How to Do a Low Spinning Heel Kick in Martial Arts

The low spinning heel kick is one of the most difficult kicks to perform in martial arts. It involves a lot of coordination and flexibility in the knees and ankles. The low spinning heel kick is especially effective against an opponent who is kicking high. When timed perfectly, you can sweep your opponent's plant leg him to the ground.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

1. Prepare yourself in a fighting stance. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. One foot should be a step ahead of the other. Bounce lightly on the balls of your feet. Hold your hands in front of you with fists clenched. Face your target.

2. Shift all your weight to the ball of your front foot. This is what you will spin on. Do this by turning the heel of your front foot outward and toward your target while squatting down. Your back will turn toward your target. You must drop as low to the ground as possible. At this point some people cheat and touch their knee to the ground. This is a bad habit since you can't spin on your knee in the real world. Stay on the ball of your foot and do the kick correctly. Later you can work on dropping lower.

3. Spin like a top on the ball of your foot. As you do, your trailing leg should follow. Keep it straight and whip it around using the momentum of the spin for added speed. Lead with the heel. This is your striking surface.

4. Kick through the entire circle. Don't stop at the impact point. Continue sweeping your leg around until you come all the way around. Straighten your spinning leg as your kicking leg whips around. This will stand you back up in a ready position. Your kicking leg will go all the way back to the rear. You have now spun 360 degrees.

5. Practice the low spinning heel kick as one fluid motion. You are essentially dropping down and spinning your leg around like a weed whacker does with a wire. There are two motions. First is the motion of spinning around. Second is the motion of dropping down. They must be performed simultaneously. Practice bouncing down and around over and over until it becomes second nature.

Tips & Warnings

• The low spinning heel kick is extraordinarily difficult and requires a lot of practice. Work on the motion from a standing position, then move lower and lower. Keep your form pure. It is better to do it correctly high than incorrectly low.

• It is crucial to time your low spinning heel kick perfectly. It must be done at exactly the right moment to be effective. If your opponent sees you setting up for a low spinning heel kick, they will squash you like a bug when you are down low. The low spinning heel kick must be thrown the moment you see your opponent winding up for a high kick. If you deliver your low spinning heel kick with speed and accuracy, you will duck under your opponent's kick and sweep his plant leg, taking him down.