My side kick needs improvement

[Labatt]

It sux!

Ok Ok, it's not bad at all, infact it's better than alot of people, but especially my left leg(im right handed) I find it hard to get it up there and extend with out my muscles tightening up and a weird sensation of pain.

Now what I just described in the above would be lack of flexibility. I need to improve my side kick, make it better than perfect!

Let's brain storm.

[Trent Tiemeyer]

Okay. How is your chamber? Hold on to something for balance and throw some SLOW side kicks. Really exaggerate the chamber, try to lock out the kick for a split second at full extension, and retract the kick slowly, keeping your chamber tight. Really try to strengthen the hip flexors and buttocks. Make sure you roll that hip over. After your technique is down, increase the speed.

[totalkayos]

so i chambering just cocking the leg back? or with a side kick bending the knee and bring it up to you?

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Bringing the knee up to you is generally a better chamber, also try not to lock out the knee as you kick, locking out limbs as you do techniques is generally a bad idea, as it slows down your recovery back to an offensive position, as well as causing damage to you when done with force.

Also, how high are you trying to kick?

[Helm]

The thing i did that really helped was just extending my leg in a side kick and holding it for as long as i could, starting by holding it for about 10 secs and everyday i could hold it a little bit longer.
You dont really need to hold it there for any longer than 20 secs or so, but just do it everyday and you'll see your sidekicks improve real fast. I did it everyday for about a month and i definately saw very good improvement.

[KickChick]

.... that "weird sensation of pain" may be hip flexor pain.... kinda "burns".
You need to build up the strength in this area. Practising your side kicks in the drills that have been suggested may be just enough to help out in this area.

As far as pivoting and "chambering" ... you can try this drill.

Stand in place and bring one leg off the ground until the upper leg is parallel with the floor. Do a 1/2 speed front snap
kick and keep the leg cocked. Turn your hips and knee so that you are in position for a side kick at the same level. Side kick,
rechamber, and pivot back to the front kick position. Repeat. Do not allow your upper leg to dip or raise, keep it parallel with the
floor. Keep your hands up guarding your face. This drill will improve both balance and leg endurance.

[Labatt]

Actually, most of the stuff you suggested, i've done. I'll be doing what you said. See what happens in a few weeks.

[Helm]

After you held up your legs in a sidekick you might wanna just stretch your legs in a box-split fashion (toes pointing forwards), helps stop the burning in the hip flexors feels kinda nice too :D

[jakmak52]

I find that positioning your striking leg horizontily to the floor, cocking the the leg in a fold. then snapping the foot/heel outward with your toes slightly pointing towards the floor, and your support foot facing behind you in a pivot, then refolding.

[KickChick]

Hey jakmak52 ... how's it going. Long time no hear from!

Welcome to MAP ... stop by
TKD Check In (http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=283&perpage=30&pagenumber=4)

Deb

[YODA]

Doh! Not another damned KF reject :D

[jakmak52]

Kickchick!! How are you my dear...how's NAPMA treating you..of course you know Kathy Marlor and John Graden, they trained me down here in St. Petersburg!! Later Gater.

Peace

[jakmak52]

Originally posted by YODA
Doh! Not another damned KF reject :D

Ah, Jedi Master..you should know so well LOL

Your Jedi tricks don't work on me !!!!

Good to hear from you YODA..

Peace

[YODA]

LOL! Good to see you here mate - welcome to MAP :D

[jakmak52]

Thanks for the warm return welcome, Mr. YODA ...

[PsiCop]

Okay, back on topic. I think the burning sensation may be because of imbalance. Some people I see will try and keep their body straight up while doing a side kick. I imagine that would create a lot of pain. Make sure that you're bending your body over when you extend your kick. How far you bend it depends on how high the kick is.

[KickChick]

(I am doing much better here on MAP! :D)

anyway, Labatt... how goes that side kick??? Any better??

You did say you are right-handed... so the left I am assuming is your "weaker" less dominant side. I remember reading something in one of Kurz's books... (He has all the answers IMO!!;) ).... so I checked did find a link. http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch2.html
.... go all the way down and check out the horsetance exercises. He does refer to "high" sidekicks but I found this particular exercise really strengthened my hip flexors and enabled me to really extend and hold that leg out for my sidekicks for a good amount of time.

"If the outside of your hips hurts when you do high side kicks you need to learn how to tilt your pelvis while you kick. The same forward tilt of the pelvis that helps to do a side split will let you raise your leg higher to the side because the reason for the pain and limitation in the sideways movement in both side kicks and in the side split is the same."

[kchenault]

Kurz rocks! His stuff will help immensely if you have the time and will power to do it his way. I can't do a split, but I can kick cold above my head.

