Kick

A kick is a physical strike using the foot, leg, or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of attack is used frequently by hooved animals as well as humans in the context of stand-up fighting. Kicks play a significant role in many forms of martial arts, such as savate, Combat Hopak, taekwondo, sikaran, karate, Pankration, Kung fu, Vovinam, kickboxing, Muay Thai, capoeira, silat, and kalaripayattu.

Kicking is also prominent from its use in many sports, especially those called football. The best known of these sports is association football, also known as soccer.

History

The English verb to kick appears only in the late 14th century, apparently as a loan from Old Norse, originally in the sense of a hooved animal delivering strikes with his hind legs; the oldest use is Biblical.

Kicks as an act of human aggression have likely existed worldwide since prehistory. However, high kicks, aiming above the waist or to the head appear to have originated from Asian martial arts. Such kicks were introduced to the west in the 19th century with early hybrid martial arts inspired by Asian styles such as Bartitsu and Savate. Practice of high kicks became more universal in the second half of the 20th century with the more widespread development of hybrid styles such as kickboxing and eventually mixed martial arts.

Foster the People

Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles in 2009. The group is composed of Mark Foster (vocals, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitar, programming, percussion) and Mark Pontius (drums, percussion). The group's music, described as melodic dance-infused pop and rock, spans many genres.

Foster founded the band in 2009 after spending several years in Los Angeles as a struggling musician and working as a commercial jingle writer. After Foster's song "Pumped Up Kicks" became a viral success in 2010, the group received a record deal from Startime International and gained a fanbase through small club shows and appearances at music festivals. After releasing their debut album Torches in May 2011, "Pumped Up Kicks" became a crossover hit on commercial radio in mid-2011 and eventually reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The record also produced the popular singles "Helena Beat" and "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)". The group received two Grammy Award nominations for Torches and "Pumped Up Kicks".

Chinese martial arts

Chinese martial arts, often labeled under the umbrella terms Kung Fu (/ˈkʊŋ ˈfuː/; Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: gong fu) and Wushu (武术), are the several hundreds of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" (家; jiā), "sects" (派; pài) or "schools" (門; mén) of martial arts. Examples of such traits include Shaolinquan (少林拳) physical exercises involving Five Animals (五形) mimicry, or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called internal (内家拳; nèijiāquán), while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called "external" (外家拳; wàijiāquán). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳; běiquán) and "southern" (南拳; nánquán), is another popular classification method.

Terminology

Kung fu and wushu are loanwords from Chinese that, in English, are used to refer to Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu ( listen (Mandarin) ; Cantonese: móuh-seuht) have distinct meanings. The Chinese equivalent of the term "Chinese martial arts" would be Zhongguo wushu (Chinese: 中國武術; pinyin: zhōngguó wǔshù) (Mandarin).

Mahershala Ali

Mahershalalhashbaz Ali (born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore; February 16, 1974), commonly known as Mahershala Ali, is an American actor. Ali began his career as a regular on series such as Crossing Jordan (2001-2002) and Threat Matrix (2003-2004) before his breakthrough role as Richard Tyler in the science-fiction series The 4400. His first major film release was in the 2008 David Fincher-directed romantic fantasy drama film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. His other notable films include Predators (2010) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012).

Ali is mostly known for his current roles as Remy Danton in House of Cards and Boggs in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and its sequel, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015).

Early life

Ali was born in Oakland, California. He is named after Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Raised Christian by his mother, he later converted to Islam in 2000, changing his surname from Gilmore to Ali, and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He attended St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, where he graduated in 1996 with a degree in mass communication.

Pumped Up Kicks

"Pumped Up Kicks" is a song by American indie pop band Foster the People. It was released as the group's debut single in September 2010, and the following year was included on their EP Foster the People and their debut album, Torches. "Pumped Up Kicks" became the group's breakthrough hit and was one of the most popular songs of 2011. The song was written and recorded by frontman Mark Foster while he was working as a commercial jingle writer. Contrasting with the upbeat musical composition, the lyrics describe the homicidal thoughts of a troubled youth.

The track received considerable attention after it was posted online in 2010 as a free download, and it helped the group garner a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records imprint Startime International. "Pumped Up Kicks" proved to be a sleeper hit; in 2011, after receiving significant airplay on modern rock stations, the song crossed-over onto contemporary hit radio stations. The song spent eight consecutive weeks at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, making it the first Billboard Alternative Songs number-one single to crack the U.S. top 5 since Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" in 2009. The song was widely praised by critics, and it has been licensed for use in a wide range of popular media since its release. "Pumped Up Kicks" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.