Yoko geri keage

Yoko geri keage

This type of kick, although very fast and aesthetically pleasing, lacks power and distance and would not be effective. Therefore, in order to make yoko geri keage effective, it is imperative to use the hips. The idea is quite straightforward, however, as many people have long been used to doing the kick without hip use, they often find the change difficult. Nevertheless, it is worth persevering. The principle of using the hips in yoko geri keage is very similar to the hip movement in mawashi geri. In mawashi geri if one was kicking with the right leg, at the moment of kime, the right side hip would be snapped forward then back with the snapping action of the foot/leg, yoko geri keage is exactly the same.

[edit]Technique

If one was kicking with yoko geri keage to the side with the right leg, the supporting left leg must always remain relaxed and slightly bent, (as the supporting leg helps us to rotate and push the hips) with the supporting foot facing forward. As one pulls the right leg up to ready position, so the knee is facing to the side (to the target), one must allow the right side hip to rotate backwards, with a similar feeling to hanme position in zenkutsu dachi. As the foot is released in a fast snapping action, keep the right side hip back until the very end of the kick and then release the hip in a snapping action, forward then back again (like hanme – shomen – hanme in zenkutsu dachi and the hip snap in mawashi geri). Like all snap kicks the hip movement in yoko geri keage must be left until the very end of the technique to gain maximum power and distance.

[edit]Maximising Power

The key to maximising the power of this kick is to synchronise the hip movement with the push of the supporting leg. As mentioned before the supporting leg must remain relaxed and bent throughout the kick. However at the moment of kime the leg must be used to push the body into the direction of the target, thus generating penetration power. At the same time one must rotate the hip so that they push - snap the foot further forward into the target. If these two things are done simultaneously then a line of power is formed from the ground into the target. If this is done successfully one's power no longer travels upwards, but instead travels forward. (If you would like to check this have someone hold a football and attempt to kick it with yoko geri keage. If the ball goes upwards you are kicking with the top of the foot and doing it wrong. If the ball travels horizontally in the direction of the line of power, then you are kicking with the side of the foot or heel and doing it right). This way of doing yoko geri keage also enables the power of the kick to travel along the leg and out of the heel like yoko geri kekomi, making the foot kick at a horizontal position rather than at 45 degrees, as many people do when not using their hips. With practice yoko geri keage can become a very powerful technique, with the speed of mae geri keage and the power of yoko geri kekomi. It is important to master the synchronisation between the snapping hip movement and the push off the supporting leg and, with practice, it can be incorporated within the shotokan arsenal, rather than being designated the impractical task of kicking knives out of attackers' hands.