Every Taekwondo kick explained: names, Korean terms and when you learn them

Taekwondo is known around the world for its kicks. Students learn more kicks, and spend more class time kicking, than in almost any other martial art. This page lists every kick a student is likely to meet from white belt to black belt and beyond, with its Korean name, what it is used for, the belt it is usually learned at, and a link to a full step-by-step guide.

How Taekwondo kicks are named

Once you know a handful of Korean words, kick names become easy to read. Almost every name ends in chagi (차기), kick. The word in front says which way the kick goes: ap (front), yeop (side), dwi (back), dollyeo (turning), naeryeo (downward), huryeo (sweeping or hooking), mireo (pushing). Two words can be added at the start: ttwieo (뛰어), jumping, and dwi again for spinning kicks, as in dwi huryeo chagi, the spinning hook kick. So ttwieo yeop chagi is a jumping side kick. You can hear all of these spoken in our Korean terms glossary.

The basic kicks

These are the kicks every student learns in the color belts, roughly in the order most schools teach them.

Kick	Korean	Usually learned	What it is for
Front kick	앞차기 ap chagi	White	Straight kick to the front; the first kick taught
Roundhouse kick	돌려차기 dollyeo chagi	Yellow	The main sparring kick, to body or head
Crescent kicks	안차기 · 바깥차기 an chagi, bakkat chagi	Yellow	Straight-leg arcs for flexibility and setups
Side kick	옆차기 yeop chagi	Orange to green	Most powerful basic kick; breaking
Push kick	밀어차기 mireo chagi	Green	Pushes an opponent away in sparring
Axe kick	내려차기 naeryeo chagi	Green	Downward heel strike to the head
Back kick	뒤차기 dwi chagi	Purple	Turning kick straight back; counters and breaking
Hook kick	후려차기 huryeo chagi	Purple	Whips back with the heel to the head
Double kick	나래차기 narae chagi	Purple	Two fast roundhouses, switching legs
Spinning hook kick	뒤후려차기 dwi huryeo chagi	Blue	Spinning heel strike to the head
Twist kick	비틀어차기 biteureo chagi	Blue	Outward-angle kick; a Kukkiwon basic

Jumping and spinning kicks

These come later, usually from brown or red belt, once the basic version of each kick is solid. They are used in breaking, demonstrations and, in some cases, sparring.

Kick	Korean	Usually learned	What it is for
Tornado kick	돌개차기 dolgae chagi	Brown	Spinning roundhouse, the “360”
Jumping side kick	뛰어옆차기 ttwieo yeop chagi	Brown	Breaking; the flying side kick
Jumping front kick	뛰어앞차기 ttwieo ap chagi	Red	In Taegeuk Pal Jang; high breaks
Jumping back kick	뛰어뒤차기 ttwieo dwi chagi	Red	Powerful breaking kick and counter
540 kick	540 킥	Red or later	Demonstration kick with one and a half turns
Jump spinning hook kick	뛰어뒤후려차기 ttwieo dwi huryeo chagi	Red or black	High breaks and demonstrations

The belt column is a typical guide for US schools. Your school may teach some kicks earlier or later.

How kicks score in sparring

In Olympic-style sparring under World Taekwondo rules, a kick to the chest protector scores 2 points and a kick to the head 3. Turning kicks, such as the back kick, spinning hook kick and tornado kick, earn extra: 4 to the body and 5 to the head. That is why advanced sparrers spend so much time on spinning kicks. The rules are explained in our sparring guide.

Getting better at every kick

Three things improve every kick at once: flexibility in the hips and hamstrings, strength to hold the leg up, and a proper hip turn. Our guides to kicking higher and kicking harder cover the training that helps, with simple plans you can follow at home. And because many kicks show up in the forms, the forms section is a good place to see them in context.