Yeop Chagi
옆차기
Literally: side kick
Taekwondo's side kick with the blade of the foot or the heel, driven straight after turning the body sideways to the target.
Quick Facts
⚠️ Common Mistakes
A bent knee on the standing leg, a jutting hip, and striking with a surface other than the blade of the foot.
Katas containing this technique
About
Yeop chagi, literally side kick, is one of taekwondo's basic kicks. The practitioner lifts the knee while turning the body ninety degrees sideways to the target, then straightens the leg in a direct line. The strike lands either with the blade of the foot (balnal), more elegant, chosen mainly in patterns, or with the heel (dwichuk), which gives more power. With the blade of the foot it targets the chin, nose, throat or chest, with the heel the ribs, stomach, jaw and chest. It serves both attack and defence: it can stop an opponent closing in. It differs from the roundhouse kick in its straight path, and from the back kick in that the body turns only sideways, not the back, to the opponent. Karate calls the same kick yoko geri.