The Front Kick is The Best Kick in Martial Arts 

It sounds like some kind of fetish when you put it in parenthesis.

Ive done shotokan karate and i still agree the best kick is the front kick and its way harder to read than a side kick

The only thing i might use a side kick for is the knees

I'd buy Seth's but I don't swing that way

Dude that's the base conept of WT, you just learned the base concept of the whole WT, when the opponent closed in kick.

Mike is the MOST passionate about the front kick. That's how.

Because the Front Kick is that much better

You uploaded a video 12 hours after filming it, so I'm terrified that you consider THIS suspiciously fast. I can only assume that it was uploaded instantaneously!

😂😂😂😂

lets be real... it wasn't exactly a difficult edit lol. plus the surprise is already out on IG so i wanted to put it up

Haha funny af

Good p'sition Check it out!

@@Kali-8 The largest smile grew upon my face when Jesse turned the camera around to reveal he was the camera man and Oliver was chillin off screen.

I'd say the Soccer kick is the best in that case. More power than a martial arts front kick and easier to learn (at least for the rest of the world who grew up playing proper football). Sure you can't kick the head, but who cares. Most people that don't know how to kick also aren't flexible enough to kick the head anyway. Also the soccer kick+headbutt combo has won so many street fights. Especially if you are wearing Doc Martens, which you should from a self defence perspective anyway. :)

And in the long term, it's not going to damage your hips and lumbar column as much as the side kick does...

That doesn’t involve looking at female Muay Thai fighters. (I got some pigs at my school)

Same

You and me both sir.

Change your profile picture

@@channelshadowV but when can we do some judo with yiu g tho

Totally!!

Yep. Doing a good side kick is surprisingly hard.

@@jamielondon6436 If you want a good sidekick you need to really workout your hip flexors, which are muscles people tend to neglect or just not use in any other capacity. You also need surprising flexibility to throw a sidekick and not compromise your balance, especially for higher kicks, though in my opinion the best target is always the midsection as it is a great compromise between speed and power. I always found training with ankle weights and a chair or level surface to be the best method of getting the technique down, and you should do this for every position you want to throw the sidekick from. Doing 5-10*5 every day while also working on isometric stretching (which is necessary for getting strength in the sidesplit ROM anyway) will make the sidekick feel far more natural. The comes bag work and learning how to put the hips behind it (i.e. learning how to snap the hips), and finally comes live practice. The absolute best drill you can do for a sidekick is done with a partner, everytime they advance you throw a sidekick, you can use different variations for different openings (if they are advancing from further away or keeping distance you can throw a spinning sidekick where you hyperextend the hips for power, for example, or if they are in striking distance jab with a lead leg sidekick or rear leg with a feint). In my opinion Taekwondo practioners have the best sidekick's, so if you want a killer sidekick, train like them. The people with the best sidekick's I knew had always spent year's working on it, I spent about 2-3 doing it myself and sidekicking felt very easy and effective. The issue I see in the kickboxing and MMA gyms I've trained in has always been that people throw them without putting that training in, and this results in a slow stiff sidekick. It's much easier to throw low-mid section roundhouses and front kicks, the technique of which are simple (it's just more natural to swing your hips or tilt them forward than snap them to the side) and they only require moderate flexibility which anyone can get through basic training (though if you want really good kicks anywhere above the waist you need both the splits, or at least 3/4 splits, and to have worked on isometric and dynamic flexibility). It's also why you don't see it much in MMA, because for a wrestler or BJJ player it's a tall order to build several years worth of flexibility and strength training in the short time they have to get ready for a fight. It's becoming more common in the younger generation of fighters though. Wonderboy Thompson and Zabit Magomedsharipov are two MMA fighters with really nice sidekick's, and use them very well, so it's definitely worth the investment. I wouldn't say the sidekick is a hard kick, it's much easier than spinning hook kicks or jumping back kicks, and it's the easiest kick to perfect after the front kick in my opinion, but it's like a good roundhouse (most people don't throw good roundhouses and throw it more like a high soccer kick than a proper Thai or Kyokushin roundhouse, which are the MAs with the best technique in my opinion) , it takes specific work to achieve high level technique, whereas the front kick is good to go once you have basic flexibility and timing down. It doesn't really require power in the legs either, because all the force comes from proper timing and technique. It's why it's great from the perspective of self-defence, you can teach people a good front kick in a few hours and with live practice they will be able to pick it up very, very quickly.

@@AveSicarius i train muay thai for over a year and struggle with sidekicks due to my hips. It hurts a lot when i try to raise it and fully extend it to perform it at best. It almost feels like a barrier to throwing it effectively. It's like a big cramp on the hip when i raise then extend my leg. It got a little better since i started training that specific area though.

