Topic summary
Kick

Physical strike using the leg Kicking in a taekwondo match A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of attack is used frequently by hooved animals as well as humans in the context of stand-up fighting. Kicks play a significant role in many forms of martial arts, such as capoeira, hapkido, hwarangdo, jeet kune do, kalaripayattu, karate, kickboxing, krav maga, kung fu, wing chun, MMA, Muay Thai, pankration, pradal serey, savate, sikaran, silat, taekwondo, tang soo do, vovinam, wushu and Yaw-Yan. Kicks are a universal act of aggression among humans. Kicking is also prominent from its use in many sports, especially those called football. The best known of these sports is association football, also known as soccer. History The English verb to kick appears in the late 14th century, meaning 'to strike out with the foot', possibly as a loan from the Old Norse kikna, meaning 'bend backwards, sink at the knees'. Kicks as an act of human aggression have likely existed worldwide since prehistory. Howev