Self defense basics: How to properly do and use the front kick

When you first start learning just about any hard martial arts style one of the first things you will learn is the front kick. Different martial arts styles and schools will give the front kick slightly different names such as the front snap kick, and the front thrust kick. All of these types of front kicks basically have the same use and ways of doing them.

There are many uses of the front kick, but we will cover the basics including how to use the kick and properly doing the kick.

One of the worst things you can experience in the martial arts is a hyperextended knee. Sometimes this can spell the end to your martial arts career. To avoid a hyperextended knee, do not ever kick as hard as you can into thin air hitting no target.

When you are practicing this kick please make sure to limit your power if you are kicking in the air alone. At a target, you can kick with full power and not have to worry about hyperextension, as long as the target was some decent stopping power to it such as a kick shield held by a decent-sized person. Some important points about the front kick:

-Never bend your supporting knee when you kick
-Never kick with your toes
-Always throw your hands back when you kick forward, this adds tremendous power to your kick
-Always retract your kicking foot, never leave it out for someone to grab
-Always kick with the ball of the foot
-Never kick into empty air full power

In order to practice the front kick you will need to first know that the kick should be practiced from a front stance; after you get somewhat good at the balance of the kick you can try it from a back/fighting stance. It is harder to execute this kick from a back stance because you have to pivot correctly with your supporting foot or you will twist your supporting knee. So in a front stance, your licking leg is to the rear, your front knee is bent and your rear leg is locked to make for a strong front stance. Follows these steps to perform the front kick properly:

Lift the kicking knee in front of you. A good rule of thumb is your kick will basically be as high as you can lift your knee.

Using the hips and knee extend your foot out to the target when the foot makes contact with the target you should be contacting with the ball of the foot. That is the underside of the toes you see protruding when you pull your toes back. Always make sure you pull your toes back when you do the front kick.

After you make contact with the target, pull your foot back to the cocked knee position, set the foot back down either behind you or in front of you in a front stance. Front or back depends on what you plan to do next. For more kicking with the same leg placing the foot back is best, in a real situation where this kick is used it might be best to place the foot in front because this could set you up for a nice follow-up hand technique.

There is a technique that is taught in most all kicking schools in Abilene and that is to use your hips to add power to your kicks. How it works is, if you bend slightly back as you kick with the front kick you are adding the power of the hips. With these large muscles, you can add a tremendous amount of power to your front kick.

Now if you are looking to learn how to do the front kick or other martial arts techniques and wish to learn from an expert there are a lot of places that will help you. But two places recommended are the Abilene Martial Arts Center and Chip’s Taekwondo. These two schools are both Korean style martial arts and will definitely be able to help you learn to perform the front kick to the best of your ability.

A good use for the front kick is any target below the chest line. Hard, built-up bony areas are great places for the bone-crushing front kick. The knee is a good target when you need to disable an opponent, as well as the groin. A good time to use the front kick is during an attackers advance towards you, the front kick has immediate stopping power. Another good time is after you have blocked an incoming kick from someone because you are already moving forward to block a kick most of the time. With an everyday practice of this very versatile technique, you are sure to find tons of uses. Practice safe!