Jump Kick Plausibility in Fighting Games

Factual Questions
1

Hi, Dopers.

I understand that in general, games such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat (beloved memories of my childhood) kind of pushed the limit of plausibility in terms of what the extremely athletic fighter’s body could be capable of. For example, in MK, when your character uppercuts, the opponent is launched high into the air. This should be physically impossible to replicate in real life.

However, I am asking about the humble jump kick in particular. In both the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter franchises, and many others, characters are able to launch themselves into the air, do one or two somersaults, and assume a kicking position in the air. Even if the kick does not connect with the opponent, the character lands on his feet. In many games, this move is accomplished with a simple upward diagonal and kick button combination, which is certainly not a “special move”.

My questions are:

Is the jump kick as envisioned in these fighting games possible or plausible given the limits of the human body?

Are there other moves that would be especially plausible/implausible to implement in real life?

2

Watch the first ten seconds of this video and it is obvious that there is no room to add in a mid-air somersault.

3

As far as athleticism is concerned, if you’re not seeing gymnasts doing it at the Olympics, it’s probably not plausible. Bear in mind they usually do a pretty big run-up before the really impressive jumps; they don’t do much from a Street Fighter perspective from a standing position.

That said, I have seen people use a jumping, spinning hook kick in actual competition, not a choreographed fight for a movie, so I know that much is possible. The general consensus seems to be that if you have time to do that, you have time to just punch the guy three or four times, which could be just as effective and doesn’t include so much risk of face-planting yourself.

4

This one worked pretty well.