Instruction for executing a properly effective karate kick.
Check with your doctor to see if karate is safe for you.
The snap kick is one of the easiest and often the first kick a beginning student is taught. It is also the kick most mothers wish their daughters to learn in case there is a need to kick a man "where it hurts the most."
When learning the snap kick, you will want to begin in a forward stance. For the sake of this article, all instructions will be aimed at teaching a right snap kick.
The forward stance is a strong, wide based stance that is often used to teach a student the basic blocks and a few of the kicks. Although assuming this stance properly takes a quite a lot of practice, it is well worth the time spent to achieve strong, solid kicks.
To begin, you will need to go into a left forward stance. This is a wide, deep stance and if executed properly it is hard for your opponent to pull you off balance. You will need to place your feet at shoulder width apart and step out and back with your right leg. If you turned to the right and your feet were facing forward, you would end with approximately the distance of two shoulder widths.
Facing forward though, the right leg should be straight, the feet pointed forward, the left knee is bent and directly over the heel almost as if there were a steel rod driven through the knee and out the heel, the hips and shoulders square with one another the back straight. The left arm comes up in front of you fist closed and just below the eyes held parallel to the left shoulder. The right arm comes up held horizontally across the body the right hand held in a fist touching the left elbow. The arms change positions when walking the line and we do not use this guard during a fight. Too check your stance place your right knee on the ground make two fist from your right knee to your left heel should be four fist widths distance. Another name for this stance is called a walking stance.
From this position, you will begin your kick by shifting your weight to your left leg and bringing your bent knee up as high as you can in front of you. The toes of your right foot will be pointed at the floor and it is extremely important that you keep those toes pointed! A very common mistake of beginners is to allow them to turn up which can often lead to broken toes as the kick is delivered because they will connect before the bony top of your foot.
As the right knee passes your left, it becomes the lead leg. Since the lead leg always receives the block, change your hand positions so your right hand is now parallel to the right shoulder. After you deliver the kick, and set the right foot back into its original position, the block will revert as well.
Getting back to the actual kick, attempt to execute it in four steps. \
1. Bring the right knee up in front of you and during practice; attempt to hold this position for increasing amounts of time. This will assist you in your balance. You will also need to change your block so the lead leg will have a corresponding lead block.
2. Extend the right leg into almost a straight line. The "almost straight line" is desired because you will want to keep a small amount of bend in the knee so if an opponent blocks the kick, you are less likely to suffer injuries. Toes are kept pointed and breathe out as you complete this step.
3. Foot is brought back in and is once again pointed toward the ground with the right knee bent in front of you.
4. Set the foot back into the original forward stance position and change the block so your left arm is in front.
Once you have mastered the snap kick, several similar kick variations will be available to you. The ability to throw snap kicks off the forward or rear leg will come when you switch from forward stances to an actual fighting stance. This ability will enable you to deliver powerful yet quick kicks to an opponent's groin area that are affective against both men and women.
Remember these points when practicing your snap kicks; keep your toes pointed, change your blocks to correspond to your lead leg and the higher you bring your knee in the first step, the higher your kick can go.
If in doubt of this, point your knee at your target and then extend the leg, the foot will always go in a straight trajectory from the knee itself. Also remember no technique will be effective if repeated practice is not a part of the learning process.