[pgm316]

Or jsut stop doing the SK, simple solution! :D

[jakmak52]

Originally posted by pgm316
Or jsut stop doing the SK, simple solution! :D

Good support there....

[Stewart]

Some exercises detailed below can be incorporated into your training sessions very easily. The main objective is to strengthen the hip flexors and increase your flexibility.

1. Start with holding onto a chair or wall. Raise your leg in side leg raise. (Try and keep the leg straight and your foot in the correct side kick position) Raise each leg 20 times. As you progress, you can lose the chair / wall and this will help to build your balance. You can also add ankle weights or increase the amount of reps you do

2. Again hold onto a chair or wall and ask someone to place their hand out at your hip level. Raise your leg and circle around the hand one way for say 10-15 reps then without lowering the leg repeat going in the opposite direction. THIS WILL BURN so pay attention to what your body is saying. (If it burns it is working, if it is PAINFUL, stop)

3. Bring your leg into the chamber position and slowly push the leg out into a sidekick. Hold for a few seconds and bring back into the chamber and repeat.

The purpose of each exercise is strengthen the hip flexors and increase your flexibility. Although it is envitable that your body will lean back when performing a high side kick, the more you lean, the less balance you will have and will in turn have less power behind the kicks. These exercises will help to overcome over leaning.

Hope this helps

[johndoch]

Try one of those horizontal bars that ballet dancers use in front of the mirror to increase flexibility. Alternatively use the kitchen worktop or fridge by placing your kicking leg on it and stretching out at various angles. You can also dip down on your supporting leg to increase flexibility in the groin area.

[Paul_M]

Hi, i've recently started taekwondo and i'm having trouble with my side kicks, they still seem quite low and restricted. Are there any quick exercises that i can do in the morning and evening that will give me greater flexibility for this purpose?

Cheers.

[Slimfast]

Something that I have found really useful is the side swing kick. its more of a stretch than a kick though. Be sure to go slow at first, than start going higher. check it out. Welcome to map, also.:D


http://img58.exs.cx/img58/3455/sideswingkick.gif

[neryo_tkd]

Hi, i've recently started taekwondo and i'm having trouble with my side kicks, they still seem quite low and restricted. Are there any quick exercises that i can do in the morning and evening that will give me greater flexibility for this purpose?

Cheers.


welcome to the TKD forum.

here you'll find several links that i'm sure will help you out:

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6306

[Taliar]

Welcome to the forum. If you have just started don't worry about it to much, you just need to put continued effort into your stretching and training and get a gradual improvement over time. In ITF there is no requirement to kick higher than mid section till red belt (3 + years training) :eek:

So your better off gettiing your technique right and slowly increasing your kicking height rather than pushing for height and having sloppy technique.

[Paul_M]

I'm aiming to be just as good physically as the yellow belts - set myself an initial target - and it was during that leg swinging exercise, which we do at training, that illustrated my lack of movement compared to some of them :p

Thanks for all your advice.

[Endless]

Do just normal stretches, so go as far into splits as possible. Then you can go for active stretching i guess (holding your leg up for shortish period of time in side kick position)

[KickChick]

Take a look at this thread ....
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2614 ... some good discussion on side kick stretches/drills
See my post #17 :D

[sean]

dipping the body lower to the ground can increase height, but other than that its been said just to gently stretch and progress. Good luck.

[xxblackkatxx]

yeah, to increase kicking height, just do the basic stretches.
sit on your butt with your left leg bent in and the sole of your left foot against your right theigh, and your right leg infront of you and stretch down as far as you can go. if you do this stretch daily a couple times, in four weeks tops your forehead will touch the ground next to your knee, it's pretty funky stuff ^_^

another one that will help you with the muscles on the inside of your legs is just sitting with your back straight and spreading your legs as far out to the sides as you can, and maybe trying to lean forward to stretch them. again, if you do that regularly, you'll be able to so a side split like nothin'

a couple more stretches i've found useful in getting used to flinging your legs up the the air (i.e axe kick ) is a high rising up and side rising up. makki yup and swing your back leg up as far as you can. think of it as doing a snap kick, but with no kicking or chambering.

the side rising up is a little different. you can do it wit ha pole or without one, but for starting off i suggest a pole. you stand in front of the pole and put your right hand at about shoulders height and your left a little above your waist height. swing your right leg in front of your left, and then back the other way, waaaaaayyyy up in the air. don't be afriad to really wing it up there, just don't hurt yourself. you should feel a stretch in your left calf and inner theigh as well as your right inner theigh. i've found this stretch really helps with the height of your side-kicks.

sorry about the length of that ^_^ i just didn't want to miss anything :D

[neryo_tkd]

dipping the body lower to the ground can increase height, but other than that its been said just to gently stretch and progress. Good luck.


yes, lowering your upper body will enable you to lift your leg higher, but i don't think it's a good idea. work on your techniqes and they will improve in time. you should not be obssessed with the height. it's better to kick at waist level and have a strong kick without falling down instead of kicking high and enabling your opponent to use the imbalance of your body.

