What Do You Know About Roundhouse Kicks?

There is one sporting move that is easily identifiable to any observer. It transgresses both film and sport, and both athlete and actor have stood atop its potency. We are talking about the roundhouse kick.

"You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these?"...via Fox Searchlight

Yours personally earned a black belt at Gotham Central Tae Kwon Do at age 18, so not only can I provide you with some good biomechanical form for a roundhouse kick, I can also break it down physically for you. I'll also be adding my dashes of snark and weird links along the way.

Now I need to clarify something, and it may break your heart. What is conventionally considered a roundhouse kick is not, in fact, a roundhouse. So what has proliferated as a 'Chuck Norris roundhouse' in popular meme is actually a hook kick, or a spinning hook kick. This would be a mislabeled Norris roundhouse . While this would be hook kick technique. And in media res of this clip, we see Dalton throw a textbook roundhouse and then a moment later he throws a flying roundhouse . You are now instantly more knowledgeable than all of your friends on roundhouse kicks. "Roadhouse."

...via Wikimedia

Here we have the proper tae kwon do roundhouse form, but roundhouses are popular in many other combat sports. We see them in many mixed martial arts today and there are two important variances to discuss.

For tae kwon do style roundhouse kicks, the fighter will raise their leg into the chamber position. This position is the basis for many TKD kicks, so it keeps the opponent guessing what kick is being delivered. The knee and lower leg are then raised parallel to the ground and the kicker pivots on the ball of their non-kicking foot about 45° towards their raised leg. This positions the body so that the fighter can strike with either the ball or the instep of the foot. Striking with the instep provides less power and is called a 'freestyle' roundhouse, but is usually easier.

...via TKD Information

Muay thai style roundhouses are less precise, but more damaging. This type of roundhouse does not 'chamber' the kick to deceive the opponent. Instead, the hips are open and rotated to help build abdominal momentum in the kick. The leg does not snap like a TKD style kick, but remains firm. The planted foot is raised on its ball so there is less resistance from this foot and the kicker rotates around this pivot. Finally, the kick is delivered by the shin which has a larger surface area. Devastating muay thai style kicks are often compared to being hit with a baseball bat.

...via Wikimedia

In both instances however, the fighter must have well-developed fast-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch muscles rely on anaerobic metabolism and produce rapid muscle contraction at high intensity. These muscles also fatigue more quickly than slow-twitch muscle types, and are best refueled with glucose. It can be difficult to throw an efficient roundhouse kick late in martial arts matches because of their quick energy expenditure. Also important to a good, strong strike: the kinetic chain principle. This biomechanical law provides maximum kinetic energy by beginning the roundhouse kick with the smallest origins of potential energy and building up to larger body parts. A tae kwon do roundhouse starts with the knee, then the thigh, then the hip, then the three combined before exploding to the foot. A muay thai style roundhouse begins with the leg as a whole, before incorporating the larger, heavier torso into the move. A muay thai kick can inflict over 800 lbs. of force!

... via McGraw Hill

With the growing popularity of mixed martial arts, I thought it would be good to clear up some misconceptions about roundhouses and offer an analytical take. To be clear: not a roundhouse kick ; a roundhouse kick.

...via Start Up Africa

I never meant to crush your dreams of the Chuck Norris roundhouse. It's just the truth that he rarely ever throws a roundhouse. He throws spinning hook and spinning back kicks, and he does them like a pro, I'll admit.

But, if I'm going to start an internet meme about roundhouse kicks, I'm going to do it about James Dalton. "You are the bouncers. I am the cooler ." It couldn't be cooler .

...via Quora

Resources

Goya-Ra-Ru Martial Arts - Technical Resource

Sports Medicine via About - Fast and Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers

Wikipedia - Roundhouse kick

Discovery Channel - Sport Science - Hardest Kick