The spinning kick has not always been a popular move in martial arts and Taekwondo. Many people saw the move as too risky and only viable for the most talented and experienced fighters.
In the late 20th century, the most popular styles of kicks were roundhouse kicks as well as sidekicks.
These were the type of kicks that were most often used to achieve knock-outs in various martial arts competitions.
While these styles of kicks were dominant for a while, eventually they became seen as too obvious, slow, but most damning, predictable.
Since then, Taekwondo has changed significantly, with the most noticeable change being the evolution into modern styles of footwork, and also the introduction and refinement of maneuvering strategically during combat.
With these changes in Taekwondo, instead of being seen as too risky, the spinning kick became much more popular due to how easy it was to fit into combat.
Taekwondo was not the only style of combat that started to capitalize on the power of the spinning kick, with Sanshou also using them efficiently too.
It can actually be argued that Sanshou use the art of spinning kicks more effectively than Taekwondo, but that largely depends on the practitioner’s skill.
With spinning kicks growing in popularity, they also started evolving more and more, with different alternative versions of spinning kicks gaining traction for their versatility of use.
Some of these variations include the spinning side kick as well as the spinning back kick.
These styles of kick have their use, but they can be very open to counterattacks and if you use them too predictably you can leave yourself vulnerable to having weaknesses exposed.
They also leave you quite exposed after using them, especially if you are not well practiced in proper recovery after pulling off the technique.
So you are probably left wondering; what is the best and most effective all-rounder version of the spin kick to learn?
This form of spinning kick is useful in a variety of different combat styles and martial arts, and if you master it, you will be able to use it in many different situations to bolster your strength.
This style of spinning kick is the spinning hook kick and if you learn to use it well you will not be as vulnerable to counterattack and if you use it well enough you could easily knock out your opponent.
This guide will go over how to achieve the perfect spinning hook kick and if you follow the advice in the guide closely you should be able to use this effective technique!
How To Achieve A Spinning Hook Kick
This guide will go quite in-depth on how to properly pull off this technique, so make sure to read the advice closely to make sure you are not missing any vital information!
Step 1
Firstly, you need to make sure you can achieve a standard hook kick properly, so you have a good foundation to pull off a spinning hook kick.
Learning a spinning hook kick before learning a hook kick will be incredibly difficult, and you will be able to learn both techniques better if you learn them one at a time.
There are plenty of online tutorials and guides on how to pull off this technique, so make sure you are confident you are learning it properly.
If you are unsure if you are learning it correctly, used multiple guides to cross-compare, which seems to work best for you. Once you have learned a hook kick effectively, we can move on to the rest of the guide.
Step 2
Now you need to make sure you have the proper fighting stance. For a spinning hook kick, the standard stance which is best to work with is having your knees slightly bent and keeping your legs wider apart.
This is to ensure that you can kick as high as possible. You will also want to test and learn how much you can lean onto the leg which is not kicking, as this directly influences the trajectory you are kicking at.
Step 3
This section of the guide will assume you are kicking with your right leg, so if you are kicking with your left, just switch the directions given.
Clench your fists and make sure your legs are stable on the ground and prepare yourself for turning.
Step in using your non-kicking leg and have your kicking leg out in front, with the other behind it which will be brought in front, which will lead into the spinning aspect of the technique.
Step 4
To achieve a more confident and powerful spin, give yourself momentum by swinging your arms as you step with the step of the non-kicking leg.
Step 5
As you have spun the full 180 degrees, look over the shoulder of your kicking leg to make sure you have a strong view of your target, usually being your opponent.
This improves confidence as well as improving the strength and accuracy.
Step 6
To do the actual hook kick, lean onto the non-kicking foot and bring up the kicking foot and aim the hell or the ball of the foot to the target with a confident swinging motion to build on the momentum you have built up.
This is the most important aspect, so make sure to practice thoroughly to work out what feels most effective and comfortable.
Step 7
Make sure while kicking to keep your fists close to your chest and to maximize your momentum.
Step 8
After you have made impact being your kicking foot back down to your side and let your other leg naturally pivot back and return to your fighting stance.
Step 9
Once you have properly recovered, follow up the strike with either another spinning kick or a more simple technique like a roundhouse kick.
So this is the guide on how to achieve a spinning kick, follow the advice carefully and once you feel you have mastered it, adjust it to what you find more effective and fitting to your combat style.
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