Mikazuki Geri

Quick Facts

Katas containing this technique

About

Mikazuki geri (三日月蹴り) is a crescent kick; mikazuki means crescent or half-moon and geri kick, literally a half-moon kick. The kicker raises the knee, opens the hip toward the arc, swings the leg along the arc, strikes with the sole or the tip of the foot, and pulls it back quickly. Depending on the arc's direction, two variants are distinguished, uchi mikazuki geri and soto mikazuki geri. Unlike the straight kick mae geri, its energy curves into an arc to the side instead of going straight forward; the kick also resembles a hook kick. It is not a powerful thrust: the crescent kick is meant to disrupt or sweep aside the opponent's guard, or set up a follow-up technique, and it typically targets the head or collarbone. The inner variant uchi mikazuki geri sweeps the blocking arm from the opponent's wrist and is often followed by a low side kick to the knee. The Korean equivalent is called bandal chagi (반달 차기). In the kata Kanku Dai, mikazuki geri is accompanied by a clap of the palm against the foot. In the kata Unsu it forms the 34th movement: a jumping crescent kick into the palm, flowing into a 360° jumping turn sempu tobi geri, finished with an ushiro geri kick. Here, mikazuki geri is only the opening kick; the following sempu tobi geri is considered the hardest technique of the Shotokan katas.