I can totally understand why every one is so sceptical of this technique which may seem so different what you have been taught and practiced before. I used to be the same. In fact this kick is probably the hardest kick I have ever learnt. It took me months of practicing before I even started to get it right and that was after 15 years of traditional muay thai kicking technique training. The driving kick does not feel as powerful to the kicker because it doesn't have that same whip of the switch kick. But the kick is actually much harder once you get it. The heavy bag will bend and be sent flying. My already very tough shins started getting bruised again like a newb kickboxer. My training partners who hold the shield/thai pads tell me they can feel the increased power. Once I started trying to learn it I noticed that the driving technique isn't that wierd in muay thai. Lots of muay thai fighters add the drive to their kick albeit not as explicit as Donnie does.
I understand where you're coming from, but Donnie B is demonstrating the kick incorrectly. A number of knockdown karate guys use this type of low kick (the most famous being Kazumi's inside low), as do a number of Dutch kickboxers (Ernesto Hoost used to use it very effectively in the clinch!), but Donnie B is just straight doing it wrong. One of my senpai used to be great at it, and yes, I know it packs a lot of power, but it can be a risky method if it's not setup properly as I covered in my last post. It's effective after a punch combination against fighters that don't like to back up, and it's effective off a clinch that's breaking (like Hoost used to do). It's also effective in knockdown because the range is much closer without face punching, thus making this kick more viable to pull off with frequency (not to mention there's no fear of being face punched, although you're still liable to be swept or off-balanced from a check if you don't set it up).
Here's a video of the the technique being applied properly. He may not commit 110% with his bodyweight, but his technique is crisp, clean, generates good power, and a much better example than that fool Donnie B. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wf6ui4AhM0
To milk more power out of it, all he has to do is settle his weight down into the kick a little more, but then he'd probably sacrifice some speed for it.
P.S. Is that not the coolest standing heavy bag ever?
He is just some random guy I came accross. Calls himself Donnie B.
TBH, I don't like the way he throws the round house either:
This kick is a badly executed Savate Kick.
Notice the rotation of the feet that stays on the ground. 180 deg pivot.
BTW, I like how "Donnie B" is always so offbalance after executing a kick. Or how his head is so close to his opponent while he kicks.
Also, he tries to diss the "traditional" muay-thai kick but he doesn't even do it properly. You lose "25% rotation on the kick" ?? That's not what it is, you're supposed to step out to make sure the point of impact is where the kick has the most power...
A good way to get an idea of what I am trying to practice on the heavy bag. Throw your normal kick as you always would but jump past (to the side) the bag as you throw. It will look and feel just like a jumping thai kick except you are jumping into the target. It will be a harder kick because you are also adding the drive to it.
Those are two different kicks you are describing. If I jump past the bag to the side, of course it will be a harder kick because I am getting the full arc, plus adding a jump. But the kick Donnie is doing, there is hardly any arch to start with. He is throwing his weight forward on the bag. Plus, he is not raising up on his toes and throwing the kick downward...he just sort of crouches and hops forward. I can see some application for it however.
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"He wants to come all from the darkside on this one, I don't understand it"
Oh my friggin god I can't stand tutorials that dont show the kick right away and spend 10 minutes explaining shit. JUST DO THE DAMN MOVE! Pisses me off. That's why I like Kyryllo's tutorials. No talk, just the move at different angles.
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"He wants to come all from the darkside on this one, I don't understand it"
I've seen this weirdo a million times, but I don't know anything about him. I tried Googling him in an attempt to find out what his background is, but I got bored after a couple of pages of nothing. I see he has is own academy, but even their Facebook page doesn't mention where he learned this stuff from -- just that he's been teaching it for twelve years. And apparently he's taught it to law enforcement and the military? I dunno.
