Setting up

[andrewp]

Chrislg wrote:
Hmmm... mae geri kekkomi has always been one of my most practised and effective kicks... I am surprised to hear you don't use it a lot Shawn.
I do personally... but I've not seen many schools teach it.

Hmm. Still surprised. I would have ranked this the number one karate kick in terms of frequency... just surprised that's all. What would you consider the most common kick? Nowadays it is probably the round house, but I believe that is more due to combat sports (including point sparring) and the taekwondo influence.

Front snap kick (mae geri)....when all else is going bad....they revert to this one....even if it is just to keep the guy away. That is my experience from judging and refering.

[Jinen Kym]

Chrislg wrote:
Hmmm... mae geri kekkomi has always been one of my most practised and effective kicks... I am surprised to hear you don't use it a lot Shawn.
I do personally... but I've not seen many schools teach it.

Hmm. Still surprised. I would have ranked this the number one karate kick in terms of frequency... just surprised that's all. What would you consider the most common kick? Nowadays it is probably the round house, but I believe that is more due to combat sports (including point sparring) and the taekwondo influence.

I agree with you Chris. In "contact" karate tournaments we used the front "thrust" kick with great success because kicking into bags you learnt how to adjust distance with your hips and it was great to plant between yourself and the opponent. With so many of my students from other karate clubs I noticed they take the easy option with the mawashi geri, used almost exclusively because they never learnt how to use strength in punches or front kicks to drive the opponent back. In my opinion it's mainly due to "snap" front kicks being used for points where air is all they have ever kicked.

In karate sparring or comps another set-up is to circle your opponent for a couple of steps to the left, then to the right, then back to the left. If they change their stance from left to right and have become synchronized, then halfway through the change back to the right drop in a left front kickto the sola plexus.

[Jinen Kym]

Chrislg wrote:
Hmmm... mae geri kekkomi has always been one of my most practised and effective kicks... I am surprised to hear you don't use it a lot Shawn.
I do personally... but I've not seen many schools teach it.

Hmm. Still surprised. I would have ranked this the number one karate kick in terms of frequency... just surprised that's all. What would you consider the most common kick? Nowadays it is probably the round house, but I believe that is more due to combat sports (including point sparring) and the taekwondo influence.

Front snap kick (mae geri)....when all else is going bad....they revert to this one....even if it is just to keep the guy away. That is my experience from judging and refering.

Cart before the horse! It's going "bad" because they didn't use the front kicks in the first place.
One of those who used it successfully was Roger Cooles son Scott.

[flyfire]

With so many of my students from other karate clubs I noticed they take the easy option with the mawashi geri, used almost exclusively because they never learnt how to use strength in punches or front kicks to drive the opponent back.

My thoughts exactly in the world of muay thai/kun khmer. The thais use this a shiteload more that their aussie counterparts and for good reason. Probably obvious from the fight I posted, but a well utilized teep can be sooo frustrating for an opponent who wants to bang-on with punches etc. In competition, I tend to use this in the first round to frustrate the hell out of people-hurt them psychologically if you will- then in the next 2-4 rounds (depending on rule set), use it to set up one's own attacks/combinations. The only danger though is a hyper-aggressive and also super-conditioned fighter who walks through the teeps and gets in your face constantly: thats when a good clinch game (and good fight-fitness-something which i am sorely lacking currently) can serve one well.

Of course, in self defence situations, a mild adjustment and you have a powerful front kick to the nether-regions haha. Or change it to a stomping thrust to the kneecap/ shin-scrape etc.

[Shawn]

Chrislg wrote:
Hmmm... mae geri kekkomi has always been one of my most practised and effective kicks... I am surprised to hear you don't use it a lot Shawn.
I do personally... but I've not seen many schools teach it.

Hmm. Still surprised. I would have ranked this the number one karate kick in terms of frequency... just surprised that's all. What would you consider the most common kick? Nowadays it is probably the round house, but I believe that is more due to combat sports (including point sparring) and the taekwondo influence.

I agree with you Chris. In "contact" karate tournaments we used the front "thrust" kick with great success because kicking into bags you learnt how to adjust distance with your hips and it was great to plant between yourself and the opponent. With so many of my students from other karate clubs I noticed they take the easy option with the mawashi geri, used almost exclusively because they never learnt how to use strength in punches or front kicks to drive the opponent back. In my opinion it's mainly due to "snap" front kicks being used for points where air is all they have ever kicked.

I'd say that's a fair assessment. A lot of my training was in these competition schools and that's my main exposure. I found that most could not use this kick successfully, or simply chose not too. Agree, mawashi-geri was the weapon of choice to create that distance. I later found for myself though that a good straight line Mae Geri Kekomi can cut through their defence for an intimidating stop to their movement. In most cases I've used this as a push for distance or to off-balance them, which can sometimes put them on their behind. As a power kick for impact though, devastating.