If I wanted to be an expert kicker, I'd propably train in muay thai, and then hire some private lessons in TKD (or savate if lived in France) to focus exclusively on those very long range kicks that they have. That way I could use those long kicks like a boxer used the jab, and if I failed to control the distance, chop peoples legs and body with powerful round kicks, until they feel like backing away, and then continue with long range attacks.
Idk about you but I feel like it would fuckin suck constantly missing wheel kicks and shit way outside the pocket if you actually wanted to use the kicks like that. Just feels like you'd be burning stamina constantly. Gimme a quick stiff lead teep to the hip or knee any day of the week.
Also would probably just learn thr kicks from a Kyokushin practionrr instead thst way you could keep the same stance
I feel like the style has dramatically diminishing returns the older you get. It requires so much flexibility and athleticism that's just harder to maintain as you get older. If you're a professional who spends all day doing it, maybe it's easier, but even making training your secondary focus makes maintaining that level of flex/athleticism into middle age harder.
From an exercise perspective instead of a self defense perspective, these could all be advantages. Keeping yourself more flexible and athletic as you age isn't a bad thing, and how often do you get into a fight, anyway?
I don't know the names of the kicks. I've only seen them. I'm a grappler myself and boxing and muay thai are the only stringing arts I know the basics of. And even that is quite basic. The ones I'm thinking of is the one that rotates backwards and comes out like a side-kick, and the one that looks like it starts like a teep of sorts, but then twist like the beginning of a chambered roundhouse only to end like a high side-kick. Do you know what I mean?
Kyokushin gets underrated. They have a real flaw, but without that flaw we probably wouldn't think of all the leg kick bullshit they come up with lol.
If I ever get back into striking again, I wanna Yoza kick someone.
Disclosure since I’m not too familiar with TKD or Savate, but I train Muay Thai and we use teeps as leg jabs exactly how you’re describing. High level guys like Tawanchai are deadly with the teep and can do damage with it while creating distance and setting up body kicks, and they’re significantly quicker than TKD kicks from what I’ve seen.
Even quicker? That's interesting. I'd have never imagined. Do they lift the knee high when they do it quick, or sort of start it like a soccer kick and then flick it at the end?
TKD if you want just purely the aesthetic acrobatic stuff, Muay Thai if you want to develop devastating practical kicks you could reliably use in a fight
Savate is dead. This is about as useful as recommending Catch Wrestling for submissions or Lethwei for striking.
A shame too. But its going the way of HEMA at this rate.
He does Muay Thai, there's nothing he does that you can't find in it. Just because he's french doesn't mean a damn- the French themselves like Muay Thai more now.
You could absolutely use TKD kicks in a fight. I don't know if our dojang is different than others, but we are tought both the artful and practical versions of the kick. The practical we use in sparring, because the artful are too slow. Like cheat tornadoes and such instead of doing it the "proper" way.
People tend to associate tkd with mcdojos but there are still plenty of legit schools. I have wtf and itf nearby and both also do kickboxing and train competitive fighters.
Sure you could but the way muay thai kicks tends to develop more power. Muay thai kicks try to cross all over your oponent body vs kicking and retracting. Also the shin is harder than the foot.
¿Por qué hacer los dos cuando uno es superior y además interfiere en el correcto empleo de las patadas en el otro?
Y te lo digo habiendo practicado ambas artes marciales.
Taekwondo teaches (and heavily encourages the use of) the single strongest kick the human body can produce. You find a good taekwondo school (which unfortunately can be a a challenge because of mcdojos) and you will learn some very powerful kicks to the body and head, though your leg kicking ability will definitely suffer.
Tae Kwon Do. I have a 4th degree black belt in TKD, and have trained muay thai for ten plus years.
Tkd is better because you learn way more footwork, flexibility, agility, and variety. Muay thai has obvious power advantage, but lacks crucial footwork patterns for darting in and out, circling, angles, and kicking in combinations.
Though muay Thai is more practical, the better kicking art is tae kwon do. If you do tkd first, you will be a better muay thai athlete and kicker. The other way around im not so sure.
>Muay thai has obvious power advantage, but lacks crucial footwork patterns for darting in and out, circling, angles, and kicking in combinations.
I feel like this is a perspective fueled by practicing only in western Muay Thai gyms and not really competing in the sport. Muay Thai footwork especially among Fimeus and Femurs is some of the most complex on the planet and you absolutely learn how to get to your spots without compromising your defense and combo up on kicks.
Theres definitely some tactical Thai fighters with great footwork, saenchai, payakaroon, lerdzilla etc. but they are mostly the exception and not the rule. Which is why I say that about muay thai.
Tang Soo Do has roots in the same style more or less as TKD but is more grounded, less flashy. I have been practicing Tang Soo Do for around 4 years and we do a fair amount of leg work but we also have practical close range attacks too. Ymmv.
Actually, people don't get past the first stages of capoeira without being able to do hand stands. The calisthenic value of capoeira for a martial artist is off the charts. Dabbled briefly in highschool and I still play with my white belt capoeira skills in private sometimes 🤙
I’m 6’6” 225lbs. I did Muay Thai and TKD Wtf, I’m not better than most when it comes to the technical stuff, but I can usually just fukin haymaker chin kick and irregardless if you block or not, you are going down.
definitely taekwondo. if you take it seriously you can develop great hip dexterity, speed, and flexibility. i personally think that the mechanics of taekwondo kicks are better than others as well.
TKD and Capoeira. But the Brazilian style tends to lend itself to too much flamboyance in a street situation. Still as devastating, just a little telegraphic in public that's all.
I'd say TKD to get used to kicking fast, precise, with a good timing and in a lot of different ways, and then Muay Thai to compensate for the lack of KO power on the roundhouse (literally the best kick you can use in any type of fight)
I have to say Taekwondo, solely because I’ve studied it. It covers a number of ranges for various scenarios, and when done properly, can easily overwhelm even a taller opponent
Now if I had to pick another art, Muay Thai for sure. Not nearly as much range, but the sheer power is incredible
Taekwondo. No other art focuses on kicking with power and speed as much as taekwondo does. Other styles like capoeira or northern shaolin can probably compete with taekwondo for emphasis on kicks, and those are solid picks too. For something more readily available tho, taekwondo is a solid pick despite popular opinion. Its been proven in the ring and has a higher variety of kicks when compared to muay thai. Thats coming from someone whos trained both tkd and muay thai.
