I played 1H just long enough to have seen what is the impact of kicking.
First of all, I see you all consider kicking in duel.Where is battle gone? And siege? For me, shielder is not a 1vs1 class. It's a team-play class. You are at the front of the group, you push the enemy, you break his position, you take the spam of four enemies at the same time, and at the right moment, slash ! You decapitate your enemy with a fast left swing slash.
Kicks? ha. I have RARELY been kicked on battle or siege as a 1h. Why? way too dangerous. No one is willing to stay still to risk a kick in a melee. Heck, not even in melee, even in 1vs1 battle, only the top do that.
On duel, it's different. No multi, insta respawn, you take the risks. And no, kicking is not risk free. How many times have I missed a kick in duel, got circled and slashed? Not even talking about polestun in some cases which meant 2 free hits in addition.
Sure, you can block as a 2h, but kicking is an offensive tool. It's like complaining that if you miss your hit, you should be stunned because '' the weight of your weapon is too high for you to chamber again, the enemy should be able to have a free hit''.
As for shielders who get kicked, well, you are at a disadvantage there, true. But you can take ranged head on, you can take the hits of three guys at a time, you have no chance of block misdirection. So what compensates for these three advantages? Short reach, increased weight and no block after kick.
Seems fair to me