Bilbo's Three Weekend Wishes.

[Sharla]

Why is kicking associated with a lack of honour or a street fight mentality?

It takes tremendous skill to throw a perfect kick, certainly harder than throwing a punch, and why exactly is it dishonourable?

I've trained in both and I'm not so sure about that - i think it just depends on your standards for each

I'm talking about world class martial artists like Cung Le, Cro Cop and Anderson Silva. Their kicks are simply sublime, not just straight kicks to the face but they use their legs to sweep, throw and choke out their opponents.

Let's look at some examples of each.


Cro Cop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5efA1...eature=related

Cung Le http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Qk_...eature=related

Some general kick highlights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i02Igw9fkpc

I won't deny that kicks take skill but I wouldn't assume that to become very good at kickboxing is harder or more technically difficult than becoming very good at boxing.

In places where boxng is more common I would argue that the competitive pressure lifts the standards of boxing above kickboxing and while I have seen it personally it probably works the same way where kicking martial arts are more competitive than boxing.

The thing with boxing is people who are good at it make it look more simple than it is and when people do not understand it they may find it easier to believe their punches are better than they actually are.

The dynamics and movement involved is often different for each too and boxing is often more complicated movement wise because you are expected to be able to move and attack and defend concurrently at a lower level than for kickboxing.

I personally found kickboxing far easier than boxing which is why I box now - to work on what I found most difficult because having found the hand skills I used in boxing were not half of what they could be i lost the sense of persuing the sport to it's ultimate level in kickboxing.

I told myself I could go back to kickboxing when I was really good at boxing and now I just think i'll never go back because it's and endless journey to achieve the perfect punch or kick.

No matter how good it looks there will ALWAYS be a slight way to improve it and any perfectionist in these sports has to accept that it will be a life long journey!