Jump side kick
Tobi-yoko geri, the jump side kick, is the most iconic marital arts move, and a part of most VHS action movie fight scenes. This technique is used less, but not useless. Jump kicks are unique to martial arts, so brawlers, boxers, and wrestlers are not accustomed to them. Because of their appearance in movies and comics, jump side kicks can create a chilling effect that “sends a message” and demoralizes untrained opponents.
Jump kicks and flying kicks are the same technique, but performed with different intentions:
- Jump kicks maximize height, allowing head-level kicks without compromising speed or power.
- Flying kicks maximize distance, to close large distances quickly.
A running start provides additional momentum, making any jump or flying kick easier and more powerful. However, the truly skilled can perform these from stationary positions.
Jump side kicking is a five point process. However, gravity does not permit practicing this technique slowly. As such, this technique is reserved for advanced students, who have already developed a high degree of transferable kicking skills which can be reapplied to this new material. The five points are:
- Chambering. Jump into the air, and pull your lead leg up, into a walking crane stance, raising your knee as high as possible; ideally, you will knee yourself in the chest. At minimum, your knee must be “past parallel” -- with your knee higher than your hips, and your thigh is angled upward with respect to the floor.
Slightly-bend your supporting knee to keep your knee directly over your toes to improve your balance. Again, pretend that your spine and supporting leg is a telephone pole buried deep in the ground, or you will be blown back from the recoil of your own kick.
Pull your arms close to your chest to shield yourself. As long as you remain on one foot, your defense is compromised -- your blocks will be weak (since you cannot drive with your legs), and evasive footwork requires two feet. - Jumping. Imagine your foot is resting atop an invisible box. Straighten your raised leg, and push off this imaginary box, and simultaneously pull your other leg as high as possible, into a walking crane stance. Again, your knee must be “past parallel.” This moiton is like climbing stairs. While boosting off of an imaginary box sounds like bootstrapping, or Baron Munchausen pulling himself out a mire by his own ponytail, it really is that simple.
- Kicking. Push your bent knee down and forward to drive your foot horizontally into the target, like a scissors jack, with the ball of your foot. Tense your abdominal muscles at the kick extends (like a stomach crunch), to keep your shoulders directly over your hips, which ensures a stable landing.
- Re-chambering. Resist the urge to use your kick as a giant step, and pull your kicking foot in twice as fast as it went out, to ensure the technique “snaps.” Land into a walking crane stance as quickly as possible, so you can follow-up with additional kicks, as-needed. Keep the supporting leg's knee slightly bent, so it can act as a shock-absorbing spring to mitigate the impact of landing.
- Stepping out. When you are done kicking, you can set your kicking leg behind you, and enter a front stance or fighting stance. Alternately, you can set your kicking foot right next to your supporting foot (in a sort of bent-knees attention stance) and then slide the kicking foot out into a front or fighting stance. What you will not do -- ever, for any reason -- is to step forward directly from crane stance into some other stance. Using your kick as a giant step requires transferring a portion of your weight to a leg which isn’t touching the ground, setting you up for a well-timed leg sweep that will topple you instantly.
Putting it all together, a jump front kick looks like this:
[video of a front jump-kick, viewed from the front and side, many times, fast and slow-ish.]
Due to their lower weight distribution, women will have greater difficulty performing jump and flying kicks than men. However, this anatomical difference makes it easier for women to perform and resist takedowns, which is a worthwhile trade.
Disappointingly, you will only remain in the fully-extended kicking position for a fraction of a second -- just long enough for the technique to connect -- before you have to worry about landing. Unlike movies and video games, real-life jump side kicks result in very little hang time.