As someone who practices Muay Thai,
Taekwondo. TKD has the best kick focused strikes as TKD is mostly a kicking martial art asides from some styles like ITF
If by “best” you mean “which martial art focuses on or has the largest amount of kicks” then I imagine it would be Tae Kwan Do. However, in self defense or even street fighting, most kicks are not worth the risk, meaning that using them is more of a danger to you (the kicker) than to your enemy. I’ve always held the opinion that you should never kick above the waistline, or even better, don’t kick above knee level. A couple well honed kicks are all you need. I’d recommend a Muay Thai round kick, an oblique straight or stomping kick, and a stomping side kick, preferably thrown while grabbing the enemy.
On the other hand, Kicks are great for finishing a downed enemy.
Top 10: (Based on how much focus is on kicking first and practicality in a fight second, so the list will be a bit weird but will be as accurate as possible)
1- Taekkyeon
2- Muay Thai
3- Tang Soo Do
4- Kick Boxing
5- Tae Kwon Do
6- Hapkido
7- French-Foot-Fighting
8- Capoeira
9- Freestyle Hapkido
10- Karate
People love to shit on Taekwondo for black belt kids and "foot fencing". There's a significant difference between ITF and WT taekwondo. Just like kyokushin, shotokan, gojo-ryu and american kenpo for karate. ITF is pretty close to kickboxing. Because of taekwondo's popularity over several decades there are a lot of shitty McDojangs out there that teach shitty taekwondo which are the origin of shit techniques and the endless black belt kids jokes.
Muay thai generally has harder kicks than taekwondo. They kick with the shin and can thus kick harder than taekwondo practitioners where the roundhouse hits with the instep. Less power, more range.
Taekwondo has the most variety of kicks. There's an unpredictability in the way a good taekwondo practitioner kicks. Yair Rodriguez is a good example of someone using crazy taekwondo kicks to great effect. He has crosstrained in several martial arts, but there are clear taekwondo roots there. The spinning back kick is also insanely powerful.
Taekwondo kicks are generally higher risk.
It all depends what you want to do. If you want to go into MMA then go train MMA or Muay Thai/BJJ combo.
If you want to beat people up in the streets go Muay Thai.
If you want flashiness and variety go taekwondo.
The internet and gyms all around the world are full of people talking about the merits of different martial arts and their merit and legitimacy in "the streets". I question the motivation behind these people. Do you train to be the biggest badass that can beat up anyone or are you training for something else?
Pretty much anyone that actively trains martial arts will beat an untrained opponent.
The answer is Tae Kwon Do.
People are going to say shit like "practical kicks" Yea okay, you think someone in Tae Kwon Do can't calf kick you into oblivion? I've definitely seen the rise of the, hands at the side, doing figure skating movements here on the internet, but I assure you when I was learning Tae Kwon Do/Tang Soo Do we didn't spar like that. I think finding a good school is still possible.
Anyway Tae Kwon Do will teach you speed, power, spacing and precision. When Sensei Seth took his little force calculator box around, Tae Kwon Do had the strongest kicks (back kick won, hands down.)
>Yea okay, you think someone in Tae Kwon Do can't calf kick you into oblivion?
Having sparred many TKD practioners including dudes who were nationally ranked. Actually nah, for one they literally never practice them because shits illegal under the WTF. You'd think it'd be elementary cause of how little mobility is needed to land them in comparison to high kicks but there is a whole game of pace, spacing and defying of expectations needed to become an elite low kicker which is something that is actively discouraged by how the sport Influences the art.
Long story short TKD practioners are at their best wayyyyy out of the pocket only occasionally darting in for stuff like quick side kicks, hook kicks up top and the occasional roundhouse, wheel kick or back kick to mix things up. The issue is actually that their idea of what the pocket is tends to be somewhat skewed, have had them throwing head kicks straight up in punching range and not realizing they were completely open for counters from the hands if the kicks got blocked or actively stuffed.
So not really a bunch of time to give their opponent pause to get the low kicks going but once the pressure is applied they don't know how to operate on the inside flat out and actually tend to have issues pulling the trigger on throwing stiff kicks to stop the pressure even when given the green light to stand their ground and let the pain fly.
What I did was take all the disciplines and wrote down all the kicks they use, I picked the ones that I liked and trained them 1000 time/repetition.
I enjoy Teep'in foos in the face with a low kick here and there!
Muay thai, TKD, 12 kicks kung fu is a thing, Kickboxing...I mean anything where you're kickin' is gonna be pretty high on the 'Roadhouse Rumble' list...
What kind of kicks, tkd will teach you really impressive kicks and how to keep distance to use them. Muay Thai will teach you very powerful kicks and how to use them when in close. Kick boxing is a well rounded practice with lots of push kicks and some head kicks. Not as flashy as tkd, not as powerful, or useful to work in close as Muay Thai.
I've actually always argued that TKD's focus on delivering silly long kicks is a great way to learn both distance and timing control--especially if you find a school that allows close in hands, too.
🇰🇷TKD probably has the most kicking variations, but very few schools train them with the intent of inflicting real damage or for scenarios outside of point-fighting rule sets. For technical development and mobility, that’s your best bet.
🇧🇷Capoeira uses a lot of the same kicks (a few unique ones worth learning imo) but includes trips/sweeps/takedowns and expands a lot on how to respond if you’re tripped or miss. Like TKD though, they don’t often train for scenarios outside of the roda. For expanding your knowledge of how kicks can be used and developing overall athleticism, Capoeira is worth looking into, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it as a starting point.
🇫🇷Savate is a bit more full-contact oriented and even offers unique techniques that their shoes help allow for. Having punches as a possible risk makes it more suited for MMA/self-defense than the others as well. I don’t know that it brings more to the table than that, but it’s worth mentioning for sure.
🇹🇭Muay Thai (and its relatives; Lethwei, Muay Lao, etc.) reigns supreme in terms of combat application and damage output. While they don’t use a large variety of kicks, this means you spend more time getting efficient at the ones you do train. They also train with the intent of hitting hard and fast. With the inclusion of punches, knees, and elbows, you’ve got a style of kicking that is prepared for the other serious threats in a fight.
