Smaller article about sidekicks

Now since we have an article on roundkicks and frontkicks, we might as well do sidekicks.

But sidekicks are, at least from capoeira perspective, very easy:

Simply, there never should have been any sidekick in capoeira. Yes, I know your Mestre is probably teaching you Chapa/Pisao/Escorao etc.; but he is wrong. Sidekick does not belong to capoeira and whoever uses it does not understand capoeira.

First, because sidekick cannot be done from a proper ginga(Monkey+Seduction1).

Second, because sidekick cannot be done using LightLegs or higher leg mechanics.

Third, because sidekick cannot be turned into Au to evade rasteira.

But most importantly, because sidekick gets neutralized by proper ginga(Monkey+Seduction1).

Well, this was a very short article; so perhaps we might at least look at the way sidekicks are done in other arts(again, omitting sidekicks to the legs - stomps)


I)Capoeira

1)Snake - "Chapa/Pisao/Escorao" - standard sidekick with the heel. Does not belong to capoeira (see above)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mpvR9zTajc


2)Snake+Seduction1 - "Spinning sidekick; Esporao" - sidekick done after body rotation. Does not belong to capoeira (see above).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UO75lcjCqA0


II)Karate

3)Snake+Nemer - "Yokogeri kekomi" - "thrust sidekick". Similar to common Snake sidekick, but done using the outer edge of the sole (that's the +Nemer modificator)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc4SbLWVacM

As with "Maegeri kekomi" (see my article on frontkicks) karate players think this is a very effective kick, and it indeed is - against boards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKvu3L1Vng

Against live opponent, it sucks; so for real, any successfull sidekick is done just using the Snake as in modern capoeira and all other arts. Look here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AWktkVeHGI

None of these so-called 'karate kicks' is the proper karate sidekick(Snake+Nemer, Yokogeri kekomi) - none. They are just normal sidekicks(Snake) done with the heel, as otherwise, they would have been useless in fighting.

So in karate, they once again train one kick and then use another kick for sparring/fighting.

4)Dragon - "Yokogeri keage" - "Snap sidekick", just great. I love this kick, because even karate players themselves - if they are sincere enough - admit it is completely useless for kicking somebody. Yet, they keep training it as a part of 'traditional' syllabus, expecting some kind of enlightenment to come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kH5n_x1sJA

Simply put, this is not a kick, never was meant to be. There will not be any enlightenment. There is no useful energy to be generated with this kick.

In old kata, this is a grappling technique, a backbreaker, used to break opponent's thoracid spine after arching him backward with your arms. But of course, nobody in karate is going to admit that, so they will keep training this very useful 'kick'.

If you want to learn more about this, read my book 'Decoding Kusanku'.

Note that - again, not concidentally - no other martial art uses these two sidekicks.


III)Taekwondo

5)Snake - "sidekick" - the same sidekick as in capoeira. Note that this is again a normal sidekick with the heel - while Taekwondo usually apes karate, once you use the heavy mitts and do not just kick air, it is hard to hold onto the 'kekomi' style sidekick with the edge of the foot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98boTtEjgfw


IV)Kickboxing

6)Snake - "sidekick" - there is not much variety in sidekicks unless you count the karate failures, is there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMCDrA8sli8

Mildly interesting is hearing him repeat the stupid karate-based nonsense about 'kicking with the outside edge of your foot'; but then, when he kicks the bag for real, using his heel. Reality is a strict master and has no patience with BS.


V)Savate

7)Snake - "chasse lateral" - again, the Snake sidekick is the same all over the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4iXHtp1APc

But do not mix it with the "chasse lateral bas", low savate sidekick to the thigh, which is a different kick(Cheetah).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuv7JcHjGxY


VI)Others

8)Smilodon - "Bruce Lee sidekick" - just to show you something interesting at the end and to make the Bruce Lee fanboys happy (BTW: It is silly to be Bruce Lee's fanboy) - Bruce indeed had a special sidekick.

https://youtu.be/uCPc8nHUv7s?t=25

But no amount of analyzing it from various angles will give you (or Lee's fanboys) the kick, as the real difference is the archetype that drives it.

This version packs a good punch, but apparently it is beyond the reach of most people.


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As you see, sidekick is pretty plain - there is just one real version (Snake) and two karate abominations that should not exist.

But if you are still reading this article, I will give you one more hint why sidekick was not used in any real old martial art and only started to be used with the ignorance of modernity:

Unlike most other kicks, if you kick a sidekick into opponent's positional nerve disruptor, you will hurt yourself, dislocating your own hip. And this is something only a fool would risk in a fight.

Well, except Bruce Lee's sidekick where you would dislocate both your hips.

And this is also the real reason sidekick was never a part of capoeiragem.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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