Difference between snap and thrust kicks?

[dutchgirl]

Hi Cathe,

I'm enjoying the new BB DVD's very much. I noticed in KPC (and in Timesaver #4 for that matter) that you say you can do a snap or thrust kick. I've only ever heard you mention the 'snap' recoil in your other kickboxing workouts. Could you explain the difference between the two types of kicks?

Thanks so much!

 

[SNM Videos]

Hi Sabine! It's Cathe, (just jumped on a staff computer here in the office). They are both front kicks. The snap kick has the toe pointed and the thrust kick has the foot flexed.

 

[Gibbee]

Sabine -

When you do the thrust kick, think of stomping your foot forward. In Taekwondo when you do a front kick you actually stomp forward but push out with the ball of your foot, feet flexed back. But if you were in kickboxing class (aerobics), you would push through the heel (as if kicking a bag). The snap is exactly what Cathe said - toe pointed. I think of it as more of a dancey kick or something you see steppers do in step workouts (but that's only because I do Taekwondo and have to focus on the form of the kick - all the way down to the toes). I feel a snap kick more in the quads and a thrust kick more into the hamstrings and quads combined.

Gibbee