Faster Kicking

[Sean O]

Okay, I can kick high and pretty strong and I can keep my balance, but the thing is, mu kicks aren't that fast. I'm in pretty good shape, I'm 5'8'' and about 130 lbs. What would you reccomend I do to improve the speed of my kicks?

Sean O

P.S. I hope this kind of thing wasn't supposed to be in the Fitness forum

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Practice them, a lot. Just throw your kicks as fast as you can repeatedly. Try it without putting your foot down after you've rechambered (if you normally rechamber, otherwise rechamber instead of putting your foot down) and get as fast as you can. I'd recommend leg weights, but there's some discussion as to whether they help or not.

[Andy Murray]

Hi Sean O,

I posted some Kicking Tips (http://www.martialartsplanet.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=5) in this article a while back, so take a look. It was intended as 'food for thought' for someone getting started, but I'm not sure how 'far on' your training is (not much in your profile).

Leg strength is important, possibly more than flexibility?

Plyometrics is worth researching too.

Are you sure your kicks are too slow, or is it a matter of your timing?

Are you trying to hit a moving target, as opposed to putting the target where you want it?

Look at those you think of as fast kickers, and judge whether they actually do kick faster than you.

Just a thought.

[wayofthedragon]

I use to Practice kicks in ankle waits, and do all kinds of leg exercises in ankle waits, from runing, to riding bikes, ect.....
It worked really well, only I hear that ankle waits are bad for your knees....They never caused any problem with mines:confused:

[stump]

Personally I don't think there's a huge amount of difference between how fast people kick. But if you break down your technique and focus on givaway points ("tells" if you know what I mean) and your anticipation and footwork you'll be a lot more accurate with kicks, and though they may not be any faster, you'll give opponents less time to react to them and you'll land them a lot more of the time.

[pgm316]

Some people say being very flexible can slow your kicks down. I'm less flexible than most people I train with but I'm definitely not slower and I can still kick to the head with a straight kick!

Try throwing kicks keeping your body completely still, using the knee to flick the kick out. This is a fast technique, maybe less powerful though.

[LilBunnyRabbit]

This is a fast technique, maybe less powerful though.

Quite a bit less powerful, since you don't get your hips or the rest of your body into the kick. Can be a nice distraction though. Also if you do those make sure that you're careful not to fully extend the leg, that type of shock impact can cause trauma in the joints, which you want to avoid.

[pgm316]

Its been more than a distraction when I've used it. You might be surprised how much power you can still generate with little or no hip movement. Its a Wing Chun kick, many WC techniques have little or no body movement.

[LilBunnyRabbit]

You can generate a fair amount of power, but moving only the leg below the knee? I can believe using the whole leg, I've done that myself sometimes. It might be that I've misunderstood what you meant by using the knee to flick the leg out, care to explain a little further?

[pgm316]

Sorry CKD I explained that badly. I was just explaining the fastest kick, which I would think is one with no body movement, although as you say the trade off is a less powerful kick.

Its a leg only kick, common in wing chun. with the knee sort of thrown in first then the lower part of the leg following in a whip like motion. still a fairly powerful kick because it done very fast if done properly. ps the knee joint is locked out when done properly.

good fast kick with little telegraphing and more than one can be thrown in quick succession

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Ah right, yep, okay, I know the one you mean. Its like our front kick without hip movement and locking the leg instead of circling back up to rechamber (seriously, that is something you want to watch, locking the joint on any impact jars it and can cause damage). Now it makes sense. :)

[NielStewart]

May seem an "off the wall suggestion" but try practising your kicks slower. Concentrate 100% on technique, balance etc...

we have a very slow set/form in kung fu, practised it many times slowly until I know the form quite well, then when I want to do it fast - the knowledge, technique, balance, movements are all there, then the speed is there.

I was always told that it is harder to practise a technique slow than it is fast. To practise slow highlights all the areas of the technique that are not quite right. once these are overcome speed arrives.

[pgm316]

Sorry, I meant to say not locked out when done properly!

No kick should hyper extend the knee, that will always lead to damage.

Neil, thats a kick thats easy to do fast. True you shouldn't risk injury trying to do it fast. But the thread is about faster kicking[?]

[Sean O]

Well, to answer a few questions, my kicks aren't slow because of my reflexes (their pretty good) theyre just not as "explosive" as they could be. Its pretty easy to see them coming, basically. So if there are any training techniques that could help me in THAT sense, please share em.

Oh, and I'm currently trying to find a good Hapkido club in mississauga (If you havent heard of it, its a city pretty much right beside Toronto) so if anyone knows of one, I'd like to hear. Thanks for all this feedback so far though :)

Sean O

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Okay, if you want explosion...

how're you chambering for the kicks?
what are you leading with, knee, hip or leg?
are you stopping at the target or following through?

Note that any advice I give is from my style, and may not be applicable to yours.

[Sean O]

Well regardless, it may still help. I start my kicks with my knee and stop at the target. I don't quite know what you mean by chambering. Care to explain?

Sean O

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Chambering, preparing your leg to kick, effectively stretching out the muscles like a spring before they contract. You might want to follow through the target as well, stopping at the target means that at some point you're decelerating, which slows the kick down overall. Going through the target allows you to continue at full speed throughout.

[jun]

try jumping on old used tires. pick one your shoulder width.

start with ur usual stance, then move around the tire. meaning ur feet moves around so u use different muscles.

[ballistic]

when i used to train for kickboxing cards my coach got me to do alot of kicking in water. standing shoulder deep in water is great resistance training for kicks and not too hard on the joints!!

[neryo_tkd]

hey Sean O. I am new to this site. So...First of all, what do u train? and second of all, wat does ur instructor say about ur kicking? shouldn't u be asking him/her that question?

[Dark Blade]

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5223

Read my post here, and all of the others for that matter :P