Shoes - Weapons or hindrances?

[Tez3]

14, good grief that's enormous! I mean really really enormous! They look like Doc Martens', always wore their shoes for work, it's the UK police officer's favourite shoe and boot (the Air Wear ones). The high boots are the Skinhead's favourite.

One of the reasons I can't do the sidekick well is that my poor broken so many times toes ( I know, poor baby, lol) are quite stiff now and I can't get that really nice position. where the big toe locks the knee I don't really 'do' side kicks' now anyway, much prefer my low MT roundhouse ( if you can get the liver it's sweet, well, not for the recipient of course >evil laugh<), the Wado front, back, hook etc etc. I just don't see the point of getting hurt trying to do one kick, there's so many more to do. If through injury you can't do something, don't do it rather than not doing it properly and hurting yourself all over again.

 

[Touch Of Death]

14, good grief that's enormous! I mean really really enormous! They look like Doc Martens', always wore their shoes for work, it's the UK police officer's favourite shoe and boot (the Air Wear ones). The high boots are the Skinhead's favourite.

One of the reasons I can't do the sidekick well is that my poor broken so many times toes ( I know, poor baby, lol) are quite stiff now and I can't get that really nice position. where the big toe locks the knee I don't really 'do' side kicks' now anyway, much prefer my low MT roundhouse ( if you can get the liver it's sweet, well, not for the recipient of course >evil laugh<), the Wado front, back, hook etc etc. I just don't see the point of getting hurt trying to do one kick, there's so many more to do. If through injury you can't do something, don't do it rather than not doing it properly and hurting yourself all over again.

Surely you mean, side kicks to the front, and not kicks to the side, where you just pick up your leg and stomp at an angle.

 

[elder999]

14, good grief that's enormous! I mean really really enormous! .

Yeah, I used to hear that a lot.

You know what they say: Big feet..........big shoes!

 

[Touch Of Death]

Yeah, I used to hear that a lot.

You know what they say: Big feet..........big shoes!

Also, when I am buying a size 14 at the shoe store, I get what they give me and like it, even if I don't like it.

 

[Tez3]

Sis theely you mean, side kicks to the front, and not kicks to the side, where you just pick up your leg and stomp at an angle.

Side kicks are kicks done with the side of the foot, ie the blade or the bit that runs from the little toe to the ankle. The foot is angled to strike with that part of the foot with the sole of the foot facing down. I don't know of any other type of side kick. I've already given you the Japanese name for it so look it up.

 

[seasoned]

The more the big toe is pulled back toward your body the more heel that hits first. The heel is in line with the leg which transfers the shock of the hit back through the hip which breaks many ribs.

This is me of course in another life time era.........

 

[elder999]

Side kicks are kicks done with the side of the foot, ie the blade or the bit that runs from the little toe to the ankle. The foot is angled to strike with that part of the foot with the sole of the foot facing down. I don't know of any other type of side kick. I've already given you the Japanese name for it so look it up.

Nope..ya kinda got that twisted in specificity, Irene.

Side kick=yoko geri

Blade edge side kick=sokuto yoko geri, or ashi getana yoko geri

Heel side kick=kakato yoko geri

Both are yoko geri, side kick, and the motion of the leg (you know, the kick ) is essentially the same, but the part of the foot that makes contact is different.

 

[elder999]

Izzat you, Wes? Cool!

 

[K-man]

If I can't kick because of the shoes I'm wearing I have plenty of other options, I don't kick high and I use the bottom of my shin to kick anyway so shoes for kicking doesn't concern me at all.

Pretty much any form of circular kick I would use and pretty much the only one I teach now is using the shin. It gives margin for error and is much more likely to destroy a knee. We don't use any high kicks also.

Sidekicks are definitely not 'my' kick, I've never been able to get great height or power into them in many years so quite simply I don't do them. I don't need them for grading and I manage fine without them so rather than do them incorrectly or hesitate about doing them, hesitation often being fatal, I simply don't do them. Done well they are a brilliant kick, I don't do them well so it's a so so kick. I imagine others have various techniques that they don't use so it's not a tragedy if you don't do something and concentrate on things you do well so rather than worry about what shoes to wear, don't do sidekicks. Simples.

The only time I would use a side kick would be against multiple attackers. Even then I would be more inclined to use a back kick. Kansetsu geri is fine but high kicks to the side are too easy to catch.

Well, to be honest apart from you I've never seen or even heard of anyone doing a 'side kick' with the heel. I am actually having trouble imagining it which might be me but I'm thinking probably not.

We would make a blade with the big toe up. Obviously with a shoe that is not possible so the structure of the kick is not the same. I think in that case a thrust with the heel makes more sense and it may be the reason Orange Lightning is talking about using the arch and losing power. Without the correct structure the foot is not going to be rigid.

I don't really 'do' side kicks' now anyway, much prefer my low MT roundhouse ( if you can get the liver it's sweet, well, not for the recipient of course >evil laugh<), the Wado front, back, hook etc etc. I just don't see the point of getting hurt trying to do one kick, there's so many more to do. If through injury you can't do something, don't do it rather than not doing it properly and hurting yourself all over again.

I think we lose some options as we get older and less flexible. I was never a fan of high kicks and now I just couldn't deliver one with much power anyway, but if my lower roundhouse to the thigh, using the shin, connects ... .

 

[Touch Of Death]

Side kicks are kicks done with the side of the foot, ie the blade or the bit that runs from the little toe to the ankle. The foot is angled to strike with that part of the foot with the sole of the foot facing down. I don't know of any other type of side kick. I've already given you the Japanese name for it so look it up.

