Jik Tek 直踢 (straight kick to nuts)

Jik Tek 直踢 – straight kick to nuts – the most important kick, by far

By far, the most important kick in Kung Fu is the straight rising front snap kick aimed between the legs of the opponent.

In JKD this kick is called Jik Tek 直踢 (‘straight kick’). In Japanese Karate, it’s called Kin Geri 金的蹴 (‘golden kick’).

Bruce Lee doing Jik Tek on a heavy bag
Bruce Lee doing Jik Tek on a heavy bag – notice how the bag is hung from the ideal height for training this kick

Eyes and groin are the primary pressure point targets, because they cause the most pain under the least pressure, and are most likely to stop someone.

Thus, fingers to eyes, and kicks between the legs, are the best moves in a decidedly lethal fight.

However, in pacifist combat, you would usually avoid these moves – treat them as an absolute last resort.

In sporting contests, these moves are typically against the rules.

Bruce Lee doing Pak Sau and Jik Tek
Bruce Lee demonstrating a long-range Pak Sau (slapping block) although the punch is not in range so it’s more for covering & connecting than stopping a punch. Along with a simultaneous Jik Tek kick between the legs. This picture highlights the value of Jik Tek, in how it can land from a distance outside of punching range while preserving balance enough to use good hand techniques at the same time.

Why is this kick missing from Hong Kong style Wing Chun?

Until recently, I believed it must be due to complacency – because Wing Chun handwork is so good, the kicking is actually terrible in typical Hong Kong style (Ip Man lineage) Wing Chun.

But if you go back to its roots in Red Boat Wing Chun, or further back to Shaolin White Crane, or go forward to JKD, then you’ll find great kicking including a lot of work on the main kick – the straight kick to the nuts – something you won’t train in Muay Thai or any other sporty system because it’s against the rules, because it’s so devastatingly effective. In JKD and ancestral styles of Wing Chun, we train it in various ways, such as with simultaneous hand techniques, and flowing off quick stepping, and even on the wooden dummy (on the lower arm (from the side, at a distance), or on the leg, or on the base of the trunk (from a squared-up position), depending on the exact dummy setup). This is not the only thing missing from Ip Man’s Wing Chun; Red Boat Wing Chun has lots more stances, lots more strikes, level changes and all sorts.

Some people believe that modern Hong Kong style Wing Chun may be a product of sabotage by Qing spies, who may have set up their own version of the Red Boat Opera, promoting a neutered form of Kung Fu, after the original pro-Ming troupe were disbanded following the Red Turban Rebellion of the 1850s. I’m not sure the truth is so complicated – it may just be a case of complacency or misunderstanding by Ip Man and/or any generation before him – but who knows. Either way, Bruce Lee saw a deficiency and fixed it. Having said that, he also began learning Red Boat Wing Chun from his father’s friend, Fook Yeung from the moment he stepped foot in America in 1959 until the mid 60s when he left Seattle, and this may or may not have been a massive factor in helping Bruce remedy the deficiencies of the Wing Chun he learnt in Hong Kong.

Foot structure

With no footwear, or with soft footwear, you should kick with your instep, with toes curled down to avoid breaking them. With heavy footwear that prevents you curling your toes down, you may need to kick with your toe caps, with toes pointing up, but then there is a greater risk of falling short of the target, or breaking your toes if your footwear isn’t so solid.

Leg structure

For generating best power, and for avoiding injury to your knee, and for staying balanced throughout, when doing a good Jik Tek to the nuts, make impact with the knee still slightly bent, and drive energy diagonally up & forwards, perpendicular to the line of the shinbone.

Bob Wall grabbing Bruce Lee's leg
Bob Wall grabbing Bruce Lee’s leg. It’s never good to get your leg grabbed like this, but it would be a whole lot worse if the leg wasn’t bent! Bruce can achieve a surprising amount of stability by redirecting any pulling force through the knee and into the opponent, much like if someone were pulling your arm and you redirect the energy into them via a bent elbow (this is the beauty of Bong Sau 膀手 to Lan Sau 攔手).

Side angled variation

If your opponent is in a bladed stance, making the gap between his legs difficult to kick through with a directly forwards upwards motion… If you’re also wearing strong shoes or boots, you can angle your kick to catch him between the legs with your toes.

Bruce Lee doing a Side Angled Jik Tek straight kick between the legs of Ted Wong
Bruce Lee doing a Side-Angled variety of the Jik Tek straight kick, to catch his student Ted Wong between the legs even though Ted has a bladed stance for extra cover there.

Judo throw variations

In Judo, there are throws called Sumi Gaeshi and Hikikomi Gaeshi where you fall backwards while pulling the opponent down with you, and kick them between the legs to send them flying. The kick in these techniques is often done on the inner thigh for safety, but it can equally be done as a straight kick to the privates.

While it’s generally not recommended to voluntarily go to the ground, there are some circumstances where you might find these moves useful, such as when you’re confident of safe soft ground beneath you, and are also confident there’s no risk of additional assailants jumping in while you’re down, and are also confident your opponent doesn’t have the grappling acumen or durability to counter or tolerate this technique and keep you on the ground.

What about high kicks?

High kicks are great for the movies, and you may have success with them in real life if you’re very flexible and practise them a lot. But the level of flexibility required for high kicks, can be damaging to your hips in the long run. Most people are not naturally that flexible, and it’s a gruelling process to achieve it, with potentially debilitating consequences in later life. This is why there are no high kicks in Wing Chun or Tai Chi, aside from them being easy to counter.

Head kicks are extremely powerful when you land them – they have a high knockout probability – so beware of any opponent who is so flexible and good with his feet. But head kicks are also very risky, as they’re relatively slow, they leave you with only one foot anywhere near the ground (beware of sweeps) and they leave a massive gap between your legs (a prime target).

According to Dan Inosanto, Bruce Lee reserved high kicks mainly for movies & exhibitions. When he was really serious, he tended to stick to low kicks.

What about low roundhouse kicks and low cross-stamping kicks?

Low cross-stamping kicks can be effective if the opponent is heavy on his feet, but it’s a risky move because you need to get in close and the angle is rarely ideal. It’s also likely to inflict permanent disability, so be very prudent with this kind of move.

Low roundhouse kicks are generally high risk, low reward. If you score, it can break the opponent’s knee, but it usually only tickles or bruises them – it’s rarely a fight ender. It’s more of a point-scoring thing, and has a cumulative effect where if you land several low roundhouse kicks on the same spot it can deaden someone’s leg a bit. On the flip side, if the opponent turns his shin into your leg, at the right angle, at the right moment, to check it as it comes in, it can snap your shin bone in half, as Anderson Silva learnt the hard way in his rematch vs Chris Weidman in 2013 for the UFC Middleweight title. It put him out of action for some time, and he never had a KO or TKO win from that moment onwards. Alternatively, if the opponent lifts his leg, it can cause you to spin around off balance under your own momentum. There’s also a risk of falling backwards if you’re on a slippery floor and stretching to kick from maximum range.

The kick to the nuts, however, is quicker, more potent, more powerful, less telegraphed, more stable & balanced throughout, and is commonly available from just outside of punching range so makes a great bridging move. It doesn’t even offset the standard Wing Chun posture, so can be combined with all manner of simultaneous hand techniques.


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