This ten article series will deal with the various components that need to be addressed when considering the utilization of a particular kick in a combat or self-defense situation. These ten components can also be used by the tournament competitor although certain segments would have to be modified slightly for the tournament aspects of kicking, rather than the more intensive nature of using a kick or kicks in combat. Although all of these individual components are important, they are most effective when combined together and utilized correctly when executing a kick.
Although I will only be discussing one of the components in this article, here is the complete list of all ten of them.
1. Your Kicking Ability
2. Your Intended Application
3. The Environment
4. Telegraphing
5. Striking Implement
6. Striking the Correct Target
7. Initial Impact
8. Impact
9. Retraction or Follow Through
10. Return to Fighting Position
Component Three; Your Environment:
What is the immediate area around you like? Are you inside standing on a flat even surface like a floor? And if so, is it a hardwood floor, tile, carpeted, etc. Or are you standing outside on the pavement, gravel, grass, ice or snow, etc. Is the area free of obstacles? Are there chairs, tables, people, etc. around you? Is there plenty of room to move? Is it nighttime or daytime? What is the weather like? Is it hot, cold, raining, snowing, etc.? What is the attitude of the area you are in? Is it hostile, favorable, or neutral towards you? What is going on around you? Are you in a bar, concert, grocery store, church, etc.?
Are You Inside?
If the answer is yes, then for the most part you can surmise that the floor surface is going to be fairly flat and level for the most part. Now what kind of surface are you on? Is it a hardwood floor or tile? Or is it possibly cement or dirt? If it is a hard flat surface, is it wet or dry? Is their sawdust or other possibly slippery substance on it? Is there carpeting on the floor? And if so, does it provide traction or does it have a slippery surface? The surface area is very important and is paramount to maintaining ones stability regardless of whether or not you’re kicking.
Are You Outside?
If the answer is yes, is the surface area flat and level? Or is it uneven? Now what kind of surface are you on? Is it pavement, dirt, grass, ice or snow? If it is pavement or dirt, is there gravel on it as well? If the surface you’re on is grass, is it wet? Are there rocks or holes in the area? If you are standing on ice and snow, this brings up a whole different set of problems, which will be discussed later in this article.
Kicking in an outside environment can be radically different from executing the same kick indoors. Various contributing factors can be not only the surface area that you are kicking on, but also the time of day, the weather, etc.
Are There Obstacles Around?
Whether you’re inside or not, you will usually have some sort of obstacles in and around the area you are in. This can be anything from other people, chairs, tables, walls, stairs, etc. If you’re outside, obstacles will usually take the form of other people, buildings, cars, trees, fences, sidewalks, bushes, a hole in the ground, etc. Basically, an obstacle can be anything that could possibly get in your way or somehow impede your ability to execute a kick effectively.
How Much Space Do You Have?
Are you in a wide open area like a park or parking lot? Or are you in a crowded area like between some parked cars? Or are you in a bar full of people, tables, and chairs? Would you try to kick someone while standing with them in a wide open area? How about in a crowded bar? Or on a crowded subway car at rush hour?
As a basic rule-of-thumb, you should rarely ever attempt to execute a kick unless you have at least a 4 foot radius of space all around you.
What Time of Day Is It For You?
This has more to do with your own physical ability at various times of the day more so than the actual time itself. Is it early in the morning just after you have woke up, or is it early in the morning after a long night of drinking and partying?
Is it in the middle of the afternoon after you have just finished jogging 5 miles? What kind of condition would your legs be in after that 5 mile jog?
Or is it in the middle of the afternoon after you have just polished off your third helping at the local buffet? I don’t know about you, but I know I would have a very difficult time getting my leg up after polishing off three helpings from the buffet table.
Or perhaps it is the early evening after a long frustrating day of sitting behind your desk at work and you’re just getting home after being all cramped up in your car for the past hour on the drive home.
Just how relaxed and stretched out do you think your leg muscles would be?
What Is The Weather Like?
Is it hot or cold out? Is it dry or is it wet? Is there snow and/or ice on the ground?
Each one of these weather conditions can have an effect on your ability to kick when outdoors. Have you ever tried kicking while standing on ice or in a foot of snow when the temperature is at or below freezing? How about kicking on a smooth concrete sidewalk that is covered in water because of the current downpour that you’re standing in?
What Are You Wearing?
Are you wearing tight fitting clothing or loose fitting clothing? Are you wearing jeans, dress pants, shorts, or a dress? Are you wearing tennis shoes, boots, sandals, high heels, etc.?
Kicking in your regular everyday street clothes is vastly different from kicking in loose fitting gi pants and bare feet in a controlled environment; such as the dojo. Compare this to kicking in jeans and shoes while standing on pavement with gravel strewn all over it. Therefore, it is vitally important to not only train in your gi, but also to train in the same types of clothes and shoes that you would normally wear on a daily basis.
This is especially relevant for women who are often wearing dresses and high heels. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to walk in high heels let alone kick in them.
I would be willing to bet that you are not going to be wearing your gi (martial arts uniform) when and if you are ever confronted on the street with an actual self-defense situation. If you are, you probably have bigger issues to deal with than defending yourself from an opponent. But this is a subject that is best discussed at another time.
Each one of these contributing factors are very important for you to consider when deciding not only whether or not to execute a kick, but also how to execute it and when to execute it. You should train in every kind of environment and under any and every type of condition that you can possibly imagine in order to prepare yourself for any and all eventualities.
Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/
Shawn Kovacich is a high ranking black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Shawn is also a two time world record holder for endurance high kicking as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Shawn is the author of Axe Kick, volume three in the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence™ series.
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Article Title: Learn How To Kick: Kicking Effectively in a Self-Defense or Combat Situation Part 3 of 10
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