HAPKIDO

How to Stop the 5 Most CommonKicks ofthe Martial Arts—

by Putting Your Attackeron the Ground!

by Robert W. Young * photos by Thomas Sanders

Kfyour fighting style revolves around punching andm kicking while maintaining maximum mobility, you'llm like the jeet kune do method of defending againstM kicks that's outlined on Page 76. If, however,you're a stand-and-fight, grab-him-and-break-some-thing sort of person, you'll appreciate the hapkidotechniques Han Woong Kim covers in this article.

v s . KICKS ir

Spend any amount of time in the Korean martial arts, and you'iiquickly learn that hapkido is renowned—you might even say"feared"—for its kick defense. That term is really a misnomerbecause there'» a whole lot more offense than defense goingon. Why? Because hapkido students adhere to the philosophythat stopping a kick and backing off merely gives the attackera chance to regroup and re-engage. That's usually followed by

regret. It's much safer to stop the kick and inflict enough dam-age to remove the opponent's ability to continue the fight.

With that in mind, peruse the five kick defenses presentedbelow. They're demonstrated and described by Han Woong Kim,a sixth-degree master of yang mu won hapkido, the ultra-effective version of the art founded by his father. Black Belt Hallof Fame member Chong S. Kim. »

DEFENSE AGAINST:• THE FRONT KICK •

APPEAL: This hapkido defense is uni-versally effective because almost everymartial art teaches the front kick thesame way, Han Woong Kim says.

STARTS Assume a closed-stance fight-ing posture in which your lead hand isdown and your rear hand is near yourchin. "The hand that's down is waitingfor the kick, and your guard hand pro-tects your head," Kim says. "Leave yourmidsection open to bait him. That way,you have more of a chance to get thekick you want."

TECHNIQUE: As soon as he initiates hisfront kick, move your body slightly outof the way, Kim says. "Then, even if hemakes contact, you won't get hurt be-cause you won't absorb the full power.Use your front hand to redirect the kickand your rear hand to grab the leg nearthe knee.

"Try to grab the leg when it's on theway in. It doesn't matter if the knee isfully extended or bent. If possible, useyour front hand to keep the leg fromfully extending. When the leg is bent,twisting is easier."

Next, occupy the space betweenyou and your opponent as you wrapyour lead hand around his leg. "Don'tgo against his energy," he says. "Asyou grab, turn your body 45 degreesclockwise and direct his energy to theground. Use your body weight andshoulder to press down on the side ofthe knee, twisting it. Continue until he'sdown. If he resists, it will tear up theligaments in his knee."

FINISH: Recover your balance and con-trol him. You can effect a leg or anklelock, activate a pressure point on hisneck, twist his head or simply strikewith your right hand.

CAVEAT: "For it to work, your motionmust be continuous until your oppo-nent is on the ground," he says.

DEFENSE AGAINST:• THE SIDE KICK •

APPEAL: This technique lets gravity dothe dirty work. "If your opponent is bigand strong, it can be hard to sweep theleg, but if you lift his kicking leg, it willwork^and he'll hit the ground hard,"Kim says.

A FRONT-KICK DEFENSE

• SIDE-KICK DEFENSE

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ROUNDHOUSE-KICK DEFENSE •

HEEL-DROP-KICK DEFENSE T

STARTÏ Adopt a closed-stance ready po-sition with your lead hand up, leavingyour ribs open, he says. "The attackercan do a front kick or side kick to the ex-posed area. If he does a front kick, blockit and push him away. But if he does theside kick, go for it."

TECHNIQUE: "When he begins the kick,block a little and move 45 degrees tothe side. At same time, move forwardand get under his kicking leg with yourright arm." Keep his leg high to disrupthis balance, then sweep his lead footwith your left foot.

FINISH: "If he doesn't know how to fall,he'll probably get hurt when he hitsthe ground," he says. "Either way, youshould keep control of his leg. On theground, you can apply an ankle lock tomake him give up. If he doesn't give up,you can break it."

CAVEAT: "If you don't break his balancewhen you first make contact, he won'thave just one foot to stand on; he'll havethree feet—one of his and both of yours,like a tripod. Then he can punch you.But when you lift his leg, the only thinghe thinks about is falling."

