Quick question: is a spinning back kick supposed to be a snap kick or a punch? I don’t know karate and I’m trying to help/spot for someone new to the sport.
I do it like swinging a bat, though the timing of the final moment requires a certain amount of snap kick. I can’t see how you could do it as a pure punch (i.e. straight out) without losing speed and momentum.
The effect on the opponent is that they see you straight ahead and moving in, but the actual blow comes sweeping in from the side. Hence, it is both powerful and deceptive.
Oh, I think you’re talking about Shotokan back kick where your hips face away from your target (ushiro-geri)? Same startup as a front thrust kick, just look over your shoulder and thrust your foot backwards. I think you’re supposed to keep your toes pointing downwards, but I never could get that right.
A true spinning kick would hit the guy on the side of the head with the back of their heel, going from the outside towards the guy’s centre. Not really a snap kick, but a kung-fu style sweeping arc.
Ummm, if you’re trying to spot for someone new to the sport - just remember that they typically suck at judging distances and controlling kicks.
Thanks, FM and RS. It’s several days until my wife’s next class. This makes it a lot clearer (for me at least.)
Her words: “Start in a fighting stance. Look over your back shoulder, pivot on you front foot and kick back with your heel”, which sounds like a ‘true spinning kick.’ My martial arts experience is limited to a (very) few Tae Kwon Do classes, so snapping out and hitting with the bottom of the heel seemed natural (and of course is completely wrong.)
Rabid_Squirrel, good point about novices not being able to judge distance. My wife is much shorter than me, and I have a lot more important things to worry about than my head if she connects.
In Uechi Ryu Karate, we avoid a spinning back kick. It has no power. When you do a back kick, you’re mass should still be behind the kick, as it is with a regular front kick.
In a left foot forward stance,
- Cross left foot in front of right, or cross right behind left (optional)
- Pivot so shoulders and hips are facing away from your opponent
- Keep head moving all the way around to see opponent
- Bring right knee up
- Kick straight back with your heel. Alternatively, you can keep your hips rotating and do side kick with the knife-edge of your right foot.
This “donkey” kick can be very powerful. It’s good if your opponent doesn’t see it coming, to take them off guard. I’ve seen it used in a real fight, and the guy was down before he even knew the fight had started. Tough to pull off though.
Goju-Ryu is similar to Uechi in this regard. The back kick is straight back, usually at waist level or below.
There are several spinning back kicks. One, popularized by Bennie “The Jet” Urquidez, is a sort of half-turn followed by a rear thrust. It’s quite fast, and very powerful. He won more than one full-contact fight with that kick.
The ‘flashy’ spinning back kick is more of a hook kick, with the contact point being the hell of the foot. The leg is whipped backwards in a hooking motion. My personal opinion is that spinning back-kicks are of very limited use defensively, and very dangerous in a real fight because you’re opening yourself up defensively in a big way. A good fighter will block the leg and take you down on your face if you try one.
In most traditions (I have studied Okinowan, Chinese, and Korean) there is an important distinction between a back kick (which thrusts straight) and a spinning kick (wheel kick, hook kick, etc. that strikes with angular momentum from an open hip rotation.)
I am a big fan of back kicks. They are very powerful, compact, and difficult to trap when executed properly. Spinning kicks are great for tournaments and exhibitions and not much else, IMO. They are much more difficult to target precisely and generally easy to trap. When they hit, they can be impressive. But usually any opponent that you can hit with a spinning wheel kick can be taken down by a variety of less risky (to both of you) techniques.
The “spining back kick” should be just as others have noted: a straight line kick delivered with weight and power from a leg position directly under the hip. Toes point downward to protect teh foot, put the heel in optimal striking position, and prevent over rotation of the hips. The “spin” of this kick is just to orient teh body so that a back kick can be delivered to a target in one’s forward zone. The angular momentum should be as a pendulum swinging directly below the hip, not a top spinning around a fixed point.
Details of delivery vary, but I prefer:
[ol][li](from a left lead) slide lead foot slightly to close stance, pivot hard on ball of foot simultaneously.[/li][li]shift weight to lead foot (often under a jab or ridgehand)[/li][li]allow pivot to complete as weight transfers past original center line: head snaps downward, chin tucking into hollow of right shoulder (proper head tuck is crucial, cutting downward gets you a faster view “back to the front” and controls any tendency to over rotate from the shoulders. It also provides both cover and a chin anchor in case you take a high counter.)[/li][li]Leg motions follows weight past the center line (don’t worry, it will catch up real fast)[/li][li]Leg strikes with thrusting heel, toes down, hips closed to opponent (NOT rotated half-open like a side-thrust kick.)[/li][li]Leg returns in a straight line, underneath the right hip. (Whether you step through the kick or back depends on whether/how well it strikes.)[/ol][/li]
The keys to a successful back kick are proper hip orientation (which both increases power and allows better control of the technique) and controlling teh rotation (to avoid over-extension, “sliding” the target, and slowing the delivery.)
I always used to have students practice by taking a position with the lead foot about 18" from a wall, target directly in front. They should be able to execute the “spin” and kick without touching the wall. Advanced students get 12". Dan ranks get 6".
ditto what Sam said. Especially up against a close-in fighter, say American Kenpo or a Judo practicioner, the spinning back kicks are a pretty big liability. your opponent likes to close and you turn your back on him…
It’s worth drilling on, but a lot of people completely ignore drilling the straight back mule kick (eg, opponent is coming up behind you) to the knee or groin. IMHO, that’s a lot more useful, especially during multiple attacks