What is a kicking pattern?
The kicking pattern, widely called a kicker in Western usage, is a two-candle reversal formation built from opposite-colored marubozu separated by a gap. In the bullish version a black (down) marubozu is followed by a white (up) marubozu that opens above the first candle's open, gapping over it, and never trades back into the gap. The bearish version mirrors this: a white marubozu, then a gap down into a black marubozu. In the strict Japanese specification both candles are shaved, with no shadows at either end.
What distinguishes the kicker from nearly every other candlestick formation is that the prior trend is traditionally considered irrelevant. Most reversal candles derive meaning from the move they interrupt; the kicker's meaning comes from the violence of the repricing itself. The market closed at one extreme with total one-sided conviction, then reopened beyond the prior candle's origin and ran the other way with equal conviction. That signature usually requires an overnight catalyst, an earnings surprise, a guidance change, or news, which is why kickers are largely a phenomenon of daily equity charts and are rare in continuous 24-hour markets where true gaps seldom print.
Practitioners rank the kicker among the strongest formations in the candlestick catalog precisely because its requirements are so demanding. The cost of that strength is scarcity, and looser real-world versions, with small shadows or partial gaps, dilute the signal in proportion.
How to identify a kicking pattern on a chart
The strict form is unmistakable; most of the work is refusing near-misses.
- 1Find the first candle: a long marubozu, shaved or nearly shaved at both ends, closing at its extreme.
- 2Check the second candle's open: it must gap beyond the first candle's open, up for the bullish kicker, down for the bearish one, so the two bodies do not overlap.
- 3Require the second candle to be an opposite-colored marubozu that runs away from the gap without closing it.
- 4Verify the gap survives the session: an intraday probe that fills the gap and recovers weakens the strict reading.
- 5Accept small shadows only knowingly: many scanners tolerate them, but each concession moves the pattern toward an ordinary gap-and-go bar.
How traders use it
- As an event-repricing signal: kickers usually print on news, and traders treat them as evidence the market has re-rated the instrument, favoring continuation in the kick direction rather than fading the gap.
- For risk definition: the gap between the two bodies is the line in the sand; a close back inside it, filling the gap, is the standard invalidation, since the repricing thesis depends on the gap holding.
- As a scan-level filter: because strict kickers are rare, many traders run them as watchlist generators on daily equity charts and then manage entries on lower timeframes rather than buying the close of the second candle.
- With honest limits: post-gap chasing carries slippage and gap-risk of its own, the pattern is nearly absent in forex and crypto, and even textbook kickers can exhaust quickly when the gap itself consumed the news. Position sizing has to respect the enlarged range.
Kicking vs related formations
Bullish and bearish engulfing: The engulfing pattern reverses by wrapping the prior body after opening inside or beyond it, with no gap requirement; the kicker reverses by gapping entirely past the prior candle's open, so the two bodies never touch.
Marubozu: The marubozu is the building block, a single shaved candle showing one-sided conviction; the kicker is two opposing marubozu joined by a gap, converting two one-sided sessions into a reversal statement.
Island reversal: The island reversal also uses gaps to strand prior trade, but it needs two gaps around an isolated area and can take many bars; the kicker needs one gap and exactly two candles, and traditionally ignores the prior trend.
Concept family
Chart & Candlestick Patterns
84 concepts mapped · 84 in the Library
Kicking FAQ
Is a kicker the same as a kicking pattern?
Yes. Kicking is the traditional Japanese name, kicker the common Western one. Some Western usage loosens the definition to any strong opposite-colored gap bar after a trend, but the strict pattern requires two opposite marubozu separated by a body gap.
Why is the kicking pattern considered so strong?
Because it stacks demanding conditions: total one-sided conviction in one direction, then a gap beyond the prior open and total conviction the other way. That combination almost always reflects a genuine repricing event rather than routine rotation. Strong is still not certain; failed kickers exist.
Does the kicking pattern need a prior trend?
Traditionally no. Unlike most reversal candles, the classical treatment considers the prior trend unimportant because the signal is the repricing itself. Many practitioners still grade kickers that reverse an extended move above ones appearing in chop.
Can kicking patterns form in forex or crypto?
Rarely in the strict form, because those markets trade continuously and true gaps between sessions seldom exist outside weekends in forex. The pattern is mostly found on daily charts of stocks and other instruments with session closes.
What invalidates a kicker?
A close back inside the gap between the two bodies. The pattern's premise is that the market re-rated and the old prices are abandoned; a filled gap contradicts that premise directly.
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