Keep your feet firmly on the ground

There are several things in life that go together hand in hand so to speak: Rhubarb and custard for one, office work and typing for another but what about martial arts and kicking? Did you ever see a Bruce Lee film where he didn’t kick someone half way across a room or a Jackie Chan movie where he kept his feet on the ground? Well where do you draw the line between what we see on the big screen and what is actually practical?

In all honesty there are probably very few martial arts that do not train their students to perform kicks. Yoshinkan Aikido is one of those rarities of which I speak. The only kicking done in this martial art is when Uke (the attacker) performs a kick solely for Shite (the defender) to defend against it. So why are there no kicks in Yoshinkan Aikido when so many other arts promote this as good practise?

Well it is quite simply a case of balance. A person is more stable and has a stronger base when he/she has both feet firmly planted on the floor. As soon as an opponent lifts his foot to kick, something as small as your finger can be used to unbalance them. Low kicks in martial arts are a lot more effective than high ones. High kicks should only ever be used to finish an opponent off.

In Yoshinkan Aikido a person learns to defend from kicks not only from a standing position but also from seiza (kneeling). It sounds some what unfair does it not? You knee while they run at you and try to kick you in the head. When you first hear of this scenario then you would be forgiven for thinking: - “knee while someone tries to kick you in the head, are you insane?” but when it is performed by a trained individual that understands mai (fighting distance) and has good timing the advantage is by no means in the aggressor’s favour.

When you attempt to kick a kneeling man in the head your genitalia are completely exposed. One strong palm strike to the inside of the leg will send a man crashing to the ground. Once an opponent finds himself lying on the ground wondering ‘what happened?’ then his confidence will drop. But palm strikes are a kind way of dealing with this kind of attack in this situation. If Shite is so inclined when the kick is delivered he can propel his body forward sliding through the standing leg with his whole body. The combination of Uke’s weight coming forward and Shite’s body trapping Uke’s standing leg, can result in a broken leg for Uke.

It’s not a very nice way to handle the situation but then again neither is trying to kick someone in the head, don’t you think!