Hi guys, I'm 6 weeks into learning TaeKwon-do (ITF) so very new to everything. Last night I had a very frustrating session that inspires me to do something about my physical state - I don't quite know what to do but I found this forum and hope people here might be helpful. A bit about me, I'm 42, 6' tall, light build, and since my early teenage years have spent much of my day in front of a computer (and my job now also demands this). Unfortunately this line of work brings all sorts of problems such as posture issues, weakens core muscles and doesn't exactly require much movement or flexibility. I have played football weekly though so have a reasonable level of cardio fitness. So onto the TKD. Yesterday we focused on kicking techniques, and well, as a complete beginner I make many faults but what isn't helping is that to take an example of a turning kick I don't seem to chamber either leg to the side very well, and when I do chamber, I can't find the movement to pivot and extend the leg. It's like all my strength is focused on pushing the leg out to the side (which I find very awkward - my leg doesn't really want to move round to the side that much) that I find it almost impossible to execute the next part of the move. As a result I find myself off balance and generally missing the target. Target was being held mid-section; forget high section there's almost no chance I can get my leg high right now. I'm not going to use age as an excuse but I strongly suspect that trying to use years of underused and tightened core/hip/other muscle groups are the problem. I'd really like some advice please on daily routines I should be doing that will specifically target those areas. Thanks, Mike.
Hi Mate, I am in almost exactly the same position as you. I have IT band issues as well which is really painful. I have gotten alot better and am coming up to a year in the syllabus. When i started i couldn't chamber properly either but as time goes on you learn that your hips may not be as flexible as they once were. Now to compensate i pivot more on my standing leg to make the turn. My pivoting foot ends up doing a 180 back the way allowing me to make the turn. My hips are loosening as well. Stick in and don't give up you will get there though the road will be long and painful but you'll make it. There is an excellent post on here about flexability by Van zandt, i'll try and dig it out. http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85373 here ya go. Welcome to MAP. Baza
Just keep at it. The longer you do it the better you will become. Doing lunges will help you improve chambering
Stretching, lunges and lots of deep squats, either body weight or with weights. Stick with it, you'll get there! Mitch
Your suspiscions are likely correct. You are no different than most newbies except those who are in another discipline that instilled good flexibility (Gymnastics, Dance) There are 3 obstacles to correct technique: 1. Mental -A. Understand what your body needs to do B. Proprioception - Mind recognizes where in space parts of the body are. 2. Physical - Body has the ability to move in the desired fashion. 3. Mechanical - Body is actualy moved in the desired fashion. #3 Can only be accomplished after 1 and 2. 1. is a learning and observing process. 2. IS difficult to accomplish if your range of motion restricts the ability. The solution is a stretching program religiously adhered to . I reccomend 6 days a week. 1 rest day. Intense stretching like all exercise fatigues muscles and tired muscles are more prone to injury so the intense stretching should not be done before a workout. Google "PNF" stetches for some good choices. To instill proper motion for some technique try to practice the motion without speed or power. Put one hand on a wall to take balance out of the equation.
And practice low. You can still go through the same motions of a kick but at a height that's comfortable for you. I think it's a shame TKD doesn't stress low kicks as much as mid and high ones because that shuts off an avenue for the less physically able or gifted. There's a black belt at my Karate club (where low kicks are very much encouraged) that finds high kicks tricky due to age and flexibility but his low kicks are thunderous and not to be taken lightly. My right leg is lacking flexibility these days but I can still do TKD patterns. I just low side kick instead of mid.
As others have said strengthening the core will help especially exercises like leg lifts. Start low and get the proper structure on the kick . One thing that may help is examining the position of your base foot at the point of full extension. Your base foot heel should point toward the target on a kick like a turning side thrust kick or round house. This will open up the hips so to speak to allow easier movement.
Thanks everybody, all the replies have been extremely helpful and I'm looking forward to trying the side leg raises in Van Zandt's post. My side movement range is small currently and maybe if I focus on the raises as a priority it would improve it. I've realised that last night I definitely did not pivot the base foot properly in most attempts, I think due to muscle tension; my instructor also pointed this out. I think the reason being that I'm focusing my muscle groups on making the chamber out to the side which is a struggle and therefore I'm not able to move with freedom. If I can flex and strengthen enough so that the chamber is less of an effort, then I'm hoping the rest of the movement might begin to flow a bit better. First grading next month. Definitely going to persevere, no giving up.
Yeah, not much to add really. All I will say is that overall kicking height (how high your foot goes) is directly affected by chamber height (how high your knee goes). Tight opposing muscles are the main culprit for your leg being low. Leg raises will help, but your progress will be limited until you start improving your flexibility in those opposing muscles. Mitch and Earl are right: squats, lunges and PNF/isometric stretches. Also running with long strides. Relaxed stretches too if you want. PASmith gave you great advice about practicing low. You can actually practice nothing but low kicks while you work on increasing your flexibility and over 90% of the muscle memory will carry over to head height when you are able to get your leg that high. In English: you can practice high kick technique without being able to kick high.
Many try to pivot improperly. MAke sure you pivot on the ball of the foot. Raise the heel slightly as you pivot and set it down as the kick extends. Have someone watch you do this.
Thank you, good advice on the low kicking - I can try low at home and see how it goes with the pivoting and general technique whilst trying to stretch. Being able to do splits front/back and side would help. Both types are completely beyond me at the moment of course. I'm still confused about PNF/isometric stretching and what exactly routine to do but I'm diving into your thread next, reading about the Thomas Kurz dvd and doing various googling and youtube searches. Problem with those sites is separating the good from the bad information. Didn't really know about lunges but do now, so have started those.
Have also just found the "Stretching for high kicks" thread. Great resource; I definitely came to the right place.
The Secrets of Stretching one. Been watching it and inflicting pain upon myself this afternoon. More detail: pleased that he basically proves that some kind of side splits should be physically possible during the flex test phase. I don't necessarily need to achieve that level, but I do want a ton more kicking flexibility and power than I have right now. So it looks like lunges, squats, adductor flex (ow that hurts) and general strength building.
This is why I seriously despise computer work. I myself have lost a lot of my flexibility over the years sitting at my desk. I will admit though, pilates is a great way to improve flexibility. I just do the beginner's basic Windsor Pilates DVD. Yes, I do half of the modified workouts on that DVD. But those exercises really improved my flexibility at a time when I was out of Tae Kwon Do for a little more than 2 years. if you can dedicated 25 minutes every other day to it, you'll see improvements in a matter of weeks.
nefariusmdk, One or two hip flexor stretches (lasting 30 seconds each) done during your breaks will go a long way to countering the shortening effects of sitting at a desk all day. Years ago when I did temp admin work to fund my training, I would go into a toilet cubicle at lunch and do some stretches. Worked wonders.
That's good advice. I work from home as a programmer so will try to implement that in my routine. BTW as OP for this thread, I think my flex might be improving a tiny bit. But if not, my kick technique is improving, pivoting more and I think hip strength is quite a bit of the remaining problem. We did some hip strength exercises at the dojang last week... need to practice those.
