Which side will you pick?

[YouKnowWho]

When you apply a "crescent kick", you can:

1. Let your body to pull your leg.

PRO: Your whole body is unified. You can use your body mass to generate maximum power.

CON: Your body move can easily telegraph your intention. If you miss your target, you may over committed.

2. Let your leg to pull your body.

PRO: No telegraph. If you miss the target, it won't affect your own balance.

CON: You may only use your leg power instead of whole body powr.

So which side do you think that you like to be on?

[GoldenBrain]

I choose #1. Even if you telegraph it you can follow up with a snappy or thrusting front kick. I've never been pulled off balance with this kick and often use it just to set up a front kick.

[-N-]

When you apply a "crescent kick", you can:

1. Let your body to pull your leg.

PRO: Your whole body is unified. You can use your body mass to generate maximum power.

CON: Your body move can easily telegraph your intention. If you miss your target, you may over committed.

You mean to use body torque to power the kick?

It doesn't have to telegraph if you use short force body snap and hide that in the natural relaxation of a preceding motion of a combination attack.

It will be like the answer to that question you always ask about "internal" kick.

2. Let your leg to pull your body.

PRO: No telegraph. If you miss the target, it won't affect your own balance.

CON: You may only use your leg power instead of whole body powr.

So which side do you think that you like to be on?

You mean to power the kick with just the hip and leg muscles? And body might turn afterwards?

No thanks.

But with regard to power and missing the target, it depends on what you are trying to do. You adjust your power for the situation. If you mess up, you mess up.

[YouKnowWho]

Here is a similiar argument. When a fly passes infront of your face, you try to smash it with both palms, do you let your

- body to push your arms? or
- arms to pull your body?

[-N-]

PRO: No telegraph. If you miss the target, it won't affect your own balance.

If you connect, it may have no effect.

Are you just point sparring?

Here is a similiar argument. When a fly passes infront of your face, you try to smash it with both palms, do you let your

- body to push your arms? or
- arms to pull your body?

2 hands coming together is different than one kick going in one direction. You can use the body in a forward whip instead of a sideways torque.

That said, body connection is for speed and non telegraphy as much as it is for power.

[-N-]

Here's Buakaw.

http://www.youtube.com/#/watch?v=J58iTd2QoQM&

Not crescent kicks, but body connection with minimal telegraph, lots of speed, and plenty of power.

What's wrong with that?

[-N-]

Here's Buakaw.

http://www.youtube.com/#/watch?v=J58iTd2QoQM&

Not crescent kicks, but body connection with minimal telegraph, lots of speed, and plenty of power.

What's wrong with that?

This one.

http://youtu.be/J58iTd2QoQM

[MasterKiller]

Crescent kicks have to be the stupidest idea ever.

Let's see, how can I create a kick that doesn't involve using hip torque AND also exposes my ankles to being broken/hyper-extended???

[bawang]

no such thing as a crescent kick. its a back kick done badly.

[lkfmdc]

no such thing as a crescent kick. its a back kick done badly.

pin teui
baai lin teui

NOT back kicks, def TCMA technique

[lkfmdc]

Crescent kicks have to be the stupidest idea ever.

Let's see, how can I create a kick that doesn't involve using hip torque AND also exposes my ankles to being broken/hyper-extended???

I can get plenty of power in mine and won't hurt my ankles at all

specific application, limited application, but not NO application....

[SimonM]

Crescent kicks have to be the stupidest idea ever.

I don't know about that. There's lots of stupid ideas in martial arts.
Crescent kicks are certainly up there though.

[bawang]

pin teui
baai lin teui

NOT back kicks, def TCMA technique

bai lian tui is spinning back kick

[lkfmdc]

bai lian tui is spinning back kick

how do you figure?

Fu Mei teui is back kick
maybe Luhng Mei Teui is spinning back kick
Baai Lihn Teui is done in front of you

[Jimbo]

You can lessen the need to over-telegraph with the body by doing a 'whipping' crescent kick; that is, starting with the knee bent/chambered, then extending the leg (almost) straight just before contact. Say you're doing an outside crescent...if your target is at 12:00, you extend your leg at 10:00, and either bend it slightly again at 2:00, of simply keep it extended the rest of the way through. It's best to keep a slight bend in the knee at 'full extension', even though it may appear straight at contact. If you make heavy contact, you may also return your leg along the same route.

If it's an outside crescent, if you *slightly* direct your knee outwards, it also adds some speed/torque, and noticeably lessens pressure on your knee/ankle during contact. I used to use it on the heavy bag and sometimes landed it in competition, and never hurt my knee, ankle, and never had it grabbed. If you do it right, it comes from a blind angle over the opponent's shoulder. I don't consider it a street technique, though.

I never used the inside crescent except as a low foot sweep.