Mae-geri, how useful is it really?

I love the mae-geri, it's my favorite technique in any striking style, and when done properly it's so archetypal of Shotokan it's almost scary.  That being said, there are in my opinion several draw backs to using the mae-geri.  If you're like me, and participate in karate competitions you will rarely if ever see the mae-geri thrown.  The most commonly utilized techniques are gyaku-zuki, kizami-zuki, mawashi-geri, uraken-uchi and ura mawashi-geri...and very likely in that order at that.  Mae-geri, however, if used is largely thrown ineffectively and used as a set up for another technique (ie. fake into mawashi-geri, fake into ashi-barai, etc.)  There's nothing wrong with doing it this way, in fact, I've been known to use mae-geri in this fashion from time to time as well.  Then again, it's such a staple of Shotokan training we should be able to use it more effectively.  When done right, mae-geri should look more like this::

The gentleman performing the mae-geri in question is a sempai of mine in the American JKA, and an outstanding fighter and all around karate-ka.  As you can see his mae-geri pretty much cuts his opponent in half, very little backward motion of the opponent.  Hit and fall.  That's mae-geri done right!

Making one’s mae-geri useful takes a lot of time and effort since performing the kick the way one does in kihon is not optimal for combat or kumite.  There is a similar problem associated with using mawashi-geri effectively, the technique is too big for its own good.  To cover for this many fighters have begun cutting the kick through their center to shorten the distance and tighten up the arc of the kick. For my sempai, he’s perfected the kick by way of impeccable timing.  The timing is one aspect that needs to be trained, but sometimes it’s simpler to create new ways to set-up the kick.  Here are several tips that can be used independently, but work best when put together:

• First tip: rather than lifting the knee, tuck the heel first.  When you’re in kamae, the back foot is significantly more difficult to see.  By tucking the heel first, one can more easily disguise the following forward action of the hip until it’s too late.
• Second tip: begin the action not by pushing off the ground with the kicking leg, but by collapsing onto the supporting leg.  Combined with the heel tuck, the kick begins from a much closer starting position rather than from farther away.  Collapsing onto the lead will cut the distance by 5-6 inches at least.
• Third tip: create a visual fence.  Geoff Thompson talks about his “fence” technique, where his arms are used as a barrier and essentially as a literal dead-line by which he can determine when he’s in danger.  By incorporating your arms into the collapse of your supporting leg, you draw your opponent’s eyes away from your body and towards your hands.  This can be done in several ways, the easiest is to just lift your hands, palms forward toward your opponent as you load forward.  This does several things, first it draws the attention, but there’s also the psychological suggestion that your opponent should back off which will generally lead to a backwards head lean and a breaking of kuzushi.  You can also use your hands to throw techniques, kizami-zuki gyaku-zuki for instance.  Put your fists in your opponents face and they won’t notice your leg until you’re burying your kick.  The last option, and slowest for most people, would be to use your lead leg as a visual fence by throwing or faking a kick before dropping into the mae-geri.

These are just suggestions and ideas that have worked for me to increase the effectiveness of my kick.  There is always the question of improving one’s kick mechanics and hip dynamics to create more efficient movement, as well as training of timing and distance to improve the mae-geri.

If you have any ideas or suggestions of your own, please share in the comments!  Thanks for reading!