Wen Hsiu Quan

Hi, guys and girls! :) I have realised this week that for a person running a blog about his own style of martial arts I write a lot about other styles. Sure- I have reasons to do so, but I think it's time that we focus on my style- the style of Wenhsiuquan (Wen Hsiu's Fist) for a change. Even if it is just to discuss one kick... The idea to write today's post came from a video that got shared on my Facebook timeline. The video explained how the reverse roundhouse kick (I notice that in the US it is called a "Hook Kick") is done. When this Saturday came around the video itself was no longer to be found on my timeline. Fortunately- Jesse Sensei knows very well about what kick I am talking about since he has his own video showing how it is done. This is also the first species of this kick that I have learnt as a white belt in Shukokai (yes- I was a white belt, but karate people will tell you that 14 year old white belts get taught cool stuff quicker if...

At my karate class I am known to stubbornly insist on using kicks not normally practiced in our dojo. Most of these kicks come from my Shukokai days. This particular kick, though, has undergone some changes over the years as I took up Chinese martial arts. I refer to both the reverse roundhouse kick and the back spinning kick as the reverse roundhouse, but recognise that the faster version is done with the lead foot while the back spinning version is more powerful and employs the rear foot.   In karate this kick is usually done by doing a front kick or side kick past the target and then to hook the the sole or heel of the foot around to hit the target from the side. I do not find this version very powerful and substituted it with the Dragon's Tail form that involves whipping the leg around and through the target from the side. A problem that reared its ugly head a while ago, however, was when I did the kick against a wall (don't ask) I saw t...