Dollyo Chagi
돌려차기
Literally: turning kick
Taekwondo's roundhouse kick with the instep or ball of the foot, driven from a knee lifted straight up.
Quick Facts
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Inaccurate height and distance and bad rhythm; the kick then lands off the protector or the opponent reads it.
💡 Key Tip
Lift the knee straight up and turn the hip only afterwards — that way the opponent doesn't know which kick is coming until the last moment.
Katas containing this technique
About
Dollyo chagi, literally turning kick, is taekwondo's roundhouse kick. The kicking leg first lifts with the knee straight up, then the hip rotates, the standing foot pivots, and the shin whips into the target from the side, at an angle of roughly thirty to eighty degrees. The strike lands with the instep, used in World Taekwondo matches, or with the ball of the foot. It is precisely this straight-up knee lift that sets the taekwondo version apart from the muay thai kick, where the body already turns while the leg is lifting; the taekwondo kick, with its shorter path, is faster. The opponent also cannot tell from the raised knee which kick is coming. The front-leg kick is faster, the back-leg kick stronger, because the hip rotates more. In competition it targets the body protector and the head, in self-defence also the thighs, knees and calves. Karate knows the same kick as mawashi geri.