Alot of people make threads right left and centre about how they can get faster kicks, more power, etc (i have been guilty of this in the past). What I have compiled here is going to be a thread for new comers so they dont feel the need to post thousands of threads about kicking. Here are the top ways that I impoved my kicking speed, reaction time and speed. 1. Get more flexible. The more flexible you are, the faster your kicks will be. If your muscles have to fight eachother because they cant stretch enough, then its going to slow you down. Search MAP for stretching threads. 2. Do your kicks at a eighth speed. This will improve your balance. With improved balance you will be more comfortable and more relaxed, thus kick faster. It will also improve your technique, improved technique improves speed. 3. Grab some of the Supermarket plastic bags out of your cupboard and hand them from the celing with some string. Put them at varing heights and put some out of your reach to act as an opponent retreating. Kick the bag as fast as you can, but dont bother with power. Your objective is to make a loud sound, not kick the bag of the string. If you have any tall plants with big leaves, you can use them for kicking practise aswell. This has the added benefit of if you kick with too much power you will damage the plant (encuring the rath of your wife/girlfriend/mother) 4. Stand next to your tv, side on. Make sure you can see a wee bit of it out of the corner of your eye. Turn the channel to one that has alot of camera changes (american soap opera is the best) and everytime the camera changes throw out a kick of your choice. This will seriously increase your reaction time, and increase your reaction to visual stimulus. 5. Get a partner to hold kick pads behind their back. When your partner uncovers the pad kick it. Use whatever kick you can depending on the location of the pad. This again will increase your reaction time and reaction to visual stimulus. 6. Get a partner to stand behind you. When you partner calls out a number throw a kick. Before hand, number perhaps 4 kicks with numbers. This will increase your reaction time, and reaction to audio stimulus. 7.This is the biggest. Do 100s of reps for each kick. Dont come on MAP and ask how can you improve your kick if all the training you are doing is sitting on your ass and typing questions for answers you wont use. Get out there and train. 8. Do squats. The 20 rep squat will murder your legs and give your serious strength. Do them explosively. 9. Run up hills with backpacks full of weights. When I say a hill, I mean the biggest, nastiest hill you know. Pack in the weights and sprint up the hill, then jog back down repeat. This will give you serious explosive power. 10. Go for long jogs. This will give you endurance and more power for faster kicking. 11. Kick even when your not practising. When your walking around your house with nothing to do, or wating for the kettle to boil, fire out a kick. Just dont do it too high or hard or you'll injure yourself. 12. Throw tennis balls up in the air and try and kick them before they hit the ground. This takes some serious skill. It will improve your distance perception, timing and overall speed of your kick. I like to show off to my mates by spinning hook kicking a tennis ball. 13. Get a heavy bag and kick it all day. Kick until your leg drops of then kick some more. This will give you speed, and power. Well im pretty much spent. Im sure some others will add something.
Don't bother with the long jogs, it won't affect your kicking ability much. Spend more time on (hill) sprints and squats instead And of course, kick..... and kick some more.
Hold onto something in do Round houses,Side kicks or back kicks hundreds of times. That is what I do every night. That is one way to help your kicks out!!!
i'm a litle dubious on the running up a hill with a backpack full of weights. Won't this injure your back?
Not if you slowly build up. It will actually build up your pack and give you some serious explosive power in your legs. Why do you think the army does this so much?
knightcommander mate - in a bid to make sure this information wasn't lost in the mists of time I have added this thread link to the TKD Links sticky. This is very, very useful and not just to those that TKD (I don't and I have found it useful!)
I have been experimenting with these two and decided to post them. 14. Stand with your leg chambered. Grap hold of something, and just keep kicking the heavy bag without putting your foot down. Just go back to chamber and repeat, try to kick as fast and as hard as you can. This is great for the side kick. 15. I was bored while i was smoking (im stupid i know :cry: ), so I tried this, I dont know where I got it from. This will help pretty much all your kicks as it seriously helps balance. Stand with your foot chamberd in a side kick/roundhouse kick chamber, and hold. Stand there till you fall over. Measure how long you stand and make notes as you progress. To make it harder, close your eyes. Too make it harder still, close your eyes and kick. Kick fast, dont over extend just quick jabs with your foot. This builds so much balance and shutting your eyes allows you to rely on not having to have a visual reference to keep your balance.
i would say kicking a heavy bag, explosiveness training, and flexibility are the keys. when i used to teach tkd i used to have my students stand 1 to 2 feet to the side of a target rather than standing directly in front of it. this exercise helped them to learn how to kick 'threw' the target. the exrecise is for round kicks and hook kicks, and their variations. always stretch at the end of training.
I fancy giving this a try seeing as I just bought a kick bag, what was your supporting leg foot position and did you plant the foot and leave it just focusing on extending the leg from a chambered position?
Just go into whatever kicking stance you use and kick from chamber, then go back to chamber without planting your foot. It's important to hold onto something, or you will fly onto your ass.
A few more sudgestions. 15. This is very important. If your having trouble with a particular kick, ASK YOUR MASTER. In many cases he is an untapped reasource, people rathering to not ask him and come on here. Your paying this guy alot of money to learn TKD, whats the point of coming on an internet forum and getting advice from people you dont know if there know what their talking about. Use MAP as a complement to your masters advice. If your having trouble, talk to your master before or after class. He wont mind, he wants you to get better. This is important because unlike your master, we cannot see your technique, we dont know if you leaning to far back or forward. He can. He can correct you accordingly, we can just give you advice. 16. Here is how I helped my side kick, well pretty much all my kicks height and power and height. Grab around 2metres worth of A4 paper and stick them together. Hang them on a wall and mark a line every 10-15cm. Fire out a side kick, roundhouse hook kick and the line that is nearnest to hip height and practise kicking at this height first. DO NOT MOVE ON UNTIL ITS PERFECT, perfect meaning that you do it with impecible speed and power. Do not kick the wall however, stand further back so you dont hit the wall. Every few weeks, when your perfecting kicking at whatever height, move up one. Do not rush yourself, kicking someone in the head in the street is going to take the best speed, power and technique you've got. Besideds, you've got your whole life to get to the top. For roundhouse kicks or hook kicks, kick inbetween the lines When people start out TKD, they see the BB and try and kick as high as them right of the bat. This compremises power and technique.
some good suggestions here - I like the idea of recording your kicking height. A simple solution but easily overlooked.