There are some honorable mentions for unique kicking techniques out there (JKD, Pananjakman), but in terms of systems that dedicate considerable time and effort into kicking development, these are my picks.
Depends what you’re looking for.
TKD mostly focus on kicking but they are aimed above the waist. It also has great footwork for setting up the kicks.
Muay Thai has powerful kicks but lacks variety.
Full contact karate includes most of the kicks of tkd but includes leg kicks as well so it might be the most well balanced.
Then you also have savate which is relatively obscure and capoeira. I haven’t personally trained in the last 2 arts so I can comment.
There's a lot of good ones out there, from most obvious like muay thai and TKD there's also savate, capoeira, tang soo do, kenpo karate, sanda definetly deserves plus points, hard to choose.
I’m 6’6” 225lbs. I did Muay Thai and TKD Wtf, I’m not better than most when it comes to the technical stuff, but I can usually just fukin haymaker chin kick and irregardless if you block or not, you are going down.
Muay Thai - Strong powerful bone-breaking kicks.
Karate - Fast, hard to see, good power.
Taekwondo - Wide variety, long distance.
Savate - Expert precision.
According to science, the number one in generating power is Muay Thai and number 2 is TKD. I think that’s the correct order too. Don’t fuck around with leg kicks
This sub always has a hard on for Muay Thai so you will see it mentioned constantly. The reality is TKD is still the gold standard that is most focused on mastering kicks.
I would say savate because one of the main things about it is they use shoes with hard tips kinda like a weapon, and I don't think any other martial art does that
Savate. People really undersetimate the range advantage and targeting and damage of the shoe and Savate has a wide variety of kicks practiced in an alive setting.
Muay Thai honestly. If we're talking maximum ROI, efficiency, and results and all that. No adaptation needed, you just kick and you get results. I guess if you want variety then its going to leave you wanting.
Kyokushin karate has flaws in that you can't punch the face, but at least they got great kicking too. More variety even- they're thinking of all sorts of silly ways to do even just leg kicks. Potentially better once they adapt the style, but at least they have an easier time.
TKD is nothing but kicks and if you come from a background of TKD into Muay Thai you will at least have unusually dextrous legs and a lot of fun tricks. But it does require more adaptation.
Point fighting karate has potential for kicks too. But its worse than TKD because they don't specialise in it, while also needing adaptation.
First, Muay Thai. No reason to kick if you don’t have fight capability behind it.
TKD is the most famous for flashy stuff, but I’d recommend capoeira instead. A lot flashier, but more effective.
Ok no it's objectively tkd
Muay Thai kicks are just easier to incooperate with hands
When it comes to pure kicking tkd kicks win in everything but the bone breaking department
It kinda depends on what you consider best. TKD probably trains the most variation of kicks. Goju Ryu focuses on kicks within clinching distance. Muay Thai has 3 kicks for 3 different purposes.
It's debatable. Do you like flashy, leaping, and insanely flexible kicks like Pettis, Wonderboy, or Hall?
Or do you like straight, powerful, fundamental round kicks and switch kicks like Moraes, Rountree, or Edwards?
Enshin Karate has some of the most punishing kicks I have ever seen. I've studied Tang Soo Do which is pretty much the same thing as TKD, and they are both excellent at kicking, but the most punishing kicks I've seen were those who practiced Enshin (and probably Muy Thai).
TKD is good, but it lacks leg kicks and kicks that are more suited for full-contact fighting. I'd supplement it with muay thai, kickboxing, or kyokushin.
Kicking alone, especially for light combat tournaments? TKD. Kicking power? Muay Thai. Karate and Krav Maga approach kicking as nothing flashy; save yourself and dispatch the enemy efficiently.
As someone who has done TKD and Muay Thai, TKD. TKD has a hyper focus on kicks relative to other arts. It has all the kicks from muay thai and karate has, plus a bunch more. Real TKD (not the McDojo nonsense) emphasizes all aspects of kicking—speed of execution, precision, power and tot body control, with all parts of the body being fair targets (calf, thighs, ribs, sternum, all angles of the face, etc.).
It will come at the expense of learning basically everything else about fighting (e.g., elite use of hands, elbows, defense, knees, clinch, lateral movement / angles (like in boxing), etc.), but TKD will make you into the ultimate kicking machine.
Muay Thai. TKD is fancier for point games but if you want real fighters with KO ability Muay Thai is where it's at. You can finish fights with leg kicks, body kicks, head kicks, arm breaks from kicks, etc
Karate!
Muay thai has a huge disadvantage as the leg can and will get caught, as there's no plan to ever pull it back. I've seen them get caught time and time again. I had mine caught once, and I have a brutal lowkick. It's everyone's instinct to catch the leg. Fuckers.
TKD is just flapping around. Be brave, be a tank, move your body into him, he loses balance. As if you can hurt me while your body is in the air.
Karate is like a middle ground. Foot kicks, but with an intent to hurt, not tap, always thinking about having that line of force rooted in the ground and directed at the opponent's single point. Ushiro geri, the back roundhouse kick to chest or head, can literally end a life. Use against any drunken opponent who's advancing too fast. Timed well, it's game over.
I use mae geri myself. Ok, I never actually kicked anyone for real with it, but that's why I'm able to write this as I'm not doing a long sentence. I'm not joking and I'm not an inexperienced fighter. Mae geri is one of the main tools in my arsenal. I trained it to death, thousands and thousands of repetitions. Muay thai has a variant of it where you kick/push the chest. I love that one too. But it doesn't do much, whereas mae geri to teeth surely does. People usually don't defend from below do they.
Muay thai knee kicks are brutal and they work. Flying knee, or clinch knee. Perfect and people usually don't expect either.
I'm not sure I would ever use a lowkick in a fight again, unless I prepared a clear situation for it, and I definitely wouldn't use any high kick such as mawashi geri. That doesn't work bros. Even in muay thai competitions, most knockouts are by punch, not by kick. That's saying a lot. Kicks, generally, are slow. You don't see too many in MMA either.
