Taekwondo is known as the kicking art, and for good reason. In lab tests, the fastest roundhouse kicks have reached about 41 mph, faster than a car driving through town.
The four basic kicks
- Front kick (ap chagi): strike with the ball of the foot.
- Side kick (yeop chagi): strike with the knife edge. It's the hardest-hitting kick measured, at over 2,000 pounds of force.
- Roundhouse kick (dollyeo chagi): strike with the instep. It's the fastest kick, and the favorite of champions.
- Back kick (dwi chagi): strike with the heel, using the power of your whole body as you turn.
Did you know?
- Chagi (차기) simply means "kick" in Korean.
- At the 16th Asian Games, 63% of medalists' kicks were roundhouse kicks.
- In Olympic sparring, a punch scores 1 point, but a spinning kick to the head scores 5.
- Speed beats size: kick twice as fast and you carry four times the energy.
Quick quiz: Which kick do you strike with the heel?