KickFest
Orange Belt
Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ti Kwan Leep. Approach me that you might see.
Although Boot to the Head is a valid technique of Tae Kwan Leep, few novices experience so much of Tae Kwon Leep so soon.
Kicking to the Head
- Thread starter HM2PAC
- Start date
Although Boot to the Head is a valid technique of Tae Kwan Leep, few novices experience so much of Tae Kwon Leep so soon.
zDom
Senior Master
Primary target for a hook kick, as per body mechanics, would be the side of the head or side of the nose.
If you are too close, yea, the back of the head works
Back of the head is one of the primary targets I learned - it does require a certain level of flexibility... and, of course, it has to be a legal target (which it is, for us - we came from the ITF).
zDom
Senior Master
It CAN be.
But the ideal target is the side of the head.
If you are hook kicking at the back of the head (or kidneys or back of the knee, for that matter) you are only using the hamstrings to pull the heel at the target.
Whereas, if you are striking the side of the head (or side of the knee, for that matter) you are able to recruit the glutes and pull (or attempt to pull) all the way THROUGH the target (ending in a chamber for roundhouse kick).
It IS fun to kick the back of the head with a hook kick if you have the flexibility — and relatively effective, as your opponent is likely to be completely taken by surprise by this strike.
But the hook kick is more powerful at the side of the head AND there are more vulnerable targets: temples, nerve centers in the neck, the side of the jaw — and YES, the side of the nose (although I recommend you save that particular target for self defense as I suspect few would be able to hit the side of the nose with enough control to not break it).
With a slight offset (to your right, for example, if you are kicking with your right leg) you can also drop that heel right into the facial structures — cheek bone, for example — in addition to making the nose a more viable target.
By the way: anybody else out there train and use a "downward hook kick"?
Instead of coming in parallel to the floor, this kick starts with the toes a bit higher than the heel (say, 45 degrees) and pulling down and across at that 45 degree angle (if right leg kick, from your high left to your low right side).
Or, another way to think of it, as the angle BETWEEN a regular hook kick and an axe kick. (FWIW, we also use the straight-legged version for this angle as an alternate axe kick, "downward axe" although come to think of it, ALL axes are downward
)This downward hook kick can be much more difficult to block than a regular hook, although it DOES take a bit of extra flexibility as you have to start the kick higher than the target to have the correct direction of motion.
I know kwanjang loves these two kicks (downward hook, downward axe) as much as I do
"Sneaky-sneaky; very sneaky"
zdom wrote:
I'll have to work on that, seems like they would be really effective weapons.
Instead of coming in parallel to the floor, this kick starts with the toes a bit higher than the heel (say, 45 degrees) and pulling down and across at that 45 degree angle (if right leg kick, from your high left to your low right side).
Or, another way to think of it, as the angle BETWEEN a regular hook kick and an axe kick. (FWIW, we also use the straight-legged version for this angle as an alternate axe kick, "downward axe" although come to think of it, ALL axes are downward
This downward hook kick can be much more difficult to block than a regular hook, although it DOES take a bit of extra flexibility as you have to start the kick higher than the target to have the correct direction of motion.
I'll have to work on that, seems like they would be really effective weapons.
cali_tkdbruin
Master of Arts
Yup, I agree with Terry, it depends on the tourney and the org behind it.
But real world, all bets are off, you do what you have to do... :btg:
you are correct real world everything goes all the time.
