Originally posted by red5angel
A good effective roundhouse needs to be chambered. Muy Thai roundhouses are mediocre in my view for damage potential in my opinion but they don't have to be chambered. To get some real power behind it, it needs to be chambered, and that's a tell.
If I hit you in the knee with a whip, and in the other with a baseball bat, the whip will do more damage? Doubtful.
As for setting it up, I don't consider set up the best way to go about things unless you absolutely have your opponent on the run.
unless you are just swinging aimlessly, everything is set up, unless your opponent blindly walks into your attack, in which case you don't have to set up a roundhouse either.
I don't like roundhouses in general because they, like most things require a setup or a chamber to be highly effective ( I don't consider pounding away at someones thigh, effective for self defense, although it works in sport) and if I'm going to kick it's going to be for full maximum damage potential.
so tell me where you're going to kick. A fron kick to the midsection isn't too terribly damamging. However, I've broken someone's ribs with a roundhouse to the midsection. People think a roundhouse to the side of the knee won't damage it, but I am sporting a strained meniscus that will verify otherwise. I've heard of deaths from a roundhouse to the neck - I'll try to find something to verify that.
This is all of course in the context of "high". A good low roundhouse can make a good sweep, but again has similar limitations in my mind as above.
In the context of "high", I really don't use any kicks. The few times that I do, it's side, hook or round.
I don't think the roundhouse makes a good sweep, unless you are doing something like a cut kick, where one of your opponent's legs is already off of the ground.