[Endless]

But High kicks are the main reason tae kwon do looks so damn cool neryo.

[neryo_tkd]

But High kicks are the main reason tae kwon do looks so damn cool neryo.


of course they are :D :D :D but what i wanted to say is that you can't keep lowering your upper body just to gain height in your kick. the position of the upper body is very important for the kick.

I've seen students who lower their upper body so much when doing a dwit chagi that instead of turning the head and looking at the opponent over the shoulder, their look goes underneath their armpit and that is simply wrong. the same goes for yop chagi or side kick. of course you lower your upper body to a certain extent, but it can't go way down.

some students do it to impress others, but lowering your upper body too much doesn't look good or impressive. and other students lower it because they are not flexible enough or they simple haven't understood what the kick is all about.

and BTW TKD kicks rock :D :D :D

[shoryuken63]

Is there any suggestions or tips you guys/girls have for me on how to get my side kicks higher? thanks.



threads merged

[G50]

Is there any suggestions or tips you guys/girls have for me on how to get my side kicks higher? thanks.
Working on you flexibility by stretching and working the muscles is a good way to get kicks higher :D

[Sam]

Aside from what Gaylen mentioned application of the kick helps too.

Make sure your base foot is turned to point behind you, this opens your hips, also bend that base leg knee.
Another thing i've found helps is pointing your fist where you want your foot to go and instead of focusing on your foot or opponent, helps with mainly accuracy.

Run a search plenty of other threads on this topic most people will just say stretch and theyre right.

[Anomandaris]

personally while I am flexible and can perform most kicks to any height I never do.

apart from in sparring where the target area is so limited.

but in the real fights and the full contct full body sparring with my friends I would never dream of going above the abdomen.

dont worry too much if you cant get your leg that high as unless you are a competition sparrer or a demonstrations person(which I must admit are VERY cool) you shouldn't ever need your leg to be that high...

[neryo_tkd]

Is there any suggestions or tips you guys/girls have for me on how to get my side kicks higher? thanks.


how high are your side kicks now?

[revo]

im a dolio kicker so my side kick isnt my best trait (hugh diadvantave as i do ITF style) but ders lots of ways to help your side kick. mine was a complet disgrace but i started a training progame done one a day and it realy inproved my side kick. leg raises and things like that are what you need

[wynnema]

unless you are a competition sparrer or a demonstrations person(which I must admit are VERY cool) you shouldn't ever need your leg to be that high...

clearly you dont do patterns at your school

[neryo_tkd]

clearly you dont do patterns at your school


i agree with you.

different kicks at different heights should definitely be part of the training.

[Anomandaris]

clearly you dont do patterns at your school

yes i do patterns and so far I have never had to do a pattern needing a kick above mid section.

if I eventually do have to do high sections kicks I will as needed, but I would never try to kick above the abdomen in a self defence situation.

my school specifically concentrates alot of effort upon incorporating TKD into a street effective defence method rather than concentrating on competition or traditional TKD.

[Rochambo83]

For me I was lacking strength in my legs more than flexibility. I am now much more accurate after doing some simple strenthening excercises like holding your leg out and throwing 50 kicks without putting your foot down. Its easier when you don't have to rely on pure momentum to fling that kick up there.

Does anyone know the names of the muscles that are used for kicking? Is it pretty much every leg muscle?

[Another Muay Thai Guy]

Does anyone know the names of the muscles that are used for kicking? Is it pretty much every leg muscle?
All the major muscles are used really.
The sartorius muscle originates in the tibia and inserts in the spine, which assists in flexing the leg and moving/rotating the thigh.
Your quadriceps, origin in upper hip, insertion in fibula and tibia, is used to straighten the leg out and extend from the thigh.
The biceps femoris, insertion in fibula/tibia, origin in hip, flexes the lower leg.
The gastrocnemius, origin in femur, insertion in ankle bone, rotates the foot and moves the body forward e.g. in walking, running, jumping.
And thats just in your leg, not mentioning all your stabilisers in your core etc.

[wynnema]

yes i do patterns and so far I have never had to do a pattern needing a kick above mid section.

if I eventually do have to do high sections kicks I will as needed, but I would never try to kick above the abdomen in a self defence situation.

my school specifically concentrates alot of effort upon incorporating TKD into a street effective defence method rather than concentrating on competition or traditional TKD.

well originally you said dont worry too much if you cant get your leg that high as unless you are a competition sparrer or a demonstrations person(which I must admit are VERY cool) you shouldn't ever need your leg to be that high....

its the "shouldn't ever" that is poor advice.

in patterns Taegeuk Yuk Jang and above there are high section kicks. Suggesting someone who practices Taekwondo doesnt need high kicks is just daft. Also I think it is better to work on your flexibilty as soon as possible so that when you reach the level where high kicks become more regular, your flexiblity wont hold you back. High kicks are not just for competition and demos they are an integral part of TKD.

