Beginner Kung Fu Lesson 22 – Roundhouse Kick

The roundhouse kick is a popular kick in martial arts, often seen in martial arts movies.

While the movies show the kick being thrown at the opponent’s head, that is the least practical tactic to employ with the kick.

The reason for this is that anytime you throw a kick toward the head, you place yourself in a vulnerable position, since all of your weight is on one foot, and the upper body must lean backward.

In our Kung Fu training, we did indeed practice throwing the kick as high as possible.  The motive was that if you can throw the kick with power at a high target, it will be more devastating thrown at a low target.

Generally speaking, the best target for this kick is the outside of the thigh.

If you can get in a strong kick to the opponent’s thigh, they will have difficulty putting weight on that leg.

Some will try to target the inner thigh of the opponent’s lead leg, but that can be problematic if the opponent sees it coming and blocks it with his knee.

I recall Anderson Silva breaking his own leg in a UFC match attempting such a kick.

In the video below, I describe in detail how to throw the roundhouse kick.  Don’t forget to pick up an Everlast Heavy Bag for your training!