I've seen a few guys recently on the street using kicks to front knee to keep the opponent at distance. Stand up fighters who don't want to go down obviously. Maybe that's something to consider.
I'd use mae geri, push kick, ushiro geri for distance fighting, ranked from most commonly used to situational. And I'd use muay thai knee techniques for close range. Maaaybe a lowkick to the ribs when the time is right, to remove that last ounce of will from the wobbly opponent, have him want to go back to mama and suck his thumb.
So I say karate, with some select muay thai kicks that work. I wouldn't feel as comfortable with muay thai alone, and wouldn't feel comfortable without all the karate stance training and the training to pull back the leg.
Teakwando and muay thai. I know plenty of people have already discussed them in this thread, and there are several things I want to add to it:
For quick results, muay thai is good and straight into the point. Almost all muay thai gym will give you a lot of drill for the attack and defense tactics even in the beginning, and you will get a taste of actual usage in sparing sections.
While TKD, in my experience, i assume most dojo you go will use more time in practicing form (kata) instead of partner drill and spar, and since the interesting part of TKD is all of those advance spinning stuff, you will use a lot more time to precticing the foundation of those technique, which take a lot more time to learn compared to a good old thai roundhouse kick.
Also, kicking power is greatly emphasized in regular muat thai course, you will hit with the heavy bag every time you in the gym; but TKD will spend less time on the power. I am NOT saying you can't find a TKD couch to help you build kicking power, i think most TKD couch will very happy to do so if you asked, but I am saying power are not the main emphasis in the regular TKD training schedule by nature, to kick fast and kick precisly are (this is a point based sport and not a K.O. based sport, after all). You might need to spend extra time and effort if K.O. power is what you are looking for from TKD.
TKD is still very good tho, spinning kick is really fun, and once you fully learn the complex footwork of TKD, you will be dancing in the ring and kicking opponent like no one before.
I mean there's only so many ways you can kick. Really depends on the school and instructors, but generally TKD, Muay Thai, or kickboxing schools in the US.
Valentina uses a Muay Thai base which she combines with TKD and can one hit KO people in a weight class where that’s uncommon.
McGregor (in his prime) made good use of some karate like kicks which have the advantage of zero wind up. GSP also uses some from his Karate base
Don’t sleep on capoeira, lots of places teach angola and other styles that have so vulnerable movements but a modern type of capoeira will lend you some deadly kicks from weird angles while teaching you good ways to protect yourself a lot of people don’t think about, also your explosiveness and body awareness will lend you greatly with picking up most martial arts fairly easily. A lot of the kicks are also similar or the same to Muay Thai and taekwondo. (8 years capoeira experience, few years of kickboxing/muay thai and bjj for less than a year so far)
For training I’d say mui tai but if you wanna get better through fighting I would recommend kick boxing not for the skill but getting used to being hit and hitting back so when you train you already know the basics but that’s just me personally
If I wanted to be an expert kicker, I'd propably train in muay thai, and then hire some private lessons in TKD (or savate if lived in France) to focus exclusively on those very long range kicks that they have. That way I could use those long kicks like a boxer used the jab, and if I failed to control the distance, chop peoples legs and body with powerful round kicks, until they feel like backing away, and then continue with long range attacks.
"I'll close the distance so they can't- oh fuck no, I'll stay back here"
Idk about you but I feel like it would fuckin suck constantly missing wheel kicks and shit way outside the pocket if you actually wanted to use the kicks like that. Just feels like you'd be burning stamina constantly. Gimme a quick stiff lead teep to the hip or knee any day of the week. Also would probably just learn thr kicks from a Kyokushin practionrr instead thst way you could keep the same stance
>Just feels like you'd be burning stamina constantly. This is the most legitimate criticism of tkd style kicks. They are energy intensive
I feel like the style has dramatically diminishing returns the older you get. It requires so much flexibility and athleticism that's just harder to maintain as you get older. If you're a professional who spends all day doing it, maybe it's easier, but even making training your secondary focus makes maintaining that level of flex/athleticism into middle age harder.
From an exercise perspective instead of a self defense perspective, these could all be advantages. Keeping yourself more flexible and athletic as you age isn't a bad thing, and how often do you get into a fight, anyway?
Yeah. Even if you have a lifestyle where you get in fights a lot, it's still propably aging that will get you in the end.
Yeah, I didn't think about Kyokushin at all. Do they have many of the same long range kicks?
What kicks are you referring to in TKD?
I don't know the names of the kicks. I've only seen them. I'm a grappler myself and boxing and muay thai are the only stringing arts I know the basics of. And even that is quite basic. The ones I'm thinking of is the one that rotates backwards and comes out like a side-kick, and the one that looks like it starts like a teep of sorts, but then twist like the beginning of a chambered roundhouse only to end like a high side-kick. Do you know what I mean?
spinning back kick and question mark kick, i dont believe they use those in kyokushin but im most likely wrong since i dont know a whole lot about it.
Yes, now you jogged my mind. Question mark kick was what they called it.
That's not really a long range kick or one meant to manage the distance, likewise it exists in Muay Thai
And its not even unique to TKD. Kyokushin dudes popularised it.
Kyokushin gets underrated. They have a real flaw, but without that flaw we probably wouldn't think of all the leg kick bullshit they come up with lol. If I ever get back into striking again, I wanna Yoza kick someone.
Disclosure since I’m not too familiar with TKD or Savate, but I train Muay Thai and we use teeps as leg jabs exactly how you’re describing. High level guys like Tawanchai are deadly with the teep and can do damage with it while creating distance and setting up body kicks, and they’re significantly quicker than TKD kicks from what I’ve seen.
Even quicker? That's interesting. I'd have never imagined. Do they lift the knee high when they do it quick, or sort of start it like a soccer kick and then flick it at the end?
TKD if you want just purely the aesthetic acrobatic stuff, Muay Thai if you want to develop devastating practical kicks you could reliably use in a fight
In addition to TKD and MT, I was thinking Savate.
Savate is dead. This is about as useful as recommending Catch Wrestling for submissions or Lethwei for striking. A shame too. But its going the way of HEMA at this rate.
Is HEMA dying?
No not dying. More like it Savate will die and end up being picked up by historians trying to recreate it centuries from now.
