Intensive Purposes

The Famous Muay Thai Round Kick

I stumbled across a post I made to an internet forum about four years ago, describing the mechanics of the round kick. I thought I'd dust it off and update it a little. Now it's posted here, for posterity's sake.

We're going to assume a left lead stance and you will be kicking with the rear (right) leg. First off, take a step (or hop) about 45 degrees to the left from straight ahead, to your opponents right. Now, your support (left) foot will pivot outward, ideally ending with the heel pointing at your target. You should be up on the ball of your supporting foot. As you pivot, turn your hips, kind of like you are turning around to look behind you, but don't actually go that far. While your hips are rotating, your kicking (right) leg will lift off of the ground. Let it swing, like a baseball bat, at the desired level (thigh level is good). Don't tense your thigh muscle, just relax and let the kick make contact. You should be hitting with your shin, not the foot.

About halfway through the kick (experiment for the right timing), drop your right hand back behind you, this adds counter balance to the movement so you don't spin like a top (unless you want to). Be sure to keep your shoulder up to protect the chin though, otherwise a counter punch has your name on it.

On contact the knee should be bent, and the force of the blow should contact the target at about a 45 degree angle inward (not straight in from their left side - 90 deg. - and not straight in from the front - 0 deg). Again, don't tense up on impact, just let it swing like a baseball bat or axe, right on through the target.

To sum up, the major points - hips completely turn over (the biggest problem with newbies), the hand is dropped to provide torque, but the shoulder is kept up for defense, and don't chamber the kick, just let it go.

posted by Sir Phobos on 17 Feb 2006 at 09:24

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What is Jeet Kune Do?

Good question. I guess, technically, you could say I train in Jeet Kune Do, or JKD for short. I mean, my instructor is a certified instructor under Guro Dan Inosanto, who was the only person to hold all three certifications that Bruce Lee awarded. But I have a hard time telling people who ask that I train in JKD. Mostly because I don't feel like people would understand what that means. In my opinion (possibly wrong, but this is my understanding), JKD doesn't have a certain body of moves, a certain stance, things like that. JKD is a martial arts philosophy, a method of training. Jun Fan Gung Fu was what you would actually call the martial art that Bruce Lee created. That term encompasses all the punches, kicks, traps, parries, etc that he used when fighting.

At PMA, we train in a bunch of different arts. Now, there are many schools of thought on crosstraining in martial arts. If done haphazardly, then it can be detrimental to the skill and undersanding. But for us, JKD provides the glue that binds the pieces into the whole. We train a lot of Muay Thai for the striking and standing clinch work. We train Inosanto Blend Kali for the weapons as well as the striking. Boxing gives us some more options, and provides a nice bridge between the two. On the ground, we use mostly Brazilian JiuJitsu and some wrestling, with a healthy portion of silat mixed in. The silat also brings us back to the striking and takedowns. While training these different systems we emphasize the pieces that fit together. We blend them together in a way that they support each other.

This is Jeet Kune Do. Using that which works.

posted by Sir Phobos on 16 Feb 2006 at 14:17

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My Free Time

Or lack thereof.

I like martial arts. Always have. And for the last 5 years, I've been training pretty regularly. I'm even an assistant intructor. But sadly, since my wife got pregnant last summer, I haven't really had any time to go roughhouse. The first time she got pregnant, it wasn't much of a problem. But this time around, we have a toddler to take care of. And after I've been at work all day, she's pretty well worn out by the time I get home. I can't really take off for a couple of hours and leave her at home, exhausted, to try and keep up with a cranky 18 month old.

I've tried taking the boy with me to the school, but that doesn't really work out so well. He likes watching, and usually the owner's kids are there (especially if I give some notice), and they'll play with my little boy. But it's hard to keep him from running out on the mat, and sometimes he gets cranky halfway through class, which is a distraction for everyone else who's paying to learn. So I guess I'm not selfish enough to bring him with me.

The school where I train is great, though. I helped set it up before it opened, and I've been there ever since. The other instructors are like family to me, and the students are all friends. I really can't wait until I can start spending more time there again. Training there always helps me forget about any worries I have and helps me deal with the stresses in my life.

posted by Sir Phobos on 16 Feb 2006 at 07:24

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