Getting kicked below the hogu

[Touch Of Death]

Sometimes "drag kicking" is useful. Ap Bal for example. But how do you feel about the retraction part of the kick, especially for roundhouse? Do you feel that a full snap back is important?

If you plan on planting that foot back to the ground, its best to have control over where.
Sean

 

[Touch Of Death]

I think the foot in the air thing is a result of teaching students to snap their kick back upon the retraction as one of the most important parts of the kick. I'm more into letting the retraction or recoil be natural, and instead focus on, as you say, putting the kicking foot on the floor as quickly as possible.

As long as natural isn't slower.
Sean

 

[ATC]

Sometimes "drag kicking" is useful. Ap Bal for example. But how do you feel about the retraction part of the kick, especially for roundhouse? Do you feel that a full snap back is important?

Yes of course, this is in reference to the OP's 45 or 90 degree turn (round) kick.

Now for the ap bal (axe) you can also use a bent knee on the way up as well. Very useful for getting pass a guard.

As for the full snap back, it is not needed but some recoil is.

 

[ATC]

If you plan on planting that foot back to the ground, its best to have control over where.
Sean

Spot on. This is all a part of the footwork to manage and maintain proper distance. Just letting the foot drop may not be the best option for what the opponent is doing.

 

[Kacey]

If a fellow student kick me low (groin area) I will asking him to raise his foot... once.. or maybe twice.. but if this fellow keeps kicking me low I will certainly kick him the same way so he put atention, this is a comon thing in my dojang. Offcurse I will tell him UPS!! Sorry!! and hen maybe a second low kick will be not need it.

manny

Likewise... especially as women don't wear cups! We don't wear hogu, either, but we still stop the legal target zone at the belt. As little as I enjoy being hit in the lower abdomen or groin, it's worse when people hit lower thigh - I have enough knee problems as it is. Generally, juniors don't realize they're kicking that low, and telling them is enough - or at least gets them trying to raise their kicks. Seniors who consistently kick below the legal target zone are a different issue, which should be addressed either directly or via another senior or the instructor.

Have you brought this up with your instructor? If multiple students are doing this, it sounds like the issue is more systemic. If that's the case, your instructors would need to know if something they are doing isn't working right so they can understand how to fix what is broken.

Again, likewise.

 

[puunui]

As long as natural isn't slower.
Sean

generally, natural is faster. Snapping back adds a step in the kicking process which slows kicking, especially recovery. As soon as you make contact, we immediately start dropping the leg to the floor, while the leg is in the process of its natural recoil. But a lot of people kick, snap back violently, and then put their foot on the ground, which is slower especially if your snap back is all the way with heel to your butt. Generally we land forward, so recoiling that much, snapping back a lot, brings the foot forward (on the kick), then back (on the recoil), then forward again when you put your foot down. So your foot does this zig zag when snapping back. I don't know if I am explaining it correctly.

 

[puunui]

Likewise... especially as women don't wear cups!

Trish Bare, the USTU medical person, recommends that women wear a men's cup for protection. She said that the female groin guard may do even more damage and offers very little in the way of protection. She is the person who wrote the book published by turtle press on the treatment of martial arts injuries. I believe it is available at barnes and noble. I don't know if she has that advice in there but the book is pretty good.

 

[Tony49]

In our school the groin is a legal target. So you tend to get hit there quite often if you don't set up your head kicks correctly. We don't use full contact to the groin but it is not unheard of to have a broken cup from time to time.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Trish Bare, the USTU medical person, recommends that women wear a men's cup for protection. She said that the female groin guard may do even more damage and offers very little in the way of protection. She is the person who wrote the book published by turtle press on the treatment of martial arts injuries. I believe it is available at barnes and noble. I don't know if she has that advice in there but the book is pretty good.

Yes, I think women should enjoy the occasional cup cut on the inside of their thigh too. Women's Lib and all.
Sean

 

[Manny]

I don't know if that is a good idea, intentionally kicking someone low because they do it to you....

It works belive me!!! Don't know if you know what an injection is? an injection is a kick that hits you in the butt and it feels like a sting, when some fellow inject me imore than twice, just because lack of balance or what ever I do the same and by miracle this fellow starts to raise his foot.

Manny

 

[Archtkd]

I. Beginners generally do kick low even on the paddle; your thumb can get beat up. For white belts, I hold the paddle face side down, near my pinky finger, because they kick low. Otherwise you always have to watch for the low kick and make the adjustment. Holding the paddles face side down tends to solve that issue and if they miss because they are too low, then they have incentive to kick higher as well.

Have you tried paddle hand shields. Vision (MyKick.com) sells them. I do tons of paddle work with students at our dojang and the shields seem to work very well, especially when I am protecting fingers that have suffered injury in other ways.

 

[puunui]

Don't know if you know what an injection is? an injection is a kick that hits you in the butt and it feels like a sting, when some fellow inject me imore than twice, just because lack of balance or what ever I do the same and by miracle this fellow starts to raise his foot.

Never heard of an injection kick before. Exactly how do you do it?

 

[puunui]

Have you tried paddle hand shields. Vision (MyKick.com) sells them. I do tons of paddle work with students at our dojang and the shields seem to work very well, especially when I am protecting fingers that have suffered injury in other ways.

Never used that. Does it protect you from full force kicks to the thumb? If so, I am open to trying it out.

 

[granfire]

What kinda blokes do you train with?!
in our school low kicks are a no go (the exception is the BB kick to the thigh with a number of rules)

And usually one complaint is enough to get the attention...(only with a couple of juniors did the owners wife have to threaten to spar with the little guys she is about their size though...:lol

You hit somebody low, a quick 'sorry' usually eases the tension....

 

[jda]

Sorry if this has already been said, too lazy to read all the posts, but if a lower belt does it I try to gently correct them on their technique. If a black belt does it, especially repeatedly, I return the favor. This usually gets their attention and is enough for them to correct their form. I expect the same in return.
Jim