What kicks/techniques are most effective in real life?

[The Draken]

What kicks are most useful in real life? Real life meaning a fight, which could be anywhere-sidewalk, dark alley, bar from the old west, whatever.

By useful, I also mean practical.
I've noticed that the most effective kicks are basic kicks. Strong, efficient, and easy to preform. Plus, they're quick.

But would more advanced kicks be practical? Things such as tornado kick? 540 kick(s)?

Please feel free to add kicks that you'd find useful. I'm aware these are only a few.

 

[nightwing773]

I find roundhouse kicks and outside crescent kicks are very effective in a real fight. Front snap kicks are also good if your attacker is male, for obvious reasons.

Arm bars and wrist breaks from grabs are also very useful if you're about to get mugged.  

[TaeKyon]

Most kicks aren't practical in a "real fight" (granted, most martial arts PERIOD aren't practical in a "real fight") and honestly practically all "advanced" kicks are obviously too risky and impractical. In order to kick you leave yourself and your balance vulnerable and any smuck can catch a leg and drive you forward to the ground. Of course, this is all theoretical and based on how effective kicks are used in MMA.

These "does such and such work on the streets" discussions are usually pretty pointless and mostly hypothetical. Moreover, street fighting is illegal and the closest legal form of combat is the sport of mma. As such, you can really only extrapolate a theoretical conclusion from mma (though you can't necessarily conclude that what works in mma will necessarily work in a real fight).  

[Woglinde]

While the fancy kicks such as the Tornado/540 kicks may look good, for your own good, leave them out of a real fight. You'll just be asking for someone to take you down, stab, or seriously injure you when your wide open. Another thing to remember is do not kick above the waist unless you absolutely have to. Any higher and your kick isn't only inefficient, but the speed between launch the launch of the strike & contact greatly diminishes, resulting in more more time for him to react. (Not to mention it greatly throws you off balance.) It's fine if you execute high kicks during practice, but when you actually fight (sparring included) don't kick above the waist.

Another tip is to NOT to use a whipping motion(especially not the roundhouse), cause if you do that you rob your legs of their biggest advantage, power. If you plan on using a whipping motion in your strikes (god forbid) at least do it with your hands, 'cause they are built for speed & mobility in the first place.
Swing through like your leg is a baseball bat, if your kicks are strong enough, you'll blow through their defenses this way wink
The reason I bring this up is that many people get the idea that if they don't swing through, they can recover easier if they miss. Thing wrong with that though, is even if they make contact, they aren't gonna cause any damage in the 1st place rolleyes  

[diseased robot]

for me is the cresent kick, front kick and round kick but maybe the side kick  

[The Draken]

I just realized how extremely effective split kick is (two snap kicks in the air to the side of you, sumultaneously)

 

[Wolf Nightshade]

I use the front kick, low round houses and side kicks the most. I focus on low kicks to the legs mostly. Once im in close I use punches while tripping up my opponent. If I get in close and trap an arm I will use shovel kicks to the knee.  

[Pink Slowpoke]

An effective kick i find is leg chop but of course you have to be able to kick very high and have to be attacked by someone smaller than you. sweatdrop

and of couse arm breaks are always effective. biggrin  

[ArtHic]

An effective kick is the one that connects.  

[Krad Elyk]

In a real fight? To tell the truth almost any kick can be effective, but just like with any punch, a kick can be blocked. The problem is, most kicks are slower than a punch. Therefore, you could say a kick is actually easier to block, so what's the solution? The answer is timing. As a fight goes on, fighters run out of steam. When that happens, our reaction times worsen. This means a more powerful kick has a better chance of connecting later in a fight.

However, one kind of kick effective early in a fight is a low kick to your opponent's leg (this kick is the one you most often see in muay thai). Although is isn't allowed in most sparring due to how easy it can really mess up someone's leg (my girlfriend trains with someone who got her leg broken by a kick like this), it can be very effective in a real fight. This is a very quick kick that is also hard to block. The kick also throws off your opponent's balance.

Hope I've helped. pirate  

[mindsage25]

ok you want to fight more effective? Use a weapon...


every move has a reason! but that doesn't mean there is a one technique for every situation that's why we study hand to hand combat so extensively!

a High Kick can have its place but footing, distance, and circumstance play big into your strategy! Try to always be aware of your surroundings and you will always have a edge to success.

think of this though if you have an opportunity to kick a knee then kick a knee! if you can pack a rock packed punch then pack it!

sweatdrop personally though id rather never get into a fight if I can avoid it.  

[Wolf Nightshade]

I was in a fight almost a year ago where a drugged up guy came after me for defending his wife. I kicked him in the side and later found out I cracked a rib or 2. Kicks can end fights if they land right. Kicks can be more powerful than a punch but anything above the waste is risky. A shot to the head can also be lethal but then a solid strike in the head no matter the weapon can be.

Case and point there was a news story several years ago where a kid went after another getting off their school bus. Someone threw gum in this kids hair and he went after who he thought did it. He punched the kid in the back of the head and killed him.

Im not that flexible but can kick to the head of anyone who is around 5'11". I have been knocked down for kicking to high after training in Wing Chun it has become very apparent to me that high kicks are risky unless someone has been set up or hit several times first. Such as in a combination where you have hit them and they are to dazed to see whats coming. Wing Chun has a technique called Fut Sau this can be used in a number of ways but my favorite is to catch a kick that is shoulder high or over. The arm swings out while the free hand covers the face and head if the kick comes through. As the kick lands the arm continues to swing up extending the leg higher than intended and throws the person off balance. This has the potential to tear muscles in the leg but from their it's likely we will execute a sweep or a kick to the knee of the support leg my friend also likes to aim for the groin.