Personally I dont believe that TKD is that good for transferring to a street situation, the likes of Ju Jitsu, Kung Fu and Aikido are far better for this application.

[Mitch]

well originally you said

its the "shouldn't ever" that is poor advice.

in patterns Taegeuk Yuk Jang and above there are high section kicks. Suggesting someone who practices Taekwondo doesnt need high kicks is just daft. Also I think it is better to work on your flexibilty as soon as possible so that when you reach the level where high kicks become more regular, your flexiblity wont hold you back. High kicks are not just for competition and demos they are an integral part of TKD.

Personally I dont believe that TKD is that good for transferring to a street situation, the likes of Ju Jitsu, Kung Fu and Aikido are far better for this application.

But on all points I guess you're thinking WTF TKD, not ITF? ;)

Hwarang Tull has 2 high kicks, first ITF pattern to use them (red belt), he says foolishly quickly and without bothering to think about it :D

Mitch

[wynnema]

yes i dont know ITF patterns sorry :D

[TheMadhoose]

yeah mitch in fact up to 2nd dan theres only about few patterns with high kicks
Hwa-Rang
Choong-Moo
Choong-Jang
Eui-Am
Juche

[Mitch]

yeah mitch in fact up to 2nd dan theres only about few patterns with high kicks
Hwa-Rang
Choong-Moo
Choong-Jang
Eui-Am
Juche

Phew, glad my memory didn't let me down, knew I'd get called on it otherwise :)

Mitch

[TheMadhoose]

Its refreshing to see that some ppl still study the patterns rather than just go through them. kicking at proper focus levels is just as important as punching and blocking in the correct place otherwise its WRONG. Im just hope theres more guys like mitch who place importance in proper technical points.

[Hapuka]

Is this normal?

Every time I do the side kick off my right leg it refuses to lock. Like in this picture. http://www.butf.com/images/missau-sidekick.jpg

I love that straight leg. Mine has always got a little bend in it which does not look good.

I always have trouble when I do kicks in slow motion. I practice but I always seem to keep falling over side ways. :o
Are there any exercises I can practice at home to help improve my balance and flexibility?

Thanks :)

[narcsarge]

Can't see the pic Hapuka, not sure why. Are you saying that the leg you are standing on does not lock? If so, I think that is normal. I would hate lock out my base. Just in case my opponent targets it. Having a bit of bend in the leg is the way I have always been taught. Now, the kicking leg, that is a different story.

As far as balance exercises, you know what to do. Practice every kick SLOWLY! Take 10 to 20 seconds to do a kick. Concentrate on the technique, foot placement, hip rotation, chamber, toes, everything. Hold the kicks out at full extension for a 5 count and then bring it back slowly. Get to the point that you can do your kicks slowly without setting your kicking leg down.

Another great training aid is a wobble board
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007WO1A6.01-A5EKKVXU1T4N9.MZZZZZZZ.jpg
The object is to keep the sides of the board off the floor. It works your ankles, legs and your core! Fantastic for balance.

[Hapuka]

Thanks man. The problem is my kicking leg. When I'm kicking with my right leg it refuses to lock. It kind of looks ugly, not good for patterns or step sparring.

[narcsarge]

Have a physiotherapist look at it as the issue may be joint/tendon related. There may be a physiological reason that your leg won't straighten out. A full exam of your hips, legs, ankles, and feet wouldn't hurt either. I am getting one done next month by my Sports Orthopedist. The last thing any of us Martial Art practitioners need is to have joint issues that impair or inhibit our flexibility. Get a professionals take then we can address strengthening the kick!

[tkdbb3]

your leg should not lock out all the way anyways... no stability that way you should have a slight bend in the base leg. jmho

[Keon Thunder]

I agree. If anything, completely locking your kicking leg out will cause arthritis or similar damage after time. I think even in your photo, his leg is still very slightly bent. You might need physio work, but analyse the direction your toes are pointing in when your kick is as straight as you can get it. If your toes are pointing up, then your leg will be inclined to remain bent. Aim to have your heel highest so that your toes are pointing down slightly. Start by kicking like this at knee height, then work your way up. This has helped me get my leg as straight as possible without locking it. Also, make sure your arms are close to the body to keep your balance. IMO I find having my left hand directly above the standing foot's toes with the elbow pointed straight down at them (when doing a right side kick) (hand placed near my head or chest) works. Other hand can then be guarding or, my preference, punching at the same time. Also, a must is to have your standing foot pointing backwards. Let me know if any of that helps. Good luck.