The Offensive Sidekick

TaekwonPRO

TaekwonPRO

White Belt
I only ever see other TKD practitioners use the sidekick defensively.

Does anyone else here use it offensively? I tend to step behind one of my legs and lean my body back while doing so. Gives me a sidekick moving forward that I can aim to the head or face.


Am I the minority in doing this?
 
Side Kick is My primary Kick, primarily in Offense.
I dont much like the Stepping Side Kick though. But thats personal preference.
Just Rear and Front Leg Side Kick.

Also, I suggest not leaning back. More Power.
 
Its easily my best offensive kick. Im tall and lean and dont have much weight behind me and its the only kick I can do where I can send an opponent flying, even if they are considerably bigger than me. I usually do it off the front leg. I also agree with Cyriacius, dont lean back too much.
 
My instructors teach it as the main offensive weapon. They compare it to a boxer's jab. There are students in our dojang who just tear people up with the side kick.
 
Our sparring combinatioin "C": Facing your opponent in Closed stance position right legs back. Lead hand jab to the face well stepping to your left slightly wih the lead leg (putting you at a better angle for attack to their front). (The hand technique distracts from the foot motion) rear / right leg side kick to the middle, while stepping down forward with the kicking foot follow with same side hand technique high.
 
The more used kick in our dojang is the roundhouse kick, however ot will be nice to to see how the sidekick can be used ofensively, I will tr it, I use ofensively the side kick but as a combo, I mean trowing first the roundhouse kick followed by a spining back kick that is a side kick per se only with a spin.

Manny
 
I agree with Master Weiss and Cyriacus. The other side kicking technique that I find very useful is the sliding side kick (not stepping or skipping). I tried to find a youtube video to illustrate, but nearly everything that came up for a "sliding" side kick was either a stepping or skipping. A sliding side kick, or atleast the way it was taught to me, is from a rear leg weighted stance (back/cat style fighting stance) chamber the front leg and push off the back leg so that your rear leg ends up where your front leg was. This hides the head bobbing telegraph that a "skipping" side kick has, and increases the speed compared to a "stepping" side kick.

Here's the best example I could find:
 
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ralphmcpherson said:
Its easily my best offensive kick. Im tall and lean and dont have much weight behind me and its the only kick I can do where I can send an opponent flying, even if they are considerably bigger than me. I usually do it off the front leg. I also agree with Cyriacius, dont lean back too much.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I am Isshin-Ryu, not TKD, but we use the side kick (Yoko Geri) quite often effectively. Unlike you, I am short and round. I can't kick high. But my side kick can be devastating, and I think it's my favorite kick to use sparring. I do tend to skip it or step behind (we practice stepping behind, but when I use it sparring, I do sometimes skip). It's great because you're already in a fighting position, and most people will expect a kick to come from the rear leg; this comes from the forward (to the opponent) leg.

We teach a combination move; we will launch a horizontal backfist to the face as a distracting move (it might connect or might not, but makes them defend) while stepping behind and then launch the side kick as the backfist lands, giving no time to react.

Biggest shortcoming of the side kick is distancing is pretty critical. Easy to miss with it. The defense to the side kick is to step back; no block required.
 
Today with the EBP's the side kick or a variation of it has become an offensive kick. The Turks Servet Tazgul even uses the back kick as a attacking kick. Which most people used as a counter kick only. Steven Lopez won the 2007 World Championships in OT with a cut kick-side kick variation defeating the Korean in a controversial match.
 
SahBumNimRush said:
I agree with Master Weiss and Cyriacus. The other side kicking technique that I find very useful is the sliding side kick (not stepping or skipping). I tried to find a youtube video to illustrate, but nearly everything that came up for a "sliding" side kick was either a stepping or skipping. A sliding side kick, or atleast the way it was taught to me, is from a rear leg weighted stance (back/cat style fighting stance) chamber the front leg and push off the back leg so that your rear leg ends up where your front leg was. This hides the head bobbing telegraph that a "skipping" side kick has, and increases the speed compared to a "stepping" side kick.

Here's the best example I could find:
Click to expand...

My only problem with this is that you lose a lot of the body, foot, and hip rotation in comparison to how it is traditionally thrown.

The sliding method is rather unexpected, though.
 
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TaekwonPRO said:
My only problem with this is that you lose a lot of the body, foot, and hip rotation in comparison to how it is traditionally thrown.

The sliding method is rather unexpected, though.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, the preload isn't as much, but the rotation comes in the last movements of the kick. Think of it in a similar manner as the 3" punch, the rotation of the reverse punch that I was taught comes in the last 3" inches, so power isn't significantly lost by only executing the last few inches of the punch. Again, the demonstration in the video isn't ideal, but it was the best that I could find.
 
We practice this same move... which we call a Shifting Side Kick. The foot never leaves the floor, just a fast shift/slide forward to quickly close the gap. We also perform the same maneuver using a turning kick and hook kick. The cool thing about these three maneuvers is that they all load pretty much the same... so you can throw a dozen side kicks at an opponents midsection, and when they start cheating/anticipating a bit, kick 'em in the head with a hook or turning.
 
TaekwonPRO said:
I only ever see other TKD practitioners use the sidekick defensively. Does anyone else here use it offensively? I tend to step behind one of my legs and lean my body back while doing so. Gives me a sidekick moving forward that I can aim to the head or face. Am I the minority in doing this?
Click to expand...

You would be if you competed under the WTF rules.
 
There was a sign on the wall of my old dojo. It read -
"The best way to get rid of an enemy is to make him a friend.
If that doesn't work, try a step up sidekick."
 
If my memory serves, wasn't one of Arlene Limas' major weapons at the 1988 Olympics a lead leg &/or sliding side kick that worked well for her? Coming from her Open Tournament background, her kicks were a bit surprising to the Olympic fighters from other countries. It wasn't what they were used to seeing.
 
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