My philosophy on this is simple: In a self-defense situation use high kicks with caution. One experiment we were told to carry out was try to envision what kicks you could pull off in the public while wearing street shoes. You can play with it at the grocery lot, mall lot, or even in a store that has carpet or a polished tile floor. My wife still shakes her head as she watches me twist at the mall!
Now I’m not advocating that you start kicking like Chuck Norris in public! But you can do (gently!) all the stepping or spinning that leads to the kick and that’s enough. You’ll soon find that some of your barefoot staples may not work as well on those surfaces. In addition, some of the spin kicks may blow a knee out or mess up an ACL. Don’t want to try it in public? Go to a park with a basketball court or use your driveway but take care to wear street shoes. Then gently try your kicks. You can do the same barefoot in a park on uneven surfaces and will have lots of learning moments.
Here’s the ones I found will work:
- Step behind or step in front side kicks
- Step in front round
- Lead leg rounds and sides
- Inside crescent
- The good ‘ol front snap kick
- Most of the shuffling kicks
The reverse side and reverse hook are dicey unless you are good at jumping.
Why is this important? If your “go-to” sparring kick ala barefoot is a reverse side when confronted with self-defense your instincts will say: Shoot a reverse side. But if you are in sneakers with good traction the next sound you could here is the popping in your knee as your foot refuses to pivot on the ball like it should!
Interestingly the Mantis Kung Fu kicks are designed to work in shoes. From a taekwondo perspective they look very slow. Now what would happen if the taekwondo guy had to wear shoes and spar?
Marks’ post got me to thinking about this so hat tip to him. Check out his post. While it focuses on high kicks all those exercises could be used to strengthen any kicking style.
Another good drill that we used to do is this: Raise up on one foot Karate Kid style (crane arms optional). Then try to execute 10 lead-leg sides, hooks, and rounds. The trick is you can’t let your leg touch and you can’t fall over. It works balance, leg strength, and foot pivoting without falling on your butt!
~BCP
