The roundhouse kick is executed in a multitude of ways across the many different Martial Arts styles. This article is concerned with adding power to this kick when executing it from the back leg of a basic fighting position.

In basic terms the roundhouse kick travels from the back leg position outside the body line to the objective taking a circular route. This direction is true for the roundhouse in all variations of the kick at least to some degree. It can be thrown at the head, body or legs.

Snapping and Whipping versions of the roundhouse kick

In Karate and TKD the roundhouse kick often tends to be more 'snappy' with just the foot taking a round route rather than the thigh, shin and foot doing so, as in Kickboxing or Muay Thai Boxing. In the Karate and TKD variant of the roundhouse kick, the standing foot continues pointing forward until the knee of the kicking leg travels right to the front when it turns sharply with the hip turning to. The kicking leg rotates and the lower leg snaps forward into the target. This is the fast roundhouse kick.

In Muay Thai, the standing foot turns out right at the beginning of the kick. This opens the waist and lets the hip come forward pulling the leg with it. The leg follows and the standing foot turns again on impact to transmit more momentum into the target. This is notably more effective than the other version.

The opening of the waist stretches and loads the musculature adding power to the thrown hip, which gathers momentum which is transmitted to the leg and finally the target. The kick has a whipping motion and is very powerful. In contrast the Karate version is quick and has much reduced production before execution, i.e. . Unfortunately, it develops far less power.

These varied performances have developed as a result of the competitions of the various Martial Arts. Karate and TKD competitions are all about point scoring for clean kicks dispensed to the opponent; speed is the key factor in realizing points and winning. For Kickboxing and Muay Thai, speed is still very important but to win you have to hurt or knockout the challenger, this is not achieved through a snap kick. It is essential to develop power and to deliver it to the target, thrusting the hip as described achieves this.

Conclusion

To get more force into the roundhouse kick it is necessary to open the midriff, as per the Kickboxing variation of the kick. This kick has greater credibility in a self defense situation, undoubtedly compared to the snap version. If you want to polish a more effective roundhouse kick you need to tinker with it and adopt the Muay Thai version!