American Kenpo uses sayings to convey philosophical, combative and logical aspects of the art to the students. One of my favorite sayings, and perhaps one of the least known is "a leg that kicks can be hurt as easily as it hurts."
The leg can be used as a weapon to strike an opponent's vital targets. The leg includes the hip, knee, thigh, shin, and various parts of the foot. We can execute a kick in a variety of methods of execution (roundhouse, hooking, thrusting, snapping, etc.), hitting targets with a variety of natural weapons. For example, a thrusting roundhouse kick with the shin can be a devastating strike to our opponent's thigh, "cutting" him down in size. A well placed front snapping ball kick or instep kick to the groin has legendary effects. In this way, a leg that kicks can hurt our opponent.
Likewise though, the leg itself can be hurt.
The leg itself is an excellent target with the shin and thigh being two effective targets. In Thai Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts, kicks to the leg are often seen as a favorite. In our personal safety courses we teach a technique called a shin insert in which a short kick with the front of the shoes is used to cause pain to the opponent's shin. Thus, the leg is also a target for another persons attack.
Yet, their is another way in which the leg can get hurt -- from repeated abuse. Our bodies are not made to take physical punishment in a fight and we must take care of ourselves when training or defending ourselves (for real). The Shin, while being an excellent striking tool is also used in a defensive nature. As the opponent's incoming attack comes in, the Shin acts as a striking block or a positional block, defending against low line attacks. This is often known as a shield or shin block.
And it hurts!
What hurts more is the effect on the body after repeated use. I have known many Thai Fighters (who favor this fighting tool) who cannot compete or train anymore because of injuries to the legs. This includes severe crippling injuries as well as life-threatening. At one training camp I met a Thai Fighter who had blood clots in his legs from the constant abuse.
As the saying goes, "we only have one body" - as martial artists, we need to protect it. Always train safe! There is not need to hit tree limbs or pound your fists into gravel. You don't need to block kicks with your shins (ask me about our knee destructions though) or "condition" yourself for repeated abuse. As Skip would say, "Train hard. Train Regularly. Train intelligently!"
