I'm a MT n00b and just can't get the kicks...

**IMightBeWrong** · Posted On: 6/30/2011 11:59pm

I'm just past a month in now. My punches are doing well most likely due to past boxing experience and my elbows and knees are developing and I am starting to feel more confident in them, but I feel like I've made absolutely NO progress kicking. I'm constantly receiving feedback on them and every now and then I'll get them right but I can't replicate it and I'm not sure why. I get no power and my balance keeps getting thrown off. This goes for both roundhouse AND foot jabs.

I wish I had a camera to show you guys how I'm doing it to get some extra feedback, but I don't. Does anybody have any tips for these kicks based on how you got them down?

**Colin** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 1:17am

The biggest obstacle for me when I was first learning the MT style of kick was that my leg was often way too tense.

As soon as I received the advice to treat my leg like a loose sock, it started to fall in place for me. So essentially, making the transition from hard and tight, to soft and loose, then eventually to hard and loose was the period that my kicks improved the most.

**Uncle Skippy** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 11:48am

Posture up and stand tall: shoulders back, hips pushed all the way forward, turn your standing heel towards your target as you kick.

If you throw the kick like this, it forces you to lead/initiate the kick with your hip. Your leg will come swinging in behind it like a loose whip, and your heel turn (ALL the way towards your target) allows everything to "come through".

If you don't posture up, your hips will be back, your butt will stick out, and your knee will be in front of your hip and you might as well just be swinging your leg instead of using your core.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 12:03pm

Pointing the pivoting heel at the target is a big deal when you are first learning. Turning your hips over is also really important. When you hit the target your cup should be pointing directly at the wall to the side of your target.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 12:05pm

Alex Gong always had excellent form. Check out this video.

**gregaquaman** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 12:23pm

Kicks do take longer to learn to do properly than punching so don't judge your efficiency on the same scale.

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 1:59pm

First off, don't get too discouraged. Kicking properly isn't easy. There's a lot of moving parts in a roundhouse, and I can think of a lot of things right off the top of my head that might be wrong that pretty much all noobs do. Unfortunately, without a video to show what you're doing wrong, the amount of help that can be given is pretty limited. If I had to guess, you're probably doing one or more of these things-

Not turning your hip over
Stepping straight forward instead of stepping out
Dragging your shoulder
Not getting up on your toes of the support leg
Keeping your kicking leg stiff and tense

...like I said, could be a lot. Ask your coach first. And don't feel too bad about it, a month isn't long enough to really pick anything up.

**IMightBeWrong** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 3:48pm

Thanks for the advice, guys. I know I'm on my toe on my non-kicking leg and my Kru has also constantly corrected me on paying attention to my heel and pointing it waaaay toward the bag or my drilling partner when I kick. Keeping the leg loose and pointing my hips forward sound like the main issues to me. Neo Sigma, by dragging the shoulder what do you mean?

Also, WhiteShark, it's interesting that you bring up Alex Gong's video. My coach, Kru Paul Metayo, was one of his coaches.

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 5:21pm

When you kick and you throw the kicking-side hand back(throw the right leg, right hand swings down), it's really easy to do what my coach calls dragging your shoulder. Here, watch-

You see how when he kicks, his torso also rotates over while his arm swings back? That is, his chest goes from pointing at the camera to the opposite wall. That's what you should be doing. Dragging the shoulder basically means your torso stays square with your target when you kick, which will screw your balance up and not let you turn your hips over fully.

**Matt Phillips** · Posted On: 7/01/2011 5:29pm

This may seem stupid, but it helped me: imagine you have a sword strapped to your rear hip, pointing straight out away from your body. "Hit" the bag, pad or partner with the sword by turning your hip over. Not turning the hip over fully is a huge source of power loss; you will also notice that you're likely standing at the wrong range when you bring the hip all the way forward. If you are initiating the kick from (slightly) too far away, you will tend to fall forward a bit to get the range your hip turnover is supposed to provide, screwing your ballance and making it very difficult to nail the "rebound" and get back in your stance.

Hope this helps