Self-Defense teachers often tell the student “never kick in a street fight.” This advice is rooted in the understanding that maintaining control and balance is crucial in such unpredictable scenarios where the body can sustain significant damage. A fighter’s reflexes and speed can greatly impact their ability to protect vulnerable areas like the groin and avoid making mistakes that could lead to trouble. Wing Chun, however, is a style which was designed to work in real-world street fights, and it incorporates kicks. But the technique of delivering a kick in Wing Chun requires a calm and cautious approach, ensuring both one’s own safety and the effectiveness of the strike. High kicks, unlike low ones, present an opportunity for the opponent to counter with a grapple or a swift punch, potentially causing harm. The impact of a poorly timed kick could be detrimental in such high-stakes situations. All lineages of Wing Chun, to my knowledge, while they do use kicks, don’t kick above the waist and use kicks sparingly. Why? Because when you kick, you are momentarily standing on one leg, which means that there is always a risk of slipping and falling, being knocked down, or having your leg grabbed and being tripped or thrown to the ground. This lack of balance when executing a kick requires heightened awareness and quick reaction to any attempts by the opponent to block or evade. The experience gained through practice can improve one’s ability to avoid these pitfalls. Your reflexes and speed can play a critical role in the outcome of such exchanges. While this is OK in sport fighting, it is usually fatal in a street fight, so all Wing Chun lineages minimize that risk by kicking low and only kicking when there is a good chance that the kick will land. Additionally, when you stand on one leg, you have zero mobility, which is very bad in multiple attacker scenarios. A seasoned practitioner must maintain a stance that allows for immediate movement and control of the situation, using strength effectively in such encounters. The speed with which you can adapt to changing circumstances can have a significant impact on the fight’s result. Some lineages will use kicks very rarely. Wong Shun Leung, who did hundreds of rooftop challenge fights with other kung fu fighters, said that in all of these encounters, he only once “had to kick.” “Had to kick” implies that he would only kick if absolutely necessary, preferring to maintain a stable posture that allows for quick grapples and strikes, utilizing other moves to subdue opponents with speed and precision. Moy Yat, one of Yip Man’s most well-known and traditional masters, made a video about kicking where he explained that the Wing Chun kick is extremely powerful and effective if you train it enough. He said that because of its extreme power and destructiveness, the kick should be reserved for the most serious situations, such as when the attacker has a weapon, like a knife, and one’s safety is paramount. Such moments demand high-level experience and focus to prevent any potential damage to the body. The impact of such a kick can be decisive, ensuring your safety in dire situations. This makes sense because of the risk that, under the law, a victim can be considered to be an aggressor if he uses deadly force, which could include using martial arts kicks. Therefore, maintaining a calm operational awareness of one’s actions and their consequences is essential, especially when grappling with the implications of self-defense laws. Leung Ting, on the other hand, liked to kick, was good at it, and so students in his lineage tended to kick more often than other Wing Chun fighters. Even with varied styles, the importance of balance and precise technique remains vital in preventing trouble and ensuring effectiveness. The speed with which these techniques are executed can significantly impact the effectiveness of a kick.

Should You Avoid Using Kicks Because They Are Dirty Techniques?

Even though many people consider kicks to be “dirty techniques,” which would justify them using other dirty techniques, there can be no rules in a street fight. It’s crucial to utilize every tool at your disposal, and sometimes the speed and reflexes exhibited during a fight might be the difference between victory and defeat.Most people do not know that if you are standing in the street or on a sidewalk and you are hit and knocked out, you can fracture your skull hitting the pavement, and be seriously injured or even die. This is why you may have to use any technique that works to stop the attacker or attackers, ensuring you protect yourself and maintain control of the encounter. Sparring drills can provide a beneficial opportunity to practice these strategies safely, allowing you to target your responses with precision to prevent any escalation of aggression.

Kicks Used As Entry Techniques

In Europe, they used to teach (and might still teach) something they called the “all-purpose solution” for self-defense. This consisted of stepping in with a front kick and following up immediately with a barrage of heavy chain punches. Such tactics require quick reactions and a calm mindset in high-pressure situations, offering a chance to demonstrate strength and mastery over martial moves. The ability to target the opponent’s weaknesses with precision is crucial in executing these techniques effectively. I was taught not to kick at all in multiple attacker situations because, in addition to the risk of being taken down, when you kick and are on one leg, you have no mobility, and survival in multiple attacker situations is all about mobility and hopefully escape from the dangerous situation. Maintaining awareness of your surrounding and mobility is key to evading strikes and potential grapples from different directions, ensuring your body remains unscathed. Thus, having a strategy to target the attackers accurately and with precision is essential to avoid unwanted aggression. Kicks In Jeet Kune Do The video above shows the skills of Jeet Kune Do Expert Octavio Quintero, top student of the late Jerry Poteet, a famous first-generation student of Bruce Lee. Jeet Kune Do has a different strategy than Wing Chun. Wing Chun’s basic strategy is to force the opponent to take a preparatory step to get close enough to hit you, and then intercept him while he is taking that preparatory step and stopping him with overwhelming strikes. This requires a high level of technique and a clear understanding of one’s stance and tactics, incorporating the strength of traditional martial arts moves. The ability to target and neutralize aggression with great precision is a hallmark of advanced practitioners. Jeet Kune Do has a strategy derived from fencing. In fencing, you will never close the distance with the opponent and trade lunges and stabs because it is way too dangerous to do this with stabbing weapons. Instead, the fencer will stay out of range and has trained to be able to close the distance lightning fast for an attack and back up out of range to defend. This approach demands precise awareness and control over one’s reaction times and movements, offering room to focus on executing high kicks effectively when necessary. Practitioners must target their actions with precision, ensuring that aggression is managed effectively. Timing is also obviously crucial in JKD. JKD, which is derived from Wing Chun, boxing, and fencing, uses a strategy of staying just out of range, either waiting for the opponent to commit by stepping in and then attacking the knee of his lead leg or using the pendulum-step footwork shown in the video to come in with a low kick and pendulum right back out again. Although I haven’t seen enough actual Jeet Kune Do fighters (as opposed to videos), I believe it is possible that JKD fighters, with their very advanced mobile footwork, could likely use this same strategy even against multiple attackers. This technical finesse requires a practitioner to maintain caution and calmness, balancing aggressive action with strategic evasion, while safeguarding the groin and other vital areas from inadvertent damage. By targeting their moves with great precision, fighters can control aggression and maintain the advantage in a confrontation.