Well you can recover as fast, but you forget that the light and short weapons usually have faster speed and are able to block faster after the recovery. Kick is a viable counter against a shielder who just keeps his block up and doesn't let you hit and comes to facehug you. There is nothing bad about it. Great mechanic. It is always your own fault if you get kicked.
And what is this bullshit about 1h being weak, short and glancing bullshit?! Left swing hits the head quite often thanks to the animations and does more damage than big 2h/pole to the body. l2p, Odin out.