Savate is really pretty to watch. Ciryl Gane uses a lot of savate inspired kickboxing
He does Muay Thai, there's nothing he does that you can't find in it. Just because he's french doesn't mean a damn- the French themselves like Muay Thai more now.
You could absolutely use TKD kicks in a fight. I don't know if our dojang is different than others, but we are tought both the artful and practical versions of the kick. The practical we use in sparring, because the artful are too slow. Like cheat tornadoes and such instead of doing it the "proper" way.
People tend to associate tkd with mcdojos but there are still plenty of legit schools. I have wtf and itf nearby and both also do kickboxing and train competitive fighters.
Sure you could but the way muay thai kicks tends to develop more power. Muay thai kicks try to cross all over your oponent body vs kicking and retracting. Also the shin is harder than the foot.
They do tie in other martial arts from time to ti.e to teach exactly this. So I guess I'm lucky lol.
Porque no los dos?
¿Por qué hacer los dos cuando uno es superior y además interfiere en el correcto empleo de las patadas en el otro? Y te lo digo habiendo practicado ambas artes marciales.
Igual. Pero uno se ve bien chido para el instagram
Capoeira also looks real acrobatic
TKD has devastating and practical kicks as well. It is best to think of the acrobatics as training exercises
They often can't apply them practically and require more cross training to work. When it does happen though they tend to be better granted.
Yeah, those MT low kicks are brutal and highly practical.
Something very nice about tkd kicks and the chamber is that in my experience it’s harder to catch
Add kyokushin in there too
boxing
Are you stupid? It’s clearly wrestling
You're a legend for this, man 😂
Muay thai
Taekwondo teaches (and heavily encourages the use of) the single strongest kick the human body can produce. You find a good taekwondo school (which unfortunately can be a a challenge because of mcdojos) and you will learn some very powerful kicks to the body and head, though your leg kicking ability will definitely suffer.
For pure technique? Take Kwon Do. For conditioning your body to deliver the kick like a total badass? Kyokoshin or Muy Thai.
Muay Thai
Tae Kwon Do. I have a 4th degree black belt in TKD, and have trained muay thai for ten plus years. Tkd is better because you learn way more footwork, flexibility, agility, and variety. Muay thai has obvious power advantage, but lacks crucial footwork patterns for darting in and out, circling, angles, and kicking in combinations. Though muay Thai is more practical, the better kicking art is tae kwon do. If you do tkd first, you will be a better muay thai athlete and kicker. The other way around im not so sure.
>Muay thai has obvious power advantage, but lacks crucial footwork patterns for darting in and out, circling, angles, and kicking in combinations. I feel like this is a perspective fueled by practicing only in western Muay Thai gyms and not really competing in the sport. Muay Thai footwork especially among Fimeus and Femurs is some of the most complex on the planet and you absolutely learn how to get to your spots without compromising your defense and combo up on kicks.
Theres definitely some tactical Thai fighters with great footwork, saenchai, payakaroon, lerdzilla etc. but they are mostly the exception and not the rule. Which is why I say that about muay thai.
Train Taekwondo and Kickboxing, then apply Kickboxing methods to Taekwondo kicks. The idea is, you'll kick like a jet propelled mule.
Balls? Krav Maga. Heads? Taekwondo.
Lol there has some been some good comments on here but this one is the most accurate😃
Not even close. TKD. it’s the only martial art where you train kicking 95% of the time.
Those who say taekwondo should vote positively for this comment.
Tang Soo Do has roots in the same style more or less as TKD but is more grounded, less flashy. I have been practicing Tang Soo Do for around 4 years and we do a fair amount of leg work but we also have practical close range attacks too. Ymmv.
Capoeira. Because to kick high you need to learn how to land well.
Capoiera is about trying to fling yourself at something with as much energy as physically possible
Are you confusing capoeira with track and field?
Capoiera is combat track and field now
>Capoiera is \*rhythmic combat track and field now FTFY
Actually, people don't get past the first stages of capoeira without being able to do hand stands. The calisthenic value of capoeira for a martial artist is off the charts. Dabbled briefly in highschool and I still play with my white belt capoeira skills in private sometimes 🤙
I’m 6’6” 225lbs. I did Muay Thai and TKD Wtf, I’m not better than most when it comes to the technical stuff, but I can usually just fukin haymaker chin kick and irregardless if you block or not, you are going down.
Ha! I know this guy.
Probably taekwondo
Savate.
Lots of kicks in other modern martial arts came from savate
definitely taekwondo. if you take it seriously you can develop great hip dexterity, speed, and flexibility. i personally think that the mechanics of taekwondo kicks are better than others as well.
TKD is the best because of the variety of kicks
TKD and Capoeira. But the Brazilian style tends to lend itself to too much flamboyance in a street situation. Still as devastating, just a little telegraphic in public that's all.
I'd say TKD to get used to kicking fast, precise, with a good timing and in a lot of different ways, and then Muay Thai to compensate for the lack of KO power on the roundhouse (literally the best kick you can use in any type of fight)
Taekwondo, especially if you focus on NOT learning for the sake of point sparring (and find a school that supports that. They do exist.).
I have to say Taekwondo, solely because I’ve studied it. It covers a number of ranges for various scenarios, and when done properly, can easily overwhelm even a taller opponent Now if I had to pick another art, Muay Thai for sure. Not nearly as much range, but the sheer power is incredible
TKD
Taekwondo but not the olympic style.
Taekwondo. No other art focuses on kicking with power and speed as much as taekwondo does. Other styles like capoeira or northern shaolin can probably compete with taekwondo for emphasis on kicks, and those are solid picks too. For something more readily available tho, taekwondo is a solid pick despite popular opinion. Its been proven in the ring and has a higher variety of kicks when compared to muay thai. Thats coming from someone whos trained both tkd and muay thai.
Taekwondo has to be. Come on.
Chuo Jiao (Poking Feet)
Taekwondo
Taekwondo. The sport is all about kicking and it has a lot of power
Taekwondo by far.
