Question 044: Different kicks - REPLY

Reply

Some organizations, schools, or instructors use Korean terminology, some use their home language, and some use a mixture of both. As explained in TKDTutor, using Korean terminology is a way to let Taekwondo practitioners of any language easily communicate amongst themselves. However, this is also sometimes confusing because there is not complete uniformity in the meaning of the Korean terminology used.

Just as there is not uniformity in the Korean terminology used, there is also not uniformity in the home language terminology. For example, in English, a round kick, a roundhouse kick, and a turning kick are all the same kick.

In a reverse round kick, the torso turns backward as the rear leg chambers high as if setting up for a spin side or spin hook kick and then, after a 180 degree rotation, the leg (which is now the front leg) fires a roundhouse kick. However, a reverse turning kick is not always considered a reverse roundhouse kick; to some, a reverse turning kick is what my organization calls a spin hook kick.