World Of Swords

I don't care if I make enemies, I'm going to say it, the kicking I see on the UFC and MMA type of thing is not really kicking. Truth, it is leg swinging, without focus, and it doesn't work. This article is going to tell you why it doesn't work, and what to do about it.

I had a friend, name of Ted, some forty years ago when I was doing Chinese Kenpo. He dressed like a hippie and had long hair, and he happened to have the most amazing kicks. One day he was driving through the rush hour traffic when a fellow cut in front of him, so Ted hit the horn.

The fellow stopped his car and walked back towards Ted, who got out of his car and backed away. The fellow was a monster, easily three hundred pounds, and he dwarfed Ted, and he said some unpleasant things. Ted held up his hands palm out, and said he didn't want to fight.

The fellow swung a massive fist, and Ted rocked back and planted a beautiful roundhouse kick in the center of the guys chest. The fellow sat down on the street, looked at his chest in surprise then stood up and rushed Ted again. Ted tried to back away again, and he told the fellow he didn't want to fight.

The fellow swing, and that was when Ted did it. Ted sunk his weight, put his hips into the kick, and delivered the ball of his foot to the attackers chin. Bang and a ten count, and Ted got in his car and drove away.

So, sinking your weight and throwing the hips, some fellows do it, and some fellows don't, but the ball of the foot, that was the key. Look, when the UMMA fighter bashes, they swing the leg like a baseball bat, and there is no body behind it. When you swing the foot and use the ball of the foot, the energy goes back along the leg and into the hips, and their is body and weight behind the kick.

Yes, kicking with the instep is okay, but kicking with the instep spreads the striking area over the ankle. The ball of the foot kick concentrates the mass into a smaller area, puts more weight into a smaller contact surface. If you want to put a nice, precise hole in a piece of wood, are you going to bash it and let the weight spread out, or use a balpeen hammer and focus the weight into a smaller area?

Kicking, like punching, is an art, and the UFC and MMA type of fighters are really doing boxing, not the science of pure martial arts. To understand pure martial arts, one has to study this western thing called physics, and apply it to eastern martial arts, and then the answers and ability will come, and then the art will be resurrected. Art will win over sport, and not just gladiatorial contests, but in life, that is the solution and the way of the true art.

Al Case has delved into martial arts for forty++ years. A writer and columnist for the magazines since 1981, he is the originator of Matrixing Technology. You can see his work on developing perfect and artistic punches and kicks at Monster Martial Arts. Look around the site for his free ebook on Matrixing.

Tags: boxing, karate, kung fu, Martial Arts, mma, mma techniques, mma training, muay thai, self defense, shaolin, ufc, ufc training

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