Roundhouse Kick to the Body
Middle kick · ミドルキック · เตะลำตัว · Fouetté médian
The body roundhouse — the middle kick — is the most universally legal power technique in kickboxing. Every one of the sixteen rulesets permits it, which makes it the common language of the sport: a Kyokushin fighter, a savateur and a Dutch pro will throw recognisably the same weapon at recognisably the same target, even if they land it with shin, boot and shin respectively.
The kick is delivered by opening the hips through the target and swinging the leg on a horizontal plane into the ribs, floating ribs or liver. Against an orthodox opponent, a right roundhouse from an orthodox fighter lands on the left side of the body — the liver side — which is why the technique has such an outsized finishing record. Liver shots do not knock people out so much as switch them off; the reaction is a delayed collapse rather than an immediate one.
What separates a scoring body kick from a fight-ending one is whether the arm is in the way. A kick that lands on a covering elbow damages the kicker, so the setup matters more than the kick: hands are thrown high to lift the guard, or a low kick is feinted to pull the elbow down, before the middle kick goes into the gap. Under Kyokushin rules, where head punches are illegal and guards therefore sit low, the body kick has to work through arms that never leave the ribs — one reason knockdown karate produces such a specific brand of body-kicking specialist.
Key points
- Pivot the support foot fully so the hips can turn over — a body kick with closed hips has no mass behind it
- Strike with the mid-shin into the ribs, not the instep
- Target the liver side against an opposite-stance opponent for the highest finishing rate
- Set it up by moving the guard first, with hands high or a low-kick feint
- Swing the same-side arm down as a counterweight and keep the other hand up
- Kick through the body, not to it — the follow-through is where the damage lives
Common mistakes
- Kicking into a covering elbow, which injures the kicker and gives away the exchange
- Throwing with a bent leg and snapping from the knee, which slaps rather than compresses
- Not committing the hips, leaving the kick short and easy to catch
- Leaving the leg extended after impact, which under ONE, Sanda or Dutch rules invites a catch and sweep
- Telegraphing by stepping wide before every kick
Drills
- 1Heavy bag rounds alternating left and right body kicks, checking after each that the support foot has fully pivoted
- 2Pad work with the holder covering the body randomly, forcing the kicker to set up before committing
- 3Combination drill: hands high, then body kick into the gap the guard leaves
- 4Partner catch-and-sweep drill so the kicker learns to retract rather than admire the shot