Mawashi Geri is the most common kicking technique in kumite. In competitions, one who delivers an effective kicking to the abdomen, chest, back or sides of the opponent can score two points, whereas kicking to the head, face or neck can even score three points. Therefore we should do more practice of Mawashi Geri.

The main differences between Jodan (upper) Mawashi Geri and Chudan (middle) Mawashi Geri are the height and time of attack. Since Jodan Mawashi Geri attacks high level targets, it will take a longer time to finish the kicking than Chudan Mawashi Geri. Therefore to kick higher and farther quickly are important objectives in basic Mawashi Geri training.

In kumite competitions, the basic kicking with Mawashi Geri involves raising the knee in the front direction until the kneecap is pointing to the opponent’s target. At the same time, we should also raise our foot from the outside until it is at the same height of the knee. Meanwhile, we should turn the supporting leg and the waist until the back heel is pointing to the front and the chest and abdomen are facing sideways; however, it is crucial that the turning motions should not disturb the intended paths of the raising knee and foot. At the moment, we should snap the leg and kick the target with the instep of the foot. These five actions, namely, knee raising, foot raising, support leg turning, waist turning and leg snapping should be taken simultaneously. Therefore in the process of kicking, we should synchronize the movement of both legs and waist such that the kicking is executed swiftly and naturally. At the moment when the knee has reached the height of attack, the attack should have happened, and the power is only exerted at this point of attack. No matter whether the kicking is successful or not, we should retrieve the leg immediately after kicking. Lastly, in the process of kicking, we should keep our stance stable and keep our arms in a normal sparring posture.