My thoughts are that high kicks receive the thumbs-down from so many Uechika because they not only cannot do them but they don't understand them as well. I am also of the opinion that many Uechika cannot do decent mid-section kicks, and by knocking high kicks they justify themselves. A real good kicker can do some pretty amazing stuff with high kicks at fist-fighting distance.
I am also of the opinion that most kick-high stylists' high kicks aren't worth the effort to launch them. I know because I used to train them and have seen and worked out with a whole lot more high-kickers. Just like flowery and weak Uechi kata may look cool to some and win trophies but is worthless in the street, so many high-kicking stylists' high kicks look cool as and are worthless in the street too!.
Just like building strong fight-worthy Uechi kata takes years, building strong fight-worthy high kicks also takes years to develop. Developing strong kicks is a step-wise process that requires a lot of individual attention and practice paid to training all the discrete components of the kick, whether high or otherwise. Then, it is up to the receptor to decide if the particular kicks are good or not.
I caught the running kick paragraph from TSGuy, and yes he sounded as if he was being sarcastic and serious at the same time. However, running from one end of the dojang and nailing the heavy bag with a two-footed side kick is a valid kick that I never want to be in the way of. Although in a crowded nightclub or bar, it would be tough to get up the speed.
I've gotten into more than my share of fistfights at teeny-bopper dances when I was younger, one famous place right in my home town that often had multiple fights every Saturday night [Van, you ought to check police records of the 60s' just to see how rough it was in our village in those days]. I remember unintentionally hitting innocent bystanders in the chops [I used to draw my fist back along the side of my head a lot] and in the chest with the solid point of the elbow while chambering for punches aimed to the forward direction. No room to even punch, never mind kick.
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Allen Moulton from
Uechi-ryu Etcetera