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The following is “Strictly” my thoughts, theories and feelings and are not meant to represent any other system, style or practitioner. This is about principles as applied to such kicks as well as kicks used toward self-defense, not sport or competitions.
First, my style of practice when I began seriously the study of karate in the mid-seventies was Isshinryu. My Sensei was taught and taught me that to kick above our centeredness, i.e., the waist line where many are taught that our center resides about two inches below the navel, etc. I was taught two distinct principles of kicking. First, is effective kicks tend to be to targets that appear below our centers or waists. Second, kicks are not meant to be used toward self-defense as a part of applied techniques but are strictly “Finishing Techniques” in fighting. Notice I said, “Fighting,” and remember that fighting is illegal so why I didn’t say self-defense.
Let me give you a bit more to remove some of the possible confusion in that last paragraph. Effective kicks below our center can be used in self-defense but you will find that to be more about the monkey dance socially driven type conflicts. This means it is very iffy if it will be viewed and determined as legally applied self-defense. In reality and as to what I understand to be an attack, not the social monkey stuff, means in all likelihood it will be so close that the use of kicks may often not be available. This brings about the so-called “Finishing techniques.” Many martial arts self-defense models teach such techniques that from my view would be determined by the authorities as a lead-in toward the use of deadly force. If someone who attacked you is put into a position where one can apply a finishing technique you have to consider that to remain within the self-defense square you may better serve your survival and security by leaving over finishing someone - a finishing techniques speaks to me of a socially driven emotional type, “I will make sure this asshole knows he messed with the wrong guy,” attitude and that attitude means it ain’t self-defense.
When you accomplish your goals of stopping the attack and the damage you leave, you don’t finish it. Think about that one. Now, back on topic as to kicking above and below our waists.
Originally I was taught that when using kicks one must adhere to the fundamental principles of martial disciplines because otherwise such kicks as above th waits place you into greater positions of vulnerability. When in the fight against an attacker one of the principles that is critical to achieving a goal of self-defense is, “Balance, Structure and Alignment, etc.” If you raise your leg over the waist you violate those principles along with some others such as, “Economical motion, Heaviness, rooting and so on.”
Example, economical motion means you remove as much wasted motion as possible where the extra distances necessary to achieve higher kicks is pretty much wasted and provides too much time for an adversary to Observe IT, Orient toward IT, Decide to exploit that time and space, etc. and finally to Act by using attack methodologies to disrupt your heaviness and use it against you, your stability of structure and balance and others to achieve his goal.
Below the waist kicks, if possible or available for appropriate use toward appropriate levels of force, are faster, more economical and harder to defend against and even detect. This is just off the top of my head too!
Isshinryu as originally named and created was taught to me regarding kicks was to keep them below the waist and make them techniques used when distance is available to keep the attacker at a distance or to cause the attacker to reconsider things like, “Don’t attack me, it will cost you too much so leave,” type thing.
In Isshinryu teachings the higher kicks were adopted because they became popular and therefore were easier to see to award points as well as in competitive full-contact type matches are powerful toward knock outs (That my make it seem like that means they are good for defense but that, in most cases, simply is not a valid assumption and theory).
Another misconception about Isshinryu in particular is the old saying it is made up of equal hand and foot techniques in kata but this is not accurate. You will note a considerably higher level of hand techniques over the feet/legs and there is a reason why this is so. In karate, which is actually the Asian hand-to-hand form of defense, is more about using the hands to defend. Not just the striking aspects associated with karate but those attack methodologies best suited to self-defense, i.e., “Impacts, drives (pushes), pulls, twists, takedowns/throws and compression, etc.”
In closing I will say that kicks are effective but how they are used type distinctions must be made. In one thought many tend to lean heavily toward kicks for many reasons of which one is a human instinct to keep distance from an attacker. It is a natural use of our first hand or foot-to-attacker weapon that explains why in most conflicts with the type of violence levels such as combat it is preferred to use a greater distance where weapons are preferred. This was how karate was used on Okinawa in the earlier times where its practice and training were more a prerequisite toward training with weapons, i.e., swords, spears, canon, etc.
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