Crescent Kick is the fourth book in the Achieving Kicking Excellence series by Shawn Kovacich. As with the other volumes in the series, Kovacich attacked the crescent kick instruction with meticulous detail and thoroughness.

This book is the most detailed written description you will find of crescent kick execution and should be included in the book collection of any martial artist incorporating kicking into their training. This is not a book where you just sit back and read cover to cover for fun. It is a resource text that should be studied and consulted at various times during your training or teaching. Yes teaching! I think instructors will learn tips on how to teach crescent kick from reading this manual.

The most valuable sections of this book are the chapters that teach the basics of the crescent kick and then the variations. Variations covered by Kovacich include: Half Moon Kick with Step Back, Half Moon Kick with Back Twist, Half Moon Kick with Jump / Slide Forward, Half Moon Kick with Jump / Back Slide, Half Moon Kick with the front leg, Half Moon Kick with Change, Half Moon Kick with Offset, Half Moon Butterfly Kick, and the Back Spin Crescent Kick. The chapters have some repetition, but this allows the book to be more easily used as a reference tool, as you can pick up the book and go through any of the tricks without having to refer to the different chapters. Kovacich uses extensive photographs and illustrations to demonstrate all aspects of the kick, striking angles, foot placement, and the arc of the kick. As I mentioned, attack this in meticulous detail and you won’t find a more complete written account of the crescent kick anywhere.

The chapters on strength, speed, and power are the weakest chapters in the book. While it’s nice that Kovacich included a bit on these topics, the real strength of this book is the detailed instruction on the kick itself. There are many other resources covering strength, speed, and power in more detail and depth than Kovaich here. The good thing is that it introduces these concepts and any good martial artist will deepen their study of them to incorporate them into their training with different resources.

The troubleshooting guide offers some good tips to improve your kicks, and Kovacich also includes a short chapter on crescent kick applications.

For detailed instruction on the crescent kick and ten of its top variations, this book with over 200 pages of text, photos, and illustrations is a must-have addition to your martial arts library. It is an excellent resource for any martial artist regardless of style.