Question 066: Kick identification

Therefore, in a jump spin heel kick, the kick begins with a jump upward, the body then spins backward while leading leg swings backward and upward toward the target (with the knee straight and the back of the heel leading the way toward the target), and, as the heel impacts the target, the body maintains its rotation to add its mass (an thus more power) to the kick.

In the gif file you provided, the kick begins with a forward step, and then proceeds into a jump spin heel kick. This kick may have different names, depending on the style, instructor, or organization, but, in my method of technique description, it would be called a “step jump spin heel kick.”

The step is used as a fake. The opponent is led to think a rear leg front or round kick is coming, but then the motion changes into a jump spin heel kick. To fool the opponent, (and to aid the actual kicking movements) the rear knee jerks upward toward the opposite shoulder providing rotation and lift to the body (a simple stepping motion does not indicate a kick is coming and does not aid the actual kicking movements).