time. It doesn't matter if your arm is out or swinging as long as your shoulder comes forward. Your arm does next to fuck all, the movement of your upper body is what keeps you in balance and makes you follow through with the kick. The problem with shelling up when you kick is that you crunch your body down, that closes your hips and shoulders.
Shoulders first then hips.
A good reason to block with your opposite hand is during the recovery phase of the kick. A common trade is check the right kick come back with your left kick. It's easier to block if your hands already there. Also a Check hook is a good counter to a rear kick.

 

[spunkbun**]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned earlier but another thing the swinging of the arm is good for is as an excellent deflector of the opponent's straight punch.
For example, he throws his menacing right cross and all you have to do (from southpaw stance, but if your switch is fast you can do the same from orthodox) is to swing your left arm while you kick with your rear leg and his punch will get deflected by your arm and leave the whole side of his body unprotected, ripe for your kick to break ribs and smash the liver.
I love guys who throw punches indiscriminately.

 

[Paradigm]

Ok, for the last time. It doesn't matter if your arm is out or swinging as long as your shoulder comes forward. Your arm does next to fuck all, the movement of your upper body is what keeps you in balance and makes you follow through with the kick. The problem with shelling up when you kick is that you crunch your body down, that closes your hips and shoulders.
Shoulders first then hips.
A good reason to block with your opposite hand is during the recovery phase of the kick. A common trade is check the right kick come back with your left kick. It's easier to block if your hands already there. Also a Check hook is a good counter to a rear kick.

I don't think the issue here is swinging down vs out...it's swinging the arm at all vs keeping both hands up throughout the duration of the kick.

I personally haven't seen any Thais not swing the arm at all but it could be different in different arts.

 

[cakemuncher]

I'd pretty much always swing my hand.

The only times I would keep both of my hands up is when I would do lights kicks without pivoting, whose only purpose is to disrupt the opponent before I throw a punch. (And since I am not pivoting, returning to the main stance is also fast, and you can punch even before your leg is fully back.)

There is also a version where you extend the arm (that would normally swing) and keep it in front of you or diagonally on the side of the opponent's neck (so that your arm and your shoulder are protecting you).

 

[mantis_fist]

I swing the arm when I'm kicking. I try to setup my kicks or keep the opponent at the a distance.

 

[Phlog]

The title was dropping the hand when throwing a high kick. As. In your hand, downwards.

Language fail again.

One can use the arm as a counter weight while keeping the hand shoulder height. It does not 'drop', it might 'swing', it is 'up', it us not glued to your f'ing face. It is a better guard.

 

[Paradigm]

The title was dropping the hand when throwing a high kick. As. In your hand, downwards.

Language fail again.

One can use the arm as a counter weight while keeping the hand shoulder height. It does not 'drop', it might 'swing', it is 'up', it us not glued to your f'ing face. It is a better guard.

true but some people "drop" their hand (swinging the arm down) when kicking. do we have the experience/credentials to correct Yodsanklai's form?



here's Lerdsila at my gym from awhile back...he's dropping that arm, no?



im not saying that Thais are the end all/be all of kicking technique but these guys are pretty credentialled, no?

 

[Phlog]

Yeah, your right they are.

I think that practice comes from 2 things.

1 they are relying on their head being out of range because it usually is during a high kick from the outside and the style involves more trading than countering combos.

2 they're good enough that their hands would be up if bring struck and during pad or bag work it just doesn't matter.

I wasn't suggesting dudes form was wrong.

 

[Paradigm]

Yeah, your right they are.

I think that practice comes from 2 things.

1 they are relying on their head being out of range because it usually is during a high kick from the outside and the style involves more trading than countering combos.

2 they're good enough that their hands would be up if bring struck and during pad or bag work it just doesn't matter.

I wasn't suggesting dudes form was wrong.

I wasnt implying that you were. the thing is...I'm pretty sure I've seen them do it on mid kicks and in fights. with them, even if you manage to recognize and throw out a counter, you might be eating a heavy kick still.

I'd love to see all the "both hands up" guys rationalize their technique...maybe the Thais don't know much about good kicking technique? lol

 

[SummerStriker]

These guys are basically masters of TKD and they drop their hands whenever they want - dropping their hands when describing a counter that could be a face kick even.



I personally spent a lot of time learning to relax my upper body while kicking, so that I don't feel a jerk against my will when I kick.

 

[Paradigm]

These guys are basically masters of TKD and they drop their hands whenever they want - dropping their hands when describing a counter that could be a face kick even.



I personally spent a lot of time learning to relax my upper body while kicking, so that I don't feel a jerk against my will when I kick.

isnt the threat of a counter punch to the face less in TKD than in MT?

 

[SummerStriker]

isnt the threat of a counter punch to the face less in TKD than in MT?

Yeah, but a counter switch kick can hurt your face just the same. Imagine two people in conventional stance. The first guy throws a rear leg round house kick. His opponent, sensing the kick, performs a switch step sideways, kicking with his own rear leg. If the opposite side hand isn't up, you will cleanly hit the face. If the kick is a good kick, you can put a dent in it.



Watch this video 10 seconds in. I know people who are just dynamite at counter kicking with it, and they are the hardest up about keeping the opposite side hand up.

This move doesn't work well against the Thai round kick because it swings through and gums it up, but against a TKD kick it works great.

 

[Paradigm]

Yeah, but a counter switch kick can hurt your face just the same. Imagine two people in conventional stance. The first guy throws a rear leg round house kick. His opponent, sensing the kick, performs a switch step sideways, kicking with his own rear leg. If the opposite side hand isn't up, you will cleanly hit the face. If the kick is a good kick, you can put a dent in it.



Watch this video 10 seconds in. I know people who are just dynamite at counter kicking with it, and they are the hardest up about keeping the opposite side hand up.

This move doesn't work well against the Thai round kick because it swings through and gums it up, but against a TKD kick it works great.

I've always wanted to take TKD to add to my kicks, tbh. probably should really add boxing instead lol.