The Kung Fu Shadowless Kick

Mo Ying Gyeuk is the Cantonese term practitioners of Southern styles of kung fu use to refer to the ultimate in leg attacks. In essence it means that contact to the opponent’s body is felt before it is seen because the shadowless kick is a swift and non telegraphic strike.

One such technique practised at Golden Lion Academy is thefront kick. The front kick is derived from the Crane style of kung fu It is possibly the most widely used kick in self defence and sparring; it serves as a quick, versatile thrust.

The front kick can be executed in three different ways such as:

• kicking with the front leg,
• kicking with the rear leg, and
• kicking from a cross stance with the rear leg.

When standing on the one leg, try to raise the knee above the waist. This will improve your kicking height. Make sure your head is erect; your chest doesn’t cave in and shoulders are relaxed.

Once you are able to control your balance, the next step is to kick. This phase of the exercise is perhaps more difficult than the initial step because you must maintain an upright posture, kick with power with the foot and maintain your guard forward to protect your body from attacks.

When kicking the opponent, it is important that you select the appropriate target zone such as the knee, groin or ribs. High kicks incur high risk, however the degree of risk depends on who is performing the technique. It follows that the superior your skill, the greater your chance of success.

So if you are an intermediate or advanced student don’tdiscard high kicks altogether in training. For beginnersand in street self defence, the consensus is clear the shadowless kick is undoubtedly safer and effective.

If you would like to learn this shadowless kicking technique or attend regular classes, please call us on our central telephone number 9796-1066 for class times and fees or email us through our contact-us form.