Front kick
Kick
앞차기
- Type
- Kicks
- Martial arts
- Kickboxing, Judo
- Japanese
- 前蹴
- Classified as
- kick
- Listed in
- Sekito-ate-waza (judo techniques), Sekito-ate-waza (judo techniques)
The front kick in martial arts is a kick executed by lifting the knee straight forward, while keeping the foot and shin either hanging freely or pulled to the hip, and then straightening the leg in front of the practitioner and striking the target area. It is desirable to retract the leg immediately after delivering the kick, to avoid the opponent trying to grapple the leg and (unless a combination is in process) to return to stable fighting stance.
The front kick described is the typical basic front kick of karate or taekwondo. But the front kick can also be defined more broadly as a straight forward kick directly to the front, and then include several variations from many different styles. A front kick can be delivered forward in a penetrating way (hip thrust), or upwards to attack the head.
Kanji in 前蹴
Other Kickboxing kicks
Japanese terms for kicks
| Term | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 回し蹴り | mawashigeri | roundhouse kick; turning kick |
| 飛び蹴り | tobigeri | dropkick; flying kick |
| ハイキック | haikikku | high kick |
| マルテーロ | maruteero | martelo; roundhouse kick in capoeira |
| ネリチャギ | nerichagi | axe kick; ax kick |
| かかと落とし | kakatootoshi | axe kick; ax kick |
| ケイシャーダ | keishaada | queixada (capoeira kick at the opponent's jaw); outward crescent kick |
| サイドキック | saidokikku | side kick |
| 後ろ回し蹴り | ushiromawashigeri | spin kick |
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q1396962 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); kanji data KANJIDIC2 and KanjiVG. Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.