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Thursday, April 3, 2014

C is for...

C is for Crescent kick and China

Crescent Kick: Another one of our basic kicks, this one involves moving the leg in an arc, as if you were drawing the shape of a loop with your foot.  The key is turn your hips in the direction you want the kick to go, lock your leg so that all the momentum comes from your hip and then throw.
Basic Kicks - Outside Crescent Kick (Chinese demonstration)
The highest kick we do, this one is designed to either strip a person's hand defense or catch them at the top of the body (it's a good way to break someone's collar bone if that's what you're aiming for).  Like any other basic kick it will later be advanced and combined with other techniques for the really flashy moves.  Spinning crescents, jump spinning crescents and multiple crescent kick combinations are commonplace in martial arts movies because they look really cool.  (I personally wouldn't use any of them in sparring, of course.  Though the grounded crescent kick is excellent for sparring to strip the hand defense or go after an unguarded head.)

China:  As Tang Soo Do is such a young art (established in 1945) it's roots and origins come from a variety of much older sources, one of which is China.  The first formalized instruction that the founder (see G) received was from Master Yang in the art of Kung Fu and this early training influenced not only the style but many of the techniques.  Those well versed in Chinese martial arts would notice a great deal of familiar (albeit altered) techniques, forms and one-step applications when they watched someone performing Tang Soo Do.  (Brief history lesson provided courtesy of "The History of Moo Duk Kwan" by Grandmaster Hwang Kee.)

20 comments:

  1. I tried to do it but somehow found myself on the floor...I think I'm okay...

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  2. I could not get my leg that high. Definitely not. Pretty impressive move!

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  3. LOL I second SK's comment. I'm so impressed you can do all this!

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  5. It would take quite a bit of practice to get my leg that high. Even when I was young and limber and taking dance I wasn't that flexible. :-)

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  6. If I attempted that kick, I would injure myself.

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  7. i love your martial arts theme! i'm going to learn so much!
    my kids took karate for a little while. unfortunately they grew out of it.
    happy c day!

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  8. Impressive! Great blog - however I'm not even gong to attempt that kick lol ;)

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  9. I dream of visiting China, but I will never be able to do a Crescent Kick. haha

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  10. I think I would break my hip if I tried this!

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  11. Second the above comments. Too old and rickety to even attempt to get my leg that high. Great post and all the best on your A to Z journey. :)

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  12. To all: I'm noticing a theme here so I will reply to all- I couldn't do any of this stuff at first, either. Every single one of these techniques takes consistent practice- nobody can do it the very first time.

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  13. I love these posts! They're very informative. I would so love to see a spinning crescent kick. ^_^

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    1. Mine aren't terrible impressive, but my friend Jim's are effing amazing!

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  14. There was a time when I could do a kick like this. My karate background was from a Japanese style called Okinawan Seidokan. Lots of days I miss it! It's great you're learning and continuing your martial arts!!

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    1. Funnily enough, Okinawa is going to be mentioned in my O post...

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  15. What a great concept for the challenge! Should actually be a real challenge, I would think. Best of luck this month.

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    1. Thank you! I need it because it will be a real challenge...

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