Bonus points, sidekicks look cooler

Side kick after rear hook 🤌

Side kicks generate far more power in my opinion. It also is harder to get taken down. Also the versatility is better. Low line side kicks are also used in grappling range depending on who is throwing it. Not taking anything away from the front kick. Front kick is pedestrian and side kicks are king.

Side kicks are more difficult to master, so for now, front kicks will do

Great point. Both are needed. I prefer a side kick as an initial/opening move. If I absolutely had to choose one, I’d choose the front kick.

Side Kick can be offensive too, the body rotation sets up a massive power shot with the back hand.

@Jacob Murray agreed. Especially in TKD. And A front kick can be used defensively too. They're interchangeable, but I'm referring to more primary and practical application. A side kick is very effective in defensive posture.

@Ben B good point. an opening sidekick might make the opponent feel like he doesn't have control over as much space as he thinks. You're establishing larger domain and giving the impression of having great reach. I don't pr3fer one over the other. I think the situation will dictate.

Sidekick leaves you open a microsecond longer. Pray opponent doesn't have footwork. Also, it's easy to just rush through. Front kick makes you feel like a goof when you walk into it over and over. So simple and yet so humiliating.

Years (8+) ago when I also did TKD, ended up loving the front kick after my instructor put me on my ass with a well timed one in sparring. It was like the easy counter to any spinning kicks that people tried. They spin, slide forward and kick them in the bum, they go falling over. Good one to chain other kicks/hands off of as well. It's also the one kick other than a knee that you can reliably do in tight jeans. If they are in too close, just turn it into a knee. Hell, just this weekend we saw it being used well by Oliveira against Dustin. Kept front kicking him in the gut. It's a great move.

i use the side kick a bit in muay thai and i learned it from my father the key is to not use it to much so it becomes a suprise but i have to also say front kick

Do front kicks hurt

​@user-ly4ig2rq4o spar in a gym and you'll find out lol

Also felt the difference haha

@@AlexisSele right I think he’s injured

where do you aim at to counter Lo kicks ? like hip joint, belly, standing leg ? curious cause I fing the belly teep pretty hard to land

@@thomasfernandez1989 The hip joint to check the kick and the belly, solar plexus to put him over, as he’s kicking. When the front kick hits, he’ll be on one leg and committed to his kick. You don’t need power in the teep either. A light, fast, well timed shot will neutralise his kicks pretty efficiently and likely put him over.

@@Philo68 true, I Guess I still need to work on that :)

@@thomasfernandez1989 See Mike’s course - I don’t have it but I’m sure it’ll help your game big time.

@@Philo68 might be worth it ;) ! thanks buddy

Agreed

Its the nut kick everybody can do.

Not sure if the front kick or the roundhouse kick. One thing is for sure: more people get knocked out by roundhouse kick than by a front or side kick

@Spodo bbb popularity of something doesn't make it a fact, but yea, front kick is better :p

I was waiting for Mike to just get sidekicked across the mat

I rather the knife gets caught on my boot hell than my stomach

Yeah, don't use a side kick in a real fight, even though it's more powerful. It's too risky. Front kick leaves you in a much better position.

@@deecampbell.rva-2If you master the side kick its great to use in a fight, but sparingly and calculated

Right on, kinda hard to say self defense... you already knocked the shit out of your target before you taking that bomb out. I'm old now too...lifetime behind me now. I never hit another with a side kick in a real fight.. it's not necessarily necessary lol. Maybe multiple untrained attackers so you took a risk to remove one for good, he won't be re-enterning the fight if it lands proper. Side note ....I never had fought anyone that could fight, seems only hot tempered untrained folks go start shit...odd. I mean they might had one or two tricks that worked for them against other drunks I guess.

My thoughts exactly.

@Hue Wong worse for what? A bladed stance makes different trade offs from a squared up one. For example in a squared up stance you can much more easily use your rear hand and leg, but you present a much larger target area. In a bladed stance you present a much smaller target area and the attacks that can be used against you are different. Similarly blading vs squaring up can communicate different things to a potential attacker or source of conflict. if you tell me what are you trying to achieve, and what scenario are you expecting we could have the argument, but it would still come down to which approach to that scenario you want to take, and what weapons/skills you have to hand.

@@kamilpawlowski6576 While you present a larger target, a square on stance gives you all four limbs to block with plus you can easily slip, bob, weave, duck, side-step, sprawl and even go bladed if required.

@@dorkangel1076 all those things can be done from a bladed stance. (you've recapitulated my response to hue). that being said many karate people (who I've seen blading from the most) don't learn enough boxing to do any of them. Watch early karate combat and you'll see.