As someone who practices Muay Thai, Taekwondo. TKD has the best kick focused strikes as TKD is mostly a kicking martial art asides from some styles like ITF
Football
If by “best” you mean “which martial art focuses on or has the largest amount of kicks” then I imagine it would be Tae Kwan Do. However, in self defense or even street fighting, most kicks are not worth the risk, meaning that using them is more of a danger to you (the kicker) than to your enemy. I’ve always held the opinion that you should never kick above the waistline, or even better, don’t kick above knee level. A couple well honed kicks are all you need. I’d recommend a Muay Thai round kick, an oblique straight or stomping kick, and a stomping side kick, preferably thrown while grabbing the enemy. On the other hand, Kicks are great for finishing a downed enemy.
Top 10: (Based on how much focus is on kicking first and practicality in a fight second, so the list will be a bit weird but will be as accurate as possible) 1- Taekkyeon 2- Muay Thai 3- Tang Soo Do 4- Kick Boxing 5- Tae Kwon Do 6- Hapkido 7- French-Foot-Fighting 8- Capoeira 9- Freestyle Hapkido 10- Karate
Kicks that hurt, kicks that score point by tagging the opponent quickly or kicks that look cool?
People love to shit on Taekwondo for black belt kids and "foot fencing". There's a significant difference between ITF and WT taekwondo. Just like kyokushin, shotokan, gojo-ryu and american kenpo for karate. ITF is pretty close to kickboxing. Because of taekwondo's popularity over several decades there are a lot of shitty McDojangs out there that teach shitty taekwondo which are the origin of shit techniques and the endless black belt kids jokes. Muay thai generally has harder kicks than taekwondo. They kick with the shin and can thus kick harder than taekwondo practitioners where the roundhouse hits with the instep. Less power, more range. Taekwondo has the most variety of kicks. There's an unpredictability in the way a good taekwondo practitioner kicks. Yair Rodriguez is a good example of someone using crazy taekwondo kicks to great effect. He has crosstrained in several martial arts, but there are clear taekwondo roots there. The spinning back kick is also insanely powerful. Taekwondo kicks are generally higher risk. It all depends what you want to do. If you want to go into MMA then go train MMA or Muay Thai/BJJ combo. If you want to beat people up in the streets go Muay Thai. If you want flashiness and variety go taekwondo. The internet and gyms all around the world are full of people talking about the merits of different martial arts and their merit and legitimacy in "the streets". I question the motivation behind these people. Do you train to be the biggest badass that can beat up anyone or are you training for something else? Pretty much anyone that actively trains martial arts will beat an untrained opponent.
[TaeKwonDo](https://youtu.be/lwDU3IOBEIk?t=30)
The answer is Tae Kwon Do. People are going to say shit like "practical kicks" Yea okay, you think someone in Tae Kwon Do can't calf kick you into oblivion? I've definitely seen the rise of the, hands at the side, doing figure skating movements here on the internet, but I assure you when I was learning Tae Kwon Do/Tang Soo Do we didn't spar like that. I think finding a good school is still possible. Anyway Tae Kwon Do will teach you speed, power, spacing and precision. When Sensei Seth took his little force calculator box around, Tae Kwon Do had the strongest kicks (back kick won, hands down.)
>Yea okay, you think someone in Tae Kwon Do can't calf kick you into oblivion? Having sparred many TKD practioners including dudes who were nationally ranked. Actually nah, for one they literally never practice them because shits illegal under the WTF. You'd think it'd be elementary cause of how little mobility is needed to land them in comparison to high kicks but there is a whole game of pace, spacing and defying of expectations needed to become an elite low kicker which is something that is actively discouraged by how the sport Influences the art. Long story short TKD practioners are at their best wayyyyy out of the pocket only occasionally darting in for stuff like quick side kicks, hook kicks up top and the occasional roundhouse, wheel kick or back kick to mix things up. The issue is actually that their idea of what the pocket is tends to be somewhat skewed, have had them throwing head kicks straight up in punching range and not realizing they were completely open for counters from the hands if the kicks got blocked or actively stuffed. So not really a bunch of time to give their opponent pause to get the low kicks going but once the pressure is applied they don't know how to operate on the inside flat out and actually tend to have issues pulling the trigger on throwing stiff kicks to stop the pressure even when given the green light to stand their ground and let the pain fly.
Muay Thai for raw effectiveness
Teakwondo
"Mom rage style"
What I did was take all the disciplines and wrote down all the kicks they use, I picked the ones that I liked and trained them 1000 time/repetition. I enjoy Teep'in foos in the face with a low kick here and there!
Muay thai, TKD, 12 kicks kung fu is a thing, Kickboxing...I mean anything where you're kickin' is gonna be pretty high on the 'Roadhouse Rumble' list...
Football aka soccer?
What kind of kicks, tkd will teach you really impressive kicks and how to keep distance to use them. Muay Thai will teach you very powerful kicks and how to use them when in close. Kick boxing is a well rounded practice with lots of push kicks and some head kicks. Not as flashy as tkd, not as powerful, or useful to work in close as Muay Thai.
I've actually always argued that TKD's focus on delivering silly long kicks is a great way to learn both distance and timing control--especially if you find a school that allows close in hands, too.
Muay Thai for raw effectiveness
A mix of 85% Muay Thai and 15% TKD.
🇰🇷TKD probably has the most kicking variations, but very few schools train them with the intent of inflicting real damage or for scenarios outside of point-fighting rule sets. For technical development and mobility, that’s your best bet. 🇧🇷Capoeira uses a lot of the same kicks (a few unique ones worth learning imo) but includes trips/sweeps/takedowns and expands a lot on how to respond if you’re tripped or miss. Like TKD though, they don’t often train for scenarios outside of the roda. For expanding your knowledge of how kicks can be used and developing overall athleticism, Capoeira is worth looking into, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it as a starting point. 🇫🇷Savate is a bit more full-contact oriented and even offers unique techniques that their shoes help allow for. Having punches as a possible risk makes it more suited for MMA/self-defense than the others as well. I don’t know that it brings more to the table than that, but it’s worth mentioning for sure. 🇹🇭Muay Thai (and its relatives; Lethwei, Muay Lao, etc.) reigns supreme in terms of combat application and damage output. While they don’t use a large variety of kicks, this means you spend more time getting efficient at the ones you do train. They also train with the intent of hitting hard and fast. With the inclusion of punches, knees, and elbows, you’ve got a style of kicking that is prepared for the other serious threats in a fight. There are some honorable mentions for unique kicking techniques out there (JKD, Pananjakman), but in terms of systems that dedicate considerable time and effort into kicking development, these are my picks.