No thanks.

 

[K-man]

But you know how those on the other side of the pond massacre the King's English.

Hmm! Well we can debate that point. The King's English you guys learned died out with good King George 3 back in the 1800s.

But it's the QUEEN's English...

Nowadays it is the Queen's English but I'm not sure many people in America actually speak it.

 

[seasoned]

Izzat you, Wes? Cool!

40 years ago my friend. Pork chop sideburns and all..... The way it goes, the higher the kick the least effort taking out ribs.


Now a days I just focus on knees and ankles.

I borrowed this little guy from you. No image infringement right....

 

[jks9199]

Forgot the LMAO smiley, sorry.

In all seriousness, I've posted elsehwere about working security with a friend who was a drag-queen, and watching him kick three guy's asses while wearing a mini-skirt and high-heels.....don't have any personal experience wearing or kicking in them, myself...pretty sure they don't come in men's size 15, anyway

,

Probably shouldn't know this (or at least admit to knowing)... but yeah, they do...

If you know where to look.but I've had a little experience helping women figure out how to move in them (short answer: get them off as soon as possible...about the only shoe I'd say this for)......when people are getting ready for brown belt, we put together a "street-clothes" kit for them, for street-clothes workouts, and it usually includes high-heels for the women, unless they claim to NEVER wear them.....for men it includes sneakers, workboots, and inexpensive dress-shoes...in some cases, like the sneaker, they are neither weapon nor hindrance-though you do have to work on orienting your foot properly, as they are a little different than barefoot. A good pair of Redwings, though, make a helluva missile out of each foot, and don't slow my kicks enough to make any difference, especially at self-defense height....

I like your idea of putting together a street clothes kit. I periodically do classes in street clothes. That also leads to one of the first things I ask when someone is trying to sell me on a police DT package. What are they wearing? If they're not willing to show me that their stuff works in a uniform, with boots, a full gunbelt (not a token belt with a gun, but a realistically kitted out bat belt), and body armor... Then their stuff doesn't really work.

 

[elder999]

That also leads to one of the first things I ask when someone is trying to sell me on a police DT package. What are they wearing? If they're not willing to show me that their stuff works in a uniform, with boots, a full gunbelt (not a token belt with a gun, but a realistically kitted out bat belt), and body armor... Then their stuff doesn't really work.

And, with a few minor exceptions, I don't instruct DT without uniform kit and duty belt. In fact, it's part of the street clothes kit for all my cop students.

 

[jks9199]

Well, to be honest apart from you I've never seen or even heard of anyone doing a 'side kick' with the heel. I am actually having trouble imagining it which might be me but I'm thinking probably not.

We teach 3 primary striking surfaces for the side kick: The blade/outside edge of the foot, the outside edge of the heel (position the same as the blade, but you're deliberately and consciously using the heel), and the bottom/flat of the heel. The last is my general preference, incidentally...

 

[jks9199]

Side kicks are kicks done with the side of the foot, ie the blade or the bit that runs from the little toe to the ankle. The foot is angled to strike with that part of the foot with the sole of the foot facing down. I don't know of any other type of side kick. I've already given you the Japanese name for it so look it up.

Now, see, I'd define a side kick as a kick done in a direction that's parallel to the hips; the side. Front kicks go... to the front! Back kicks go, of all the wild and crazy places, to the rear! Then there are half-back kicks, and front-side kicks, when you want to get tricky.

 

[Orange Lightning]

Yeah, I used to hear that a lot.

You know what they say: Big feet..........big shoes!

Now, see, I'd define a side kick as a kick done in a direction that's parallel to the hips; the side. Front kicks go... to the front! Back kicks go, of all the wild and crazy places, to the rear! Then there are half-back kicks, and front-side kicks, when you want to get tricky.

I have a weird side kick I use occasionally. Off my left foot, it starts from the right, almost like you're preparing for a hook, but actually lets you shoot immediately into a side kick.
Very occasionally though. It's really telegraphed compared to the normal sidekick. It's sort of like a feint from a hook to a side kick, but as one fluid movement. I don't know how I would define it.

 

[Tez3]

Nope..ya kinda got that twisted in specificity, Irene.

Side kick=yoko geri

Blade edge side kick=sokuto yoko geri, or ashi getana yoko geri

Heel side kick=kakato yoko geri

Both are yoko geri, side kick, and the motion of the leg (you know, the kick ) is essentially the same, but the part of the foot that makes contact is different.

I didn't get it twisted at all. You'd better look at Shingo Ohgami if you think it is. In his book 'Introduction to Karate', which has all the Wado techniques in it specifically says 'Sokuto Yokogeri ( soku=foot, to= knife, geri=side, because the side of the foot (Sokuto) is used as a weapon and the kick is performed sideward. Lift your knee as in Maegeri and then stretch your leg, opening your groin to the side. It is necessary to be flexible especially in the groin to be able to perform this kick well"
It then continues with a series of photos showing exactly what it means and it is that which we train. We train with the foot more sidewards on than in your photograph. It's just what we do. If you think it wrong you had better take it up with the author plus all our instructors.

 

[Tez3]

the best I could do with a scan of the page.

 

[RTKDCMB]

Clearly, I died and you became the expert on my body.

Why would you have to die for him to be an expert on your body?

You seem to think I do sidekicks with my arch. I don't. I use my heel. If I mess it up, it lands on my arch. It isn't that big of a deal. It's just less effective than it would have been

Then I would suggest that you either get more skilled with your side kick with your heel or use a different kick if that one is causing you pain.