Your thoughts on Side Kicks?

LoneWolf237 said:
I personally think Side Kicks are one of the most underrated and most devastating attacks in any martial arts. The problem is that they are too hard to pull off and way too awkward making it a hassle more of a weapon sometimes.

You see it alot in San Shou. (Cung Le used it very effectively against Frank Shamrock, and Sakmongkol does it sometimes, but he jumps foward while doing it)

I was practicing my teeps one day when I thought, "Hey, what if I rotate my knee clockwise during teeps to make kind of like a teep and side kick mixed together"

It seemed much better, gave alot more "push" but took a bit longer to pull off (you want teeps to be fast because they are used to push oppenents away before they make contact).

Side Kicks are great when you are in a sideways stance but otherwise they are too awkward to pull off in my opinion, you can set up for it though.
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Any readily available youtube footage or anything of sakmongkol using side kicks?
 
they are a pain in the arse same with spinning back and front/push kicks, totally underutalised all these are perfect for pushing opponents back.
 
JKD is beautiful, anyone whos read the tao of JKD cant say it hasnt changed the way they look at martial arts. IMO Bruce Lee pioneered modern MMA, even though his movies promoted TMAs.
 
bunzo7 said:
its a nice kick to have and if it feels awkward you just need to work on it..squats help build power and balance is key..i remember pulling off sidekicks real well back in TKD..it can be easy to catch for a takedown though so you gotta watch for that
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but if your doing mma you should have enough of a ground game to deal with that? I mean you get taken down so what? Pull guard and either go for a sub or try to make your way to top position.
 
there are ALOT of variation to side kicks as with every punch, kicks etc. the most common form of sidekick is the push sidekick and people who says sidekick are bullshit generally employs this form of sidekick. i do agree that this form of sidekick is less effective (still has its place) as compared to a push kick.

aha! but when it comes to the thrusting push kick, trust me it can easily shatter bones/ribs. the technique to execute the thrusting push kick is really different from a push side kick.
 
I think side kicks are pretty sweet -- especially against people who aren't used to seeing them.

Assuming that you've got a workable side kick, the trick is knowing when and how often to use it. If you use it in excess, it will be really easy to time and counter. On the other hand, if you set it up or mix it in well with the rest of your arsenal, it can be a damned good weapon. If you can cover distance with it, side kicks can really catch somebody by surprise. I've hit people from well beyond what they thought was my striking range.

Here's a vid of me using it in a smoker pancrase match. (For those of you wondering why I gave up positions, I should mention that I really wanted to get as much practice striking as I could.) YouTube - MMA/Pancrase Smoker 7/18/09

Most people at my gym, which is sanda based, scoff at my side kicks but they've worked well for me against people who haven't been very exposed to them.

Also, in regards to takedowns, why the side kick is so favored in sanda is because it's harder to catch than round or front kicks. If you throw it straight in and out (which I don't yet, sadly), it's very difficult for the guy to get a good hold of you.
 
I think I might have thrown less than 5 in my life time.
I like to throw a quick front teep as someone positions to throw a side kick.
Seems to work most the time.
 
My school trains side kicks pretty regularly. I've seen countless people dropped by side kicks. Throw a lazy jab, eat a sidekick. Charge in throwing punches, eat a side kick. The worst shot to the body I've ever taken as a sidekick. I was done.
 
Valentine Wolff said:
JKD is beautiful, anyone whos read the tao of JKD cant say it hasnt changed the way they look at martial arts. IMO Bruce Lee pioneered modern MMA, even though his movies promoted TMAs.
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An even better book is The ombat Philosophy of Wong Shun Leung by David Peterson

WSL was Bruce Lees main teacher of VT
 
mjw1 said:
An even better book is The ombat Philosophy of Wong Shun Leung by David Peterson

WSL was Bruce Lees main teacher of VT
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Is that right. Well i'll have to check it out.

Are you sure he was really one of bruce lees teacher or just one of the literally thousands of masters claiming to have taught bruce lee. Im pretty sure there is a grocery clerk in my town who gave bruce a few pointers.
 
I find they work really well on people that dont do another striking art particularly one that includes kicks. A lot of time if your not trained to react to someones feet they just dont see kicks coming like us stand up fighters do.
 
I have had them used fairly well on me..

But truthly i cant help but think if they where great, surely some of the top end MT practioners would have adopted it by now. (Dont give me the rubbish about being on MT's nuts, i dont care, they are warm friendly nuts).
 
People say axe kicks aren't that great, but certain people who train them regularly have made them work very, even on a pro level.

People don't see the kick dropping people, so they don't train it. So no one sees it being used. It's a cycle. I've seen numerous people dropped by them.
 
LoneWolf237 said:
I personally think Side Kicks are one of the most underrated and most devastating attacks in any martial arts. The problem is that they are too hard to pull off and way too awkward making it a hassle more of a weapon sometimes.

You see it alot in San Shou. (Cung Le used it very effectively against Frank Shamrock, and Sakmongkol does it sometimes, but he jumps foward while doing it)

I was practicing my teeps one day when I thought, "Hey, what if I rotate my knee clockwise during teeps to make kind of like a teep and side kick mixed together"

It seemed much better, gave alot more "push" but took a bit longer to pull off (you want teeps to be fast because they are used to push oppenents away before they make contact).

Side Kicks are great when you are in a sideways stance but otherwise they are too awkward to pull off in my opinion, you can set up for it though.
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Biggest difference for those guys is that they use the ball of the foot so they don't have to worry about the distancing or timing so much in order to fire them off. To create a devastating side kick, you really should be hitting with the heal, not the ball of the foot. As for set ups and positioning being hard to get to, Side kicks are used well when you don't want to give up your back during a round house or following a sweep attempt. It's all about setting them up correctly. If I get a chance, I will post a vid.
 
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