Learning to Kick

[SgtDutch]

Our school is not big enough to hang heavy bags. We pretty much train the way you described, however in lieu of the bag work we suit up in sparring gear and pair off to use each other to train in the power, distance, and timing of kicks. Kind of a simulated sparring excercise with out the return fire. It works well for me.

[MaverickZ]

Our school is not big enough to hang heavy bags. We pretty much train the way you described, however in lieu of the bag work we suit up in sparring gear and pair off to use each other to train in the power, distance, and timing of kicks. Kind of a simulated sparring excercise with out the return fire. It works well for me.

You guys go full blast power on each other? Good god, what kind of sparring gear are you wearing?

[Matt W.]

Didn't this start out in Strikeistan?

[Craigypooh]

You guys go full blast power on each other? Good god, what kind of sparring gear are you wearing?

(?)

[SgtDutch]

You guys go full blast power on each other? Good god, what kind of sparring gear are you wearing?

Not exactly full blast. I'd say probably about 80%. And if it gets to be too much for the younger students they shove the pork chops under the Hogu. Also with both partners moving simulating a sparing match it is hard to generate the same power you could hitting a bag (for me any way).

So as far as the power training goes, not as good as the bag, but better for timing, footwork, and distance.

[Deadmeat]

Great post Mav. I found it very informative. I like this approach and try to apply it to other techniques as well.

In judo, for example, when practising Uchikomi, I like to break down the movement and develop "muscle memory", and then practise the same movement more and more explosively, and against a progressively more resistant opponent.

great post this is really usefully but do you not do kicks with wights on your foot?? I do them and I think that they help alot!!

I generally consider this a bad idea. I tried it for a while and it gave me little benefit. I've also heard it's bad for your tendons and joints. The effects for me were more than just the same stuff as without but with more weight. The timing and technique of my kicks changed. That's why I dropped this.

I use a sports med doc from time to time for the occasional banged knee, Ive asked her about this in the past. She said point blank, I would not tell a Pro Football player to wear ankle or leg weights.




Sharkonis

I've looked into this after a friend told me he likes to practise punches whilst holding light weights. From speaking to a physiotherapist, and a couple of Exercise Science post grads, I've gathered that the problem lies in the fact that the resistance of adding a weight to these sort of activities puts drag on the limb at an angle that doesn't reflect the natural strain of that particular movement.

For example, if jabbing with a weight, the weight drags the arm downward, which leads (in an ideal situation) to increased recruitment of the deltoid for lifting the arm vertically - and doesn't necessarily increase your capability to throw force forward. Also, it can lead to serious injury.

If people want to add resistance when practising kicks or punches, it is better to do the action very slowly, while straining against resistance bands rather than using a weight IMO, and even then, only as a limited component of their overall training of any given techique.

[Christchin910]

Very nice and helpful post.

[MaverickZ]

Addendum:
I was reading about various shooting techniques on wikipedia and came across something interesting.

"D.V.C."

Jeff Cooper summarized the Modern Technique with the acronym D.V.C. This abbreviation stands for the Latin words "Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas", or "Accuracy, Force, Speed". These three terms correspond to the Modern Technique as follows:

"Diligentia" - You must hit your target in order to cause him harm.

"Vis" - You must hit your opponent with enough force to incapacitate him with as few shots as possible.

"Celeritas" - So that no harm comes to you, you must hit all of your opponents quickly.

D.V.C. was as much the personal motto of Cooper as it was the motto for his technique, and he passed this motto on to all of his students."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_...l#.22D.V.C..22

Which are the three components of kicking that I try to train myself for, and anyone I teach kicking to. Never heard of DVC before so it was interesting to see an analog for my training in a totally unrelated field.

[ZenOfAnger]

Great post.

It makes me thankful my school does it this way, but we have no heavy bag in the gym I'm in (a middle school gym), so we either spar or we get out one of the stand-ups.

[Earl Weiss]

My kicking instruction is similar. The hand on the wall is the initial stage. Where I differ is that slow motion is the second step. It ios preceded by breaking the kick into it's component parts by number. An example for front snap kick is:
1. Chamber, 2. Extension 3. Retraction, 4. Foot returns to floor starting position. (Instruction is "Up on 1, out on 2, back on 3, down on 4" until they associate the number with the position.) As I call out each number the student moves the leg to the position and I can correct the positions seperately including any pivot.

I can also vary the count SUch as 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 3, 4. This gets them used to the idea of multiple kicks without putting the kick down.

Next is slow motion telling them not to leave out any parts, telling them and showing them I don't want to see 1,2,4. (No retraction)

If slow motion goes well we move to half speed, and then full blast. Each leg is trained at each stage before moving on to the next stage. So you may have 10 reps by count each leg, 10 reps half speed each leg. etc. After the method is fairly well ingrained we move to Targets, heavy bags and variatios such as skipping and jumping.