Today I finally discovered a potential use for my crescent kick. I've never been terribly impressed with it as a technique; others exist which follow the same line, with more power and a better striking surface. Moreover, I'm unable to get mine above solar plexus height without losing most of the benefits--and I don't like high kicks anyway. Sour grapes? Maybe, but also practicality. High kicks get grabbed.

Which got me thinking about the crescent kick. What if I were fighting a grabber, who was looking for a leg down with which to take me? My standard feeling is, "Oh, you want to use both hands (one won't be enough) to control one of my legs? Okay, but here's one of mine in your eye/collarbone/ear/jaw/solar plexus/floating ribs!" But a good wrestler could take me down fast enough to prevent my counter.

This is where the crescent kick comes in. If I telegraph it, to draw a grab (Attack By Drawing), I can prevent the grab from succeeding by striking at the exposed hand with the unexpected horizontal motion of the kick, as opposed to the vertical motion of a front kick. Having opened up my opponent's guard in this way, I consider my options and inflict some damage.