DEFENSE AGAINST^• THE ROUNDHOUSE KICK •

APPEAL: "This is another versatile de-fense because most martial artistsare very confident with their rear-legroundhouse, so they'll usually take thebait," Kim says.

START: From an open stance, raise yourlead hand. "That makes the conditionsperfect for a rear-leg roundhouse to thechest or face," he says.

TECHNIQUE: When he kicks, move to yourright and block with your bent rightarm. "You don't need to do a full blockbecause your body is already moving offthe line of attack," he says. "He's tryingto kick your face where it used to be, notwhere it is now. The block is just insur-ance."

Next, use your left arm to reacharound his kicking leg. If the kick goeshigh toward your face, you can go under.If he aims for your stomach or chest,you can grab over.

"Move toward his balance point—soyour lead foot is in the middle of thecircle of space between you," Kim says."That gives you the best chance to

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throw him. If your foot is too far away,you can only strike him or twist his leg,not throw him."

Turn counterclockwise and sweepthe leg with your right foot. It's not nec-essary to lift as you sweep or grab hisshoulder with your right hand. "Outsidethe martial arts studio, you don't haveto protect him or let him down gently,"he says. "You can slam him."

FINISH: The impact will likely end theconfrontation, especially if his headsmacks the ground. If it doesn't, you canexecute an Achilles lock on his right leg,which remains trapped under your arm.

CAVEAT: This defense won't work if hedoes a lead-leg front kick instead of aroundhouse. "In that case, just moveback and block it down, then set him upfor another technique," he says.

DEFENSE AGAINST:•k THE HEEL-DROP KICK •

APPEAL: "No matter what this attack—which is called the heel-drop kick or axkick—hits, it hurts," Kim says. "It can beyour head, shoulder, chest or body—which is why it's important to have aneffective way to stop it. This defenseworks every time."

STARTt From a closed stance, leave yourupper body open. Your lead hand islow just in case your opponent opts tolaunch a front kick.

TECHNIQUE: "When he starts the kick,you have some time to prepare becausehis foot has to go up and then down," hesays. "Lower your body a bit and waitfor his leg to start dropping. Move tothe side and use your right arm to grabthe leg above the knee. That will putyou close to his body, which is whereyou need to be to sweep his leg withyour right foot. Take him down in onecontinuous motion so he doesn't have achance to do something else to you."

FINISH: He'll land on his side, whichmakes it easy to strike him or lock hisarm or leg.

CAVEATS Because of the power this kickhas, you can't just stand there and blockit. Your best bet is to move in on him."Then, even if you get hit, it's not with asmuch power," he says.

• SPIN-KICK DEFENSE

DEFENSE AGAINST:• THE SPIN KICK •

APPEAL: As with the other defenses, it'salways gratifying to bait an opponentand watch him fall into your trap.

START: Your closed stance and strate-gically positioned arms (low lead andhigh rear) will encourage him to targetyour head, probably with a spin kick."Watch his shoulders and feet: A lot ofpeople start their spin kick by movingtheir shoulders and twisting their frontfoot before spinning," Kim says.

TECHNIQUE: "As he spins, move in at 45degrees and grab his leg. You don't haveto reach for it; it will come to you. Again,take the center of the circle. Go with hisenergy, which means you allow his legto continue moving in the same direc-tion. As it slows, grab the leg with bothhands, then position your butt close tohis and sweep his supporting leg. He'll

either spin through the air and fall, ordamage his knee."

FINISH: Even if he falls properly, you'llhave control of his kicking leg. It's easyto effect a lock while you're still stand-ing.

CAVEATS "If you wait until the spin startsbefore trying to move away but are tooslow, you're in big trouble. If you stayput, you're in big trouble," Kim says."The best response, if you can't do thisdefense, is to move in and hug him."Once you're inside the radius of his leg,he has no power. It doesn't take muchmore than a mild push while he's spin-ning to make him fall. 7^

About the author:Robert W. Young is the executive editor of Black

Belt. All told, he's spent nearly four years in Koreastudying and researching the martial arts. For

more information about Han Woong Kim and Jangmu won hapkido, visit kimshapkido.com.

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