How do you chamber a side kick?

[skribs]

Do you chamber your side kick by bringing your foot up or knee up?

• Foot up: bring your foot up and keep it next to your leg, with your heel right next to your knee or thigh.
• Knee up: bring your knee up to your chest, so your heel is in front of your hips.

I tend to chamber foot up, but I've seen people chamber knee up. I chamber foot up because it keeps everything along a single axis. Which do you do, and why do you do it that way instead of the other?

 

[pdg]

It depends on which type of side kick I'm doing...

 

[skribs]

It depends on which type of side kick I'm doing...

What types are you referring to?

 

[Danny T]

Depends on when and how the kick is being use.
Is it a primary attack, is it being use as a follow up or after countering an attack?
What is the range it is being use? What is the relationship spatially with the opponent/target to be kicked?

 

[pdg]

What types are you referring to?

There are a fair few...

Side piercing or side thrusting to name two.

Then as Danny T said, where the target is in relation to your start position comes into play. Is it directly in front, and if so when are you going to make the required turn because that's going to affect the chamber.

Is it to the side, are you going to be stepping through into the kick, are you aiming to do a reverse side kick?

There are far too many variables in terms of actual kick and in terms of target to state one single chamber position.

 

[skribs]

Is there a general principle you can find? For example, chambering high (as possible) vs. chambering in line with your body?

 

[Danny T]

Is the chamber being use for something other than just a chamber?

 

[skribs]

Is the chamber being use for something other than just a chamber?

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

 

[drop bear]

Mine is pretty much knee forward. But I mostly only throw it after a roundhouse kick.
So I have sort of landed that way anyway.

 

[CB Jones]

Kinda like this....to maximize power

 

[Steve]

I learned knee up.

 

[Danny T]

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

I mean is the chamber of the leg something more than just a chamber?
Leg shield, parrying a kick, kneeing the opponent, blocking the opponent's forward motion into a standing grappling as a few possibilities. The kick is then a follow up to the above possibilities.

 

[dvcochran]

Kinda like this....to maximize power

Yes, but I think he is in the middle of a turning kick.

 

[dvcochran]

I mean is the chamber of the leg something more than just a chamber?
Leg shield, parrying a kick, kneeing the opponent, blocking the opponent's forward motion into a standing grappling as a few possibilities. The kick is then a follow up to the above possibilities.

But have you not went outside the realm of a "kick"? I agree kneeing in considered a kick but I never really thought of chambering a knee since you should have already struck before your knee goes too high. The very motion of the chamber itself is a defensive posture. Do you agree a leg shield is much the same motion as a parry? I am looking at all of this from straight on so sure from an angle the knee could be different.
To try to clarify and narrow @skribs question, lets include only a back leg (reverse) kick. We teach that front, roundhouse, side, inside/ front outside crescent, ax kick all start from the same knee chamber, Knee high, foot tucked in, body up tall. This is to aid in using the hips in power generation and to make it difficult to see what kick is coming until well into the chamber.
I do not get the "beside the thigh" reference.

 

[skribs]

But have you not went outside the realm of a "kick"? I agree kneeing in considered a kick but I never really thought of chambering a knee since you should have already struck before your knee goes too high. The very motion of the chamber itself is a defensive posture. Do you agree a leg shield is much the same motion as a parry? I am looking at all of this from straight on so sure from an angle the knee could be different.

I think he means things that are done before a side kick. For example, use your leg to block, then counter with a side kick from that postion. Or knee strike, and then if you miss follow up by extending into a side kick.

I don't think he meant chambering for a knee strike.

 

[CB Jones]

Yes, but I think he is in the middle of a turning kick.

Yeah Google images didn't give many good examples

 

[skribs]

Actually now I'm finding 3 versions:

Foot Up:

This is the position you see a side kick from in Pyongwon, among other forms. It is the crane stance, with the foot right in the centerline of your body (i.e. all of your weight is behind the kick).

Knee Up:

It might be hard to tell from this angle, but his knee is coming up to his chest with his foot out in front of him. If he were looking at you, it looks like he's chambering for a front kick.

Leg Up:

In this one, if his foot were pointed down it would look like he's chambered for a roundhouse kick.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I use all of the chambers you're shown above, depending on the situation.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Is there a general principle you can find? For example, chambering high (as possible) vs. chambering in line with your body?

IMO as a general rule the higher you want to kick the higher you want to chamber. This will lessen the upward angle / trajectory of the foot and the closer you can can to making the angle perpendicular to the target the more powerful the kick will be since it will avoid having the kick slide upward on impact. The effects of not doing this can be seen on multiple board power break attempts where, depending on the type of holder front boards will slide upward against boards behind them if the upward angle is too great.

 

[Christopher Adamchek]

Thank you for the photos - i had a hard time figureing out what people meant lol
I use all three depending on many things: force, angle, speed, height, power, etc.
If you havent seen it Jesse the Karate Nerd had a great explanation video on side kick