Is this natuaral? or am i just messed up?

Ok whenever i do a front kick or a side kick i always have to bend the supporting leg or else i fall over... it also helps me extend my kicking leg higher..?
so i was wondering .. is this messed up should i not be doing this?

ok that is just some of my questions.

thanks...

 

Bending the other leg is not uncommon with alot of kicks, but as far as front and side, with me, there is little or no bend.

 

There's nothing wrong with bending the supporting leg. Bending the supporting leg does help you balance. It really depends on what you're comfortable with.

 

yah ... there is little bend ... i mean the knee is not locked ... but i mean it is not really bent that much...

 

That is good. You shouldn't lock your knee because it's more likely to break.

 

yah ... that is what i was thinking...

 

I think that you should keep your supporting leg as strait as possible, but NOT locked. Locking it could break it (hyperextend). I bend my knee, but I don't lean back. Leaning back does make the kick higher, but it's also easier telographed and slower. Now, it's important to bend your knees as to not breaking them, but please don't bob up and down. During forms and slow kicks, most EVERYBODY! bobs. When we're doing forms, most everybody does a punch, knee, kick(whatever kind), and ducks down more than a foot. I know that a block or an attack will force some of the body to move. On their strait punch, they'll punch strait but it arcs down. An invisible person example, a strait punch to the face actually ends up to a strait punch in the solor plexus. Does anyone else know that?

 

Bending your supporting leg means your hamstrings can stretch less and still achieve the same kicking height. It's cheating yourself as far as technique is concerned. Doing practise especially and katas you should kick in a textbook style and save improv for the street or competition, where you can add a skip, flop your arms around or basically do whatever pulls it off and works well. You can even gain extra kicking strength in this manner, but to build the best foundations to work from, to begin with practise your kicks at home and in the dojo straight "by the book."
It'll be worth maybe 40lbs heavier kicks when you do improvise.

 

ok ...