Why kicking in the head?

[terryl965]

Because we can and we tend to do it better then other Arts.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Hello all, I don't want to start a flame here but want to know the way you think about the emphasis TKD puts in kicking the head.

Short answer: it is worth more points than kicks to the torso. It is the same reason that football teams would rather score touchdowns than field goals.

Last nigh before my TKD class I watched the teens and moms training, the sambonim wanted the class to perform dolyo chaguis (high round kick) to te head stressing this kick to the maximun. I watched how some just can't kick well enough to the head no matter his/hers efforts.

In some point I got one conclussion. It's unnatural for the human body to kick the head, the feet are lower extremities used for movement, the head is way above the ground. Kicking the head is as unnormal as punching the feet while they are on the ground!! Feet and head are opositive!

In some others MA feet/legs are used from toe to waist and arms and hands are used from waist to head and this makes sense.

It's true a good kick to the head can be devastating even in some cases lethal but this is something hard to achieve because the head is a small target moving in a fight, and the kicks must be fast and with timing and not many are lyke Super Foot Wallace out there.

I think because a kick to the head scores better than a kick or punch to the stomach in tournaments we as TKD people go for the head, but remeber sparring inside the dojang or tournament is a controled enviroment.

And your OP contains the answer to your question. The head kick is worth more because it is more difficult.

I saw a tall teen last night going to the floor trying to reach the head of his parhner, he landed flat on his back and confused, this in the street leaves us defendless.

The biomechanics of the body tells me a kick to the head is not natural, so why we give su much atention to this?

Just my two Mexicans cents.

Manny

Not natural?

Well, kicking in general is not natural. Our feet are made to walk, our hands are made to manipulate objects. Human beings have no natural attacks or defenses. We are not even particularly strong for our size. Pound for pound, pretty much every animal outmatches us. Many smaller animals outmatch us without any qualification at all; a chimp half the size of a normal man is substantially stronger.

The movement of a kick is natural in the sense that our bodies are hinged in such a way that a kick can be executed. The real issue is one of flexibility. The turning kick to the head is as natural as a turning kick to the torso if you have the flexibility to pull it off.

Daniel

 

[rmclain]

Reminds me of the movie, "Major Payne. "

Everone can kick to the head.. if you are having problems, try this:

1. Kick them in the groin first - when they double over, kick them in the head!

2. Sweep them and as they try to get up - kick them in the head!

:angel:
Seriously, I think the prominence of head kicking in TKD doesnt come so much from sport, but from TKD wanting to make its mark and be somewhat different to other arts.. shotokan already had high/head kicks.. but TKD made them a lot more "often" and a mainstay of the art.

Stuart

 

[goingd]

If Taekwondo were easy it would be no fun ^_^
Us tall guys and gals have at all at least once fallen while trying to do a high kick, but that is part of finding the balance between earth and air. Stay secure yet stay high. I think our bodies were designed to do countless extraordinary things. Most people can develop the speed and technique to use high kicks. When I'm taught and when I teach we train to try to kick well above the head. Why would we ever need to do that? We wouldn't. In fact I would really only kick to the head if I knew it would be very effective for the situation. But the better our high kicks, the much better our middle and low kicks.

^~^

 

[Manny]

For all of you, I am working in my roundhouse kick. I consulted with my sambonim the issue and it appears I'm more flexible to do high front kicks and ax kicks and side kicks but not so flexible in the high roundhouse kicks.

The other night sambonim saw my kicking tecnike and saw a fault (for him) and we are improving my way of kicking, so we are slow but think that with some kicking drills I will perform a decent roundhouse kick to my face level.

The sambonim told me that age is important too, for example, his 17 year old son is amazing performin kicks and very high kicks, kids are more flexible than adult men, when I was 17 I could kick very well nowdays I'm not so flashy.

Manny