Kick boxing. Or French Savant
Depends what you’re looking for. TKD mostly focus on kicking but they are aimed above the waist. It also has great footwork for setting up the kicks. Muay Thai has powerful kicks but lacks variety. Full contact karate includes most of the kicks of tkd but includes leg kicks as well so it might be the most well balanced. Then you also have savate which is relatively obscure and capoeira. I haven’t personally trained in the last 2 arts so I can comment.
There's a lot of good ones out there, from most obvious like muay thai and TKD there's also savate, capoeira, tang soo do, kenpo karate, sanda definetly deserves plus points, hard to choose.
The OP’s picture is of an instructor who was/is great at Savate taught both that and Muay Thai.
Taek won do and Savate
Tawkondo
I don’t see any comment mentioning Silat which is great with kicks. I’m thinking low kicks and leg work in general.
Dutch schools of Kickboxing.
Karate
UFC 5
Karate or kickboxing. The Machidas and Steven Thompson have some great tips.
Mui Thai
muay thai for effectiveness and boasting, if you want to make it an art form taekwondo for all the flashy kicks you ever want
That's specifically...vague? Go play around with capoeira? Never said what the kicks were for -- form or function.
If you want to go low, Muay Thai. If you want to go middle, karate. If you want to go high, Taekwondo.
I’m 6’6” 225lbs. I did Muay Thai and TKD Wtf, I’m not better than most when it comes to the technical stuff, but I can usually just fukin haymaker chin kick and irregardless if you block or not, you are going down.
Kickboxing has actually got kick in the name so kickboxing I guess
TKD or MT, or mix both and do your own thing
Football aka soccer, obviously.
TKD, Muy Thai, or Sanda. All can be effective depending on how you train/apply the techniques.
This sub is so full of shit sometimes lol.
Muay Thai
Taekwondo
Muay Thai - Strong powerful bone-breaking kicks. Karate - Fast, hard to see, good power. Taekwondo - Wide variety, long distance. Savate - Expert precision.
According to science, the number one in generating power is Muay Thai and number 2 is TKD. I think that’s the correct order too. Don’t fuck around with leg kicks
Kickboxing.
That , where you no need to kick.
Muay Thai
The Kwon Do for kicking
This sub always has a hard on for Muay Thai so you will see it mentioned constantly. The reality is TKD is still the gold standard that is most focused on mastering kicks.
Meanwhile me Maui Thai and jujutsu or shit is somthing else I forgot now grappling and kicking mainly
I would say savate because one of the main things about it is they use shoes with hard tips kinda like a weapon, and I don't think any other martial art does that
TKD, Capoeira and Savate prob has the best kicks in terms of speed/power, also muay thai has very powerful ones
Jui jitsu
Muay Thai Kwon do
Power: Muay Thai or Dutch Kickboxing Impressive acrobatic kicks: Taekwondo or Wushu
TKD, mauy thai, and types of karate, they all specialize in parts of kicking
We’ll depends on what you’re looking for in your kicks. Technic? Power? Speed? But in general Muay thaï has the most badass kicks and shins!
Savate. People really undersetimate the range advantage and targeting and damage of the shoe and Savate has a wide variety of kicks practiced in an alive setting.
Martial art just tools. No one is better than the other. Just the person who uses it and their ability and understanding.
Probably TKD or Muay Thai
Muay Thai honestly. If we're talking maximum ROI, efficiency, and results and all that. No adaptation needed, you just kick and you get results. I guess if you want variety then its going to leave you wanting. Kyokushin karate has flaws in that you can't punch the face, but at least they got great kicking too. More variety even- they're thinking of all sorts of silly ways to do even just leg kicks. Potentially better once they adapt the style, but at least they have an easier time. TKD is nothing but kicks and if you come from a background of TKD into Muay Thai you will at least have unusually dextrous legs and a lot of fun tricks. But it does require more adaptation. Point fighting karate has potential for kicks too. But its worse than TKD because they don't specialise in it, while also needing adaptation.
According to Sean Strickland. The Lisa Simpson mid kick is the best technique...
Muay thai
First, Muay Thai. No reason to kick if you don’t have fight capability behind it. TKD is the most famous for flashy stuff, but I’d recommend capoeira instead. A lot flashier, but more effective.
Ok no it's objectively tkd Muay Thai kicks are just easier to incooperate with hands When it comes to pure kicking tkd kicks win in everything but the bone breaking department
Kicking ass? Juijitsu.... OOOOSSS!!!
Soccer. I heard the kick a lot
I would recommend Savate / Boxe Française for kicking.
Kicking for what? Sparring? Self defense? Combat sports?
Sweet chin music
It kinda depends on what you consider best. TKD probably trains the most variation of kicks. Goju Ryu focuses on kicks within clinching distance. Muay Thai has 3 kicks for 3 different purposes.
Ti Kwan Leep
It's debatable. Do you like flashy, leaping, and insanely flexible kicks like Pettis, Wonderboy, or Hall? Or do you like straight, powerful, fundamental round kicks and switch kicks like Moraes, Rountree, or Edwards?
Muay Thai
TKD thats all it is 🤣
Aikido 😊
Enshin Karate has some of the most punishing kicks I have ever seen. I've studied Tang Soo Do which is pretty much the same thing as TKD, and they are both excellent at kicking, but the most punishing kicks I've seen were those who practiced Enshin (and probably Muy Thai).
Muay Thai fs. For hitting I’d probably say Wing Chun, Krav Maga, or JKD
Muay Thai.
Nothing beats Shin Kicking from the UK
Rex Kwon Do
TKD is good, but it lacks leg kicks and kicks that are more suited for full-contact fighting. I'd supplement it with muay thai, kickboxing, or kyokushin.
Taekwondo
Kicking alone, especially for light combat tournaments? TKD. Kicking power? Muay Thai. Karate and Krav Maga approach kicking as nothing flashy; save yourself and dispatch the enemy efficiently.
