Mawashi Geri
廻し蹴り
Literally: turning kick
Roundhouse karate kick with the instep or ball of the foot to the head or trunk; Kyokushin also kicks it with the shin to the thigh.
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Mawashi geri, literally turning kick, is a roundhouse kick in karate. The knee rises, the hip rotates sharply, and the shin snaps out from the knee to land on the target from the side. The strike uses the front of the instep or the ball of the foot, aimed at the upper (jodan) or middle (chudan) level. Masutatsu Oyama adapted it for Kyokushin karate: more hip rotation and weight transfer for power, the shin as striking surface, and the neck, thighs and ribs added as targets. Kyokushin thus commonly kicks a low mawashi geri to the opponent's thigh, less common in other styles. Taekwondo knows the same kick as dollyo chagi. Its version raises the knee straight up and only then rotates, whereas in muay thai the body turns already while the leg rises. Under WKF rules, a kick to the trunk scores two points, to the head three.