well my kicks are alot prettier than the dude in the video, and they probably would floor him as well. just come down to san antonio in december to check my side kick out. when it comes to pushing on every kick, i am currently working on the correct amount of push with my spin kick to maintain balance. as for pivot, my side kick(even with my round house kick) i only pivot about halfway.
Hell, I bet that YOU are prettier (i.e. better looking) than that dude in the video. Please note the edit I made, as I added "non-rotating" to my original sentence. Spin kick & round[house] kick would fall into this category, so pushing off the ground with the support leg is less important with these kicks in order to increase power than it is with other kicks where you aren't airborne, hehe. While considering the ENTIRE dynamic affecting your balance, is the only proper way to ascertain the end result WRT to power delivered, focusing on just the basic biomechanics of a kick tends to *uncomplicate* things somewhat, especially when analyzing the sorts of things we've been discussing. One of the reasons it's called a "side" kick is due to the fact that your body is turned sideways to the target. So let's not start from a stance where you need to pivot in order to kick. Stand sideways to a heavy bag, close enough that you can reach your nearest foot to it. Then chamber that [nearest] leg and execute a side kick (this little exercise will enable you to see where the foot position mentioned by Obewan helps so much, IOW a 90° pivot of the support foot enhances your balance stability, as well as allows you to push your hip closer to the target for deeper penetration). Be sure to kick it both ways, i.e. by chambering your leg & thrusting straight, as well as by merely flipping your foot towards the heavy bag. All the pivoting which accompanies a "standard" side kick is merely about getting your body into this *final* position so that you can launch the foot from its chamber, and only clouds the main [power] issue. If your rendition of a side kick relies on any sort of pivot to effect its power, then we're comparing apple & oranges (IMO, a chambered side kick can generate more thrusting power than any movement-enhanced pivoting motion could muster). Hopefully this explains my perspective on side kick WRT power.
is the chamber necessary? in the shippalgi vid pugil posted the gentleman doesn't do a full chamber(i saw him chamber back, though). i see a chambering of the leg as telegraphing intent and delaying delivery. by sliding the leg up and turning the hip over i get faster results on my partner with equal stopping power. i also believe that since chambering the kick is putting the movement in the peripherals of my partner, they will move quickly. in keeping in line with the promoting to red belt, i hope that blundering a side kick due to telegraphing is a total white/yellow/blue belt move!
If you were charging at me and I held a long yet sturdy stick out at the last second, it should prevent you from surpassing my perimeter, regardless of whether I extend it at you in a straight [horizontal] line or whether I flip it up into a horizontal position from a previous vertical alignment (i.e. perpendicular to the ground). So let's add TIMING into the mix... Using the same scenario, if I miscalculate your advancing speed and you intercept the projected stick early, it will still stop your forward progress when extended straight out horizontally, but it will be pushed aside (or knocked down) if using the tilting up method. Likewise, a side kick extended from a chambered position will not be affected as much as a [more or less] straight leg that's being manipulated into position, much like the stick in my example. If lateral movement of the leg from the hip joint was stronger than the combined *unfolding Z* movement that's present in the extension of the foot as seen in a thrusting side kick, then bench press machines would be designed to work this particular movement (but we all know that bench press machines work the other movement, don't we?). Remember that I never said that *flippy* side kicks were useless, just not as strong as thrust side kicks. And perhaps while being a wee bit faster, in my experience the trade-off of speed for less structural strength just isn't worth it (better to work on making a chambered side kick as fast as you possibly can, IMO). Judging by this statement, I'm going to have to assume that you were never taught how to do a formal leg chambering position (which BTW is not a pose one should assume & hold, but rather it's a transitional posture held briefly if at all). There are about a half dozen different kicks that I can throw from the same exact chamber position, and all of them take a different route to land on target. What this means is that while you may suspect I might throw a kick when I chamber my leg, you have no clue what my intended target might be (BTW, a chamber can also be used as a means of protecting the raised leg from a sweep or kick, as well as shielding your body from a powerful blow, seeing as how the thigh covers the ribs). I know what you're going to say after reading my last parenthetical revelation, but sustaining the trauma on my leg rather than my ribs, even if it means being knocked down because of standing on only one leg, is much more preferable in my way of thinking. I do know how to fall safely, after all, and since I also know the skills to convert falling posture smoothly back into a standing posture, saving my ribs is worth it (raising the leg is faster than any other movement that might also serve to protect you, such as blocking or dodging the blow, especially if it's a kick - so depending on when you "see it coming" you may not have a lot of options). Huh? I got the impression that KSN_Princess was testing FOR her blue belt, not taking a test AS a blue belt (try reading post #1 again, SsangKall, as I'm sure you'll get the same impression).
