Low Kicks: Advanced Martial Arts Kicks for Attacking the Lower Gates

by Marc De Bremaeker

Low kicks are powerful, fast, and effective exactly what you need to defend yourself in a real life confrontation. And because they are seldom used in sport fighting, they can be a surprising and valuable addition to your free fighting arsenal. While they may seem easy to execute, not all low kicks are simply low versions of the basic kicks. There are specific attributes and principles that make low kicks work. Marc de Bremaeker has collected the most effective low kicking techniques from Martial Arts like Krav Maga, Karatedo, Capoeira, Wing-Chun Kung-Fu, MMA, and Muay Thai. In this book, he analyzes each kick in depth, explaining the proper execution and outlining applications and variations from self-defense, sport fighting and traditional practice. Hundreds of examples illustrated by one thousand photographs and illustrations will help you master the important skill of low kicking and become a better and more well-rounded fighter regardless of style.

Genres: Martial Arts

142 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2013

About the author

Marc De Bremaeker has been involved in Martial Arts for over forty-five years. Once a successful competitor renowned for flashy kicking, he has since been teaching and doing research into the common roots and principles uniting all world martial arts. He holds black belts in several schools of Asian fighting arts and has practiced many others, including more exotic Krav Maga, Muay Thai and Capoeira. He is the author, together with Roy Faige, of the rave-reviewed "Essential Book of Martial Arts Kicks" aiming to provide an encyclopedic overlook of basic kicking maneuvers from all arts. He has more recently penned "Plyo Flex", a book about the simple training secrets behind superior kicking and athletic performance. He is working on sequels describing the more advanced kicking styles and training drills.
His best friend and co-author of The Essential Book of Martial Arts Kicks, Roy Faige, is the Head of the Shi Heun style founded by his late father. An undefeated competitor with numerous international tournament titles to his name, he was captain and later coach of the Israeli National Karate team for over ten years. Roy is also an officer in one of the most elite commando units of the Israeli Army.

Reviews

[Michael Philliber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marc De Bremaeker, a seasoned martial artist, instructor and author, has crafted a 160 page handbook, "Low Kicks". It is one in a line of publications which focuses on specific aspects and regions of kicking. This particular volume is primarily about using kicks in the lower half of an opponent, from the mid-section to the foot. Karate-ka, whether experienced or novices, will find it an insightful book pulling from various martial arts traditions. And the non-initiated can gain from it as well.

"Low Kicks" is in need of a good editor, to help clean up the numerous grammatical faux pas. The pictures - both photographs and sketches - are small, and not always clear. Nevertheless, if the reader can look past those glitches, they will be well instructed from the manuscript, and feel like their money has been well spent.

The kicks covered in the material pull from a wide range, Krav Maga, Mai Thai, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and Kung Fu. The applications are for both (free) sparring, as well as self-defense. The explanations are thorough enough to help the trainee grasp the point of a given kick, to practice it and become very skillful. This manual would make a great addition to a martial arts school's lending library. It would contribute to an instructor's application section of classes, and it can enrich a martial artist in expanding their repertoire. I highly recommend the book.

[Leanna Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a winner from a Goodreads giveaway. I really chose it because I knew a friend of mine would love it, but I have trained in martial arts previously. I am certainly no expert and cannot speak to the effectiveness of the instruction, but I can say that the pictures and descriptions of the kicks seem to work well together.