I was also bummed fists didn't get a jump attack as the daggers have but if you commit to a very aggresive playstyle it works out. Get unarmed up to a decent level, learn what staggers with the second combo hit and what needs the kick and you're golden. I find they're still viable for me in the mistlands with a full cultist armor for the speed, up untill two star seekers, fk em one kick doesn't stun at 75 unarmed and I don't intend to find out how many does it take with their crazy pierce dmg.

I would propose a slight change to the weapon/category, either a flat speed increase on the kick animation, as John mentioned it takes way too long and some enemies finish their stagger shortly after you stop kicking (you can mitigate that by kicking them into terrain so they stay within your immediate range but still), or tie kick speed to unarmed level.
As for future fist weapons maybe offer it with two options when crafting, either the standard kick for stun utility or with the dagger esque jump attack for pure damage.