In Wing Chun we focus on straight kicks with the height being below the hip and the knee being in the center of the body. In this lineage joints and relaxed movements are focused on more. So everything should move effortlessly.
1) Upper body.
Although the focus is the lower body, the upper body is a target. This includes the chest, rib cage, neck, head and face. It is not recommended to go so high as you have hands to engage at that height. One quote I remember in regards to this is: “You wouldn’t use your hands to punch the feet, would you?”
2) Hip joints, the kwa and the groin.
These three are in one line. That is why they are together.
In Tai Chi, kwa refers to the portion of the body where the hip joint connects to the thigh. You can either attack the hip joint or the kwa. Both will debilitate and off balance the opponent.
For the groin, come up with the shin or attack front on. This is to paralyze the opponent. This happens because the balls – testicles – bounce. The penis may be injured by a kick but the testicles bouncing cause a lot more pain.
3) Thighs.
There are 3 portions you can attack.
A) Front.
B) Left Side.
C) Right Side.
4) Knee.
A) Front.
B) Left Side.
C) Right Side.
D) Sweep. If the knee bends, its easier to get the opponent off balance.
5) Shin.
There are 4 spots here.
A) Front.
B) Left Side.
C) Right Side.
D) Back Side (heel) – for a sweep.
6) Foot.
You can stomp it or heel kick it from behind to sweep it.
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How to kick:
In this lineage, one always kicks with the knee being in the center of the body. Idea is always to go forward. Don’t flex the knee though. Power and force will come as the leg is thrown. There are really only 3 ways to kick. The 4th one is more of a possibility than an actuality.
1) Knee.
Knee attacks the opponent. Distance here is short so it should be used when distance drastically decreases.
This is the same as the thigh. You can throw 3 ways:
A) Front.
B) Left Side.
C) Right Side.
2) Shin.
There are 3 parts for attacking with the shin.
A) Shin bone. This is called a hook kick. It can also be a front kick if the shin rises up to attack the groin.
B) The outer side of the shin. This is a reverse hook kick or when you can’t hook kick using the shin very well.
C) The inner side of the shin. This is a modified hook kick with the leg being thrown like a wrecking ball.
D) Back of shin to trip/ off-balance opponent. Essentially a sweep.
3) Foot.
This is the furthest part of your body and so it has the longest reach. But once again, you simply want to throw it at your opponent. It’s not about engaging the muscles. It’s about penetrating, going through. There are 5 portions you can use here.
A) Front of foot.
B) Outer side of foot.
C) Inner side of foot.
D) Sole of foot.
E) Back of foot – bit above the heel, for a sweep.
Note: There is no flexion on the part of the foot itself. It just follows the path of the knee coming into the center.
4) Thigh.
Throw the thigh. It is akin to throwing weight. This is not as effective and hence I only placed it as an afterthought. You can throw it 3 ways:
A) Front.
B) Left Side.
C) Right Side.
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How to defend.
There are roughly three ways to defend against kicks. I will offer an alternative as well but they are the opposites of a single coin. The opposite is similar to the next but the sophistication and intention advances.
1) Taking the kick. Using momentum.
Taking the kick.
Taking the kick is just as it sounds. One takes the force head on. Usually this is when one doesn’t have a clue as to what to do or is conditioning the legs.
If you have much better conditioning than your opponent, it is comparable to a fly slamming into an elephant: little impact.
Note: It is possible to absorb the energy and redirect it to the ground or just not let it come into your body at all.
Using Momentum.
Moving the body in the same direction or pivoting/ moving to create a rotation which deflects the total power of the kick. You are basically taking the kick but moving as it comes into contact with you, to lessen its power. This can be likened to having someone pushed into you and then you quickly turn and push the person as opposed to having them move into you. So, in essence, you are using the momentum given to deflect the force. Timing is important for this. You can “bounce” forwards or sideways. Requires training to build up timing and experience.
2) Blocking and Checking.
Blocking.
Blocking is to take the kick. Using the thigh, knee, shin or foot, one takes the force head on. This is used to neutralize the kicks power by taking it.
Checking.
This is more sophisticated and complicated than simple blocking. It means to time and judge precisely what is occurring and hence what will occur.
What you are going to do is use the knee, the shin or the foot to check the kick. This is different from blocking or taking the kick. The objective is to either stop the kick before it occurs – usually the foot – or to create a situation where the force is mitigated and redirected – shin – as well as the opponent becoming injured – knee.
2a) Knee.
This is often used in Muay Chaiya (precursor to Muay Boran which is precursor to Muay Thai). Muay Chaiya uses the elbows and knees to defend against attacks so that the opponent lands their blows on these sharp edges and becomes injured and demoralized from attacking. This requires a conditioned knee though. Otherwise bruising and swelling will commence.
This knee check is how a UFC fighter – Anderson Silva – got his tibia broken (from the side closer to the foot).
2b) Shin.
This is the Muay Thai method where the shin is used to block kicks. It works only if you are well conditioned. Otherwise you will incur bruising. Incidentally, you want to kick with the part closer to the knee as it is more dense.
2c) Foot.
The foot is used by stopping the attack before it even starts. This is also used in Muay Thai. Issue here is that timing has to be impeccable. You have to know when the guy will kick. This is because you are checking the thigh or knee.
3) Redirecting the kick. Either with the legs or the arms.
Legs
This happens by using the leg or foot to trap the opponent’s leg and attack the other leg. It’s a deception actually. You are interfering with the kick, knocking out the opponent’s balance and attacking the other leg. All of this happens simultaneously though.
You can use hand and arms to defend against kicks. This isn’t advisable if the arms aren’t conditioned or the contact doesn’t land properly. Also, because legs are bigger than the arms, arms cannot take good leg attacks (well-conditioned; coming fast; coming hard) by themselves. They will need a redirection or additional movement from the body (i.e. pivoting or stepping away).
Arms
To defend with the hands and arms you will either block and/or redirect the force using the forearms or check the legs and feet using the hands. Neither of these options are very advisable as you should be using your legs to counter – if you are (and should be) good enough.
I have noticed that a sweeping motion – cupping the kick with the hand (opposite sides) – is quite effective. It requires timing and a sweeping motion using the hands. But when done properly it works well to stop the kick and control the opponent (to a certain degree).