How to Execute a Crescent Kick and Double Side Piercing Kick Combo in Tai Kwon Do
Tae Kwon Do is the Korean national martial art. It makes use of many different kinds of kicks being delivered from mobile stances, such as flying or jumping kicks. This requires a very good sense of balance as well as extreme flexibility. Often a single, well aimed kick in Tae Kwon Do is sufficient to end a sparring match or competition bout. But because of the time and energy it may take to deliver such a kick, a certain amount of strategy must be used to manipulate your opponent into putting himself in harm’s way. This is most often done through combination attacks, whereby if the first attack is unsuccessful, it serves just as well as a feint to put your opponent in a position most vulnerable to successive attacks. You can manipulate your opponent in such a way by delivering a Crescent Kick, which doubles as a feint, followed by a Double Side Piercing Kick.
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Instructions
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1
Square up to your opponent in the traditional Tae Kwon Do combat stance. Put your right foot forward and keep your weight on your left foot. Extend your right fist to be horizontal with the shoulder and half cocked at the elbow. Hold your left fist in an underhand position close to your chest. Be barely within kicking distance of your opponent when you decide to attack.
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2
Take a half step back with your right leg and put your weight on it. Simultaneously bring your left leg, at full extension across from your far left side to your far right side in an overhand arch. This is the crescent kick and is designed to get your opponent to perform the traditional block, which is done by your opponent drawing his arms up into the upper right quadrant of his body as if to meet the attack or successive kicks of the same type. Do not bother to extend sufficiently to strike your opponent’s blocking arms. Halt the leg when it crosses in front of your right leg well above knee height.
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3
Draw the knee up so the femur is horizontal with the ground while twisting your body on your right foot. The heel of your right foot should now be pointing toward your opponent and you should be looking at him over your left shoulder.
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4
Turn your left leg out and extend it back and to the side to launch the first side piercing kick. Your leg should extend horizontally with the ground to strike your opponent in the stomach or abdomen with the heel of your foot.
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5
Retract your leg but keep it raised as in Step 3. Bend forward while launching the same kick again, aiming upward toward the opponent’s chest or face.
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6
Drop your left leg and swing it in an underhanded arc while twisting on your right foot to reassume your starting combat stance described in Step 1.
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Tips & Warnings
Because of the inherent force delivered by a successful kick in Tai Kwon Do, make sure that both you and your opponent are wearing regulation fist pads, foot pads and helmets.