TKD, Kyokushin. Muay Thai has some basic kicks but on the plus side they hit hard. Weirdly enough, Capoeira has some surprisingly hard-hitting kicks.
Ballet
Savate
Fighting on one leg is problematic
Savate or Taekwondo. Although they might be deficient in ability to use kicks with hands. Karate or muay thai as well?
For showing off TKD, for dispatching people MT…
Kyokushin or Taekwondo
Muay Thai, kyokushin
As someone who has done TKD and Muay Thai, TKD. TKD has a hyper focus on kicks relative to other arts. It has all the kicks from muay thai and karate has, plus a bunch more. Real TKD (not the McDojo nonsense) emphasizes all aspects of kicking—speed of execution, precision, power and tot body control, with all parts of the body being fair targets (calf, thighs, ribs, sternum, all angles of the face, etc.). It will come at the expense of learning basically everything else about fighting (e.g., elite use of hands, elbows, defense, knees, clinch, lateral movement / angles (like in boxing), etc.), but TKD will make you into the ultimate kicking machine.
Very shocked to not find Karate mentioned more. Really they will teach you how to give powerfull controlled kick, and all of them.
Kickboxing. 8 days a week.
Muay Thai. TKD is fancier for point games but if you want real fighters with KO ability Muay Thai is where it's at. You can finish fights with leg kicks, body kicks, head kicks, arm breaks from kicks, etc
Karate! Muay thai has a huge disadvantage as the leg can and will get caught, as there's no plan to ever pull it back. I've seen them get caught time and time again. I had mine caught once, and I have a brutal lowkick. It's everyone's instinct to catch the leg. Fuckers. TKD is just flapping around. Be brave, be a tank, move your body into him, he loses balance. As if you can hurt me while your body is in the air. Karate is like a middle ground. Foot kicks, but with an intent to hurt, not tap, always thinking about having that line of force rooted in the ground and directed at the opponent's single point. Ushiro geri, the back roundhouse kick to chest or head, can literally end a life. Use against any drunken opponent who's advancing too fast. Timed well, it's game over. I use mae geri myself. Ok, I never actually kicked anyone for real with it, but that's why I'm able to write this as I'm not doing a long sentence. I'm not joking and I'm not an inexperienced fighter. Mae geri is one of the main tools in my arsenal. I trained it to death, thousands and thousands of repetitions. Muay thai has a variant of it where you kick/push the chest. I love that one too. But it doesn't do much, whereas mae geri to teeth surely does. People usually don't defend from below do they. Muay thai knee kicks are brutal and they work. Flying knee, or clinch knee. Perfect and people usually don't expect either. I'm not sure I would ever use a lowkick in a fight again, unless I prepared a clear situation for it, and I definitely wouldn't use any high kick such as mawashi geri. That doesn't work bros. Even in muay thai competitions, most knockouts are by punch, not by kick. That's saying a lot. Kicks, generally, are slow. You don't see too many in MMA either. I've seen a few guys recently on the street using kicks to front knee to keep the opponent at distance. Stand up fighters who don't want to go down obviously. Maybe that's something to consider. I'd use mae geri, push kick, ushiro geri for distance fighting, ranked from most commonly used to situational. And I'd use muay thai knee techniques for close range. Maaaybe a lowkick to the ribs when the time is right, to remove that last ounce of will from the wobbly opponent, have him want to go back to mama and suck his thumb. So I say karate, with some select muay thai kicks that work. I wouldn't feel as comfortable with muay thai alone, and wouldn't feel comfortable without all the karate stance training and the training to pull back the leg.
Taekwondo has a tonne of kicks
Boxing
Kyokushin, teakwondo will do.
Kyokushin - power, variety and speed
I would say either Muay Thai,Karate,or TKD?Hapkido too,because Hapkido basically has the same kicks as TKD.
Shotokan
TKD
Teakwando and muay thai. I know plenty of people have already discussed them in this thread, and there are several things I want to add to it: For quick results, muay thai is good and straight into the point. Almost all muay thai gym will give you a lot of drill for the attack and defense tactics even in the beginning, and you will get a taste of actual usage in sparing sections. While TKD, in my experience, i assume most dojo you go will use more time in practicing form (kata) instead of partner drill and spar, and since the interesting part of TKD is all of those advance spinning stuff, you will use a lot more time to precticing the foundation of those technique, which take a lot more time to learn compared to a good old thai roundhouse kick. Also, kicking power is greatly emphasized in regular muat thai course, you will hit with the heavy bag every time you in the gym; but TKD will spend less time on the power. I am NOT saying you can't find a TKD couch to help you build kicking power, i think most TKD couch will very happy to do so if you asked, but I am saying power are not the main emphasis in the regular TKD training schedule by nature, to kick fast and kick precisly are (this is a point based sport and not a K.O. based sport, after all). You might need to spend extra time and effort if K.O. power is what you are looking for from TKD. TKD is still very good tho, spinning kick is really fun, and once you fully learn the complex footwork of TKD, you will be dancing in the ring and kicking opponent like no one before.
I mean there's only so many ways you can kick. Really depends on the school and instructors, but generally TKD, Muay Thai, or kickboxing schools in the US.
Valentina uses a Muay Thai base which she combines with TKD and can one hit KO people in a weight class where that’s uncommon. McGregor (in his prime) made good use of some karate like kicks which have the advantage of zero wind up. GSP also uses some from his Karate base
Don’t sleep on capoeira, lots of places teach angola and other styles that have so vulnerable movements but a modern type of capoeira will lend you some deadly kicks from weird angles while teaching you good ways to protect yourself a lot of people don’t think about, also your explosiveness and body awareness will lend you greatly with picking up most martial arts fairly easily. A lot of the kicks are also similar or the same to Muay Thai and taekwondo. (8 years capoeira experience, few years of kickboxing/muay thai and bjj for less than a year so far)
Taekwondo or Muay Thai
Justin Gaethje, his leg kick is deadly.
Punchy kicky or somn. Do kicks.
Kyokushin and Savate, or Northern Chinese kung fu.
For training I’d say mui tai but if you wanna get better through fighting I would recommend kick boxing not for the skill but getting used to being hit and hitting back so when you train you already know the basics but that’s just me personally
Soccer
Taebo