| Martial art styles like tae kwon do, tang soo do, | | | | jumping variation. |
| wushu and some forms of karate instruct their | | | | For self-defense purposes however, these kicks |
| students on how to perform flying, spinning, and | | | | are very impractical. Remember that a street |
| jumping kicks. A martial arts movie without a | | | | altercation is very stressful and chaotic. What |
| good number of these kicks is boring. Flying, | | | | works best on the street is something simple and |
| spinning, and jumping kicks are what make martial | | | | direct. If you want to learn how to defend |
| arts movies fun and demonstrations exciting. | | | | yourself on the street, spend less time training |
| Tournament competitors pepper their forms with | | | | flying, spinning, and jumping and more time with |
| a series of these kicks along with breath taking | | | | some good hand techniques and low kicks. As far |
| acrobatics. While these kicks are very flashy, the | | | | as your upper body is concerned, simple elbow |
| reality is that they have very little practical | | | | strikes, eye gouges, palm heel strikes and a little |
| application. | | | | boxing is what I recommend. When it comes to |
| When martial artists are young, they all want to | | | | your lower body, knee strikes and low kicks to |
| learn flying, spinning, and jumping kicks. It's a great | | | | the knee, instep, groin, and stomach are much |
| way to impress those around you as you "wow" | | | | more effective than a jumping spinning anything. |
| them by breaking boards with a flying side kick. A | | | | Fancy kicks are full of problems. First of all, they |
| martial artist first learns his or her basic kicks in a | | | | lack power. Secondly, flying, spinning, and jumping |
| standing position. Eventually, as the basic kicks | | | | kicks require more physical preparation, so they |
| become natural and can be executed with ease, | | | | are easier to telegraph and allow the opponent |
| the instructor will incorporate more dramatic kicks | | | | time to react. Kicks thrown in the air lack the |
| into the class. | | | | stability of a lower kick and the kicker is much |
| Jumping kicks require the student to execute one | | | | more vulnerable to falling to the ground. As far as |
| of the basic kicks while jumping up from a | | | | older students are concerned, training in this |
| stationary stance. Flying kicks involve getting a | | | | manner can lead to a lot of injuries and a short |
| running start and execute the kick in mid-air. | | | | lived martial arts career. |
| Spinning kicks are executed while pivoting on one | | | | If you're looking for practical street survival |
| foot and whipping the entire body into the | | | | techniques, then stick to the basics. Save the |
| direction of the target. All of the basic kicks can | | | | acrobatics for the tournaments! |
| be executed in with either a flying, spinning or | | | | |