@@dorkangel1076 You can easily do all that from a bladed stance if you have the necessary tools, and you can also do exactly as you've said and swap to a more square stance. The biggest weakness of a side on stance is low kicks because you can't easily check them with an angled shin from that position, but if you understand distancing you can avoid that in the first place. Wonderboy doesn't really have any grappling pedigree and has made serious use of a side on stance in MMA without having any serious problems aside from good wrestler's who would present a challenge for any striker without top notch TDD, like prime Machida, who also often used a bladed stance (though he did square it up more than the traditional side on point-striking stance). Honestly a side on stance makes you less of a target for a double leg and allows you to shift your weight more easily if your opponent goes for a single leg, at which point you can either drop forward to try and stop them taking the leg, or shift backwards, let your opponent overextend as you move to sprawl yourself and step backwards while pivoting away to try and break their grip. If that works you are going to be in a position to try and take their back if they committed and weren't able to throw you off balance. There are plenty of options to defend yourself from both stances, but there are benefits to a bladed stance, which is why people still use it in MMA. It does favour matchups against strikers more than grapplers, but if you maintain distance well and have good TDD you can force a grappler to standup with you anyway.

Yeah the front kick is literally in the longsword treatises.

Hey! I do German Longsword fencing myself! It's cool to see other people in the hobby :o)

Damn. When something still works in both unarmed AND armed combat, that’s how you know it’s good.

Nah, throw a side kick and then use it to set up a spinning cut

@@moreparrotsmoredereks2275 excuse me… what now xD

League?

Handing out freedom seeds is doing your fellow man a great service.

thats my favourite too...that donkey kick,loaded as a side kick...

Not really. They both have effective uses, downsides, and upsides. To say one is more effective tells me you don't know how to use one or the other

Some Kung Fu styles deliver it to the inside of the thigh as counter to a circular kick. Very effective 👌

Counter point: side kick is only unobtrusive in a single style/stance: a wide bladed karate one. For every other stance, the side kick is harder to apply in a similar manner. The front kick is more accessible to literally anyone who doesn’t/hasn’t practiced pure karate/TKD. Plus, even in a point style stance, it’s difficult to transition from a side kick to say a overhand bc of the length of the side kick. When you throw a side kick, you’re kinda committed to a long range fight. I could take a brawler or infighter like Tyson, teach him a front kick, and he’s be able to use it without any adjustment to his style at all. Most Muay Thai style fighters religiously use front kicks like a jab. I could take a pure wrestler, teach him a front kick, and he would still be in the same stance he would be in for takedowns. It’s easier to teach a front kick to beginners, takes less flexibility, takes less time to master, can be thrown anywhere from longest to mid range with little adjustment, can be thrown in almost every stance, is a less telegraphed movement, can be followed up with almost every strike…

@@juliansanderson839 All great points and very well put. My only argument with it would be the same one I have with Mike’s, and I suppose it’s more of a philosophical one. The comment about the front kick being less obtrusive to your fighting stance is based upon what type of stance you use. You correctly stated that it is really only in the case of a very bladed karate/TKD stance where the side kick is less disruptive. However, this makes the comment subjective, and therefore not an objective truth, which was one of the points Mike kept trying to hammer home in the video.

@@philipschinetsky I’m not trying to belittle you here, but i don’t think you know what subjective means, or at the very least aren’t using the right word. You could claim that Mike is being subjective because he’s basing it off his own experiences and doesn’t use a side stance, that’s valid. But nothing I said was inherently subjective. A front kick can be thrown in almost every stance. A side kick only has a similar function in the wide bladed one. Theres no bias there as you don’t know what style I practice, and for all you know I’m speaking from a karate background. The front kick is a lot more effective and non-commital in most foot positions.

@@juliansanderson839 that’s exactly my point. Mike is being subjective but claiming to make a objective statement, repeatedly so. He’s making a true statement, but one that is tied to a person’s fighting style/stance, which therefore makes it subjectively true and not objectively.

THANK YOU

Totally, a good sidekick is so much more powerful, let alone a spinning sidekick !

The Thai side kick (basically halfway between a front kick and a karate side kick) actually has more range than either though, and feels more like a front kick with a little hip rotation IMO despite the name.

Wing Chun does have a side kick as well I believe. Though the front kick seems to be used more often.

@@combatsportlover6919 Depends on the school I guess. In the system I train, we don't have a side kick, and I would never teach anyone a side kick for self defense.

Problem is the side kick is easier to detect and a longer reaction time to defend. Front kick is quick and almost always unpredictable.

Also far less likely to result in broken toes.