Ok let's take a look at this drivel: A) This bit really says a lot more about your ability or lack thereof to respond to what's been posted regarding the subject and the conjecture in the thread. Obviously you're not able to come up with much so you decide it's better to attempt and attack someones English ability. Which I can easily assure you is just fine after living in Asia for more than a decade. Keep it up and you'll have plenty of time to train while you're on a ban. B) Obviously I have read the thread but you simply haven't been able to respond with anything to several rather lengthy posts explaining my position and it's relevance to the subject matter at hand. Again... you might want to consider that before looking for cheap shots. Because you're not getting yourself any further ahead by them. C) Because you either don't understand what's being posted or choose not you call it contradictory and then go on to call it childish. Well Master Betty I suggest you go back and reread what's been posted and why and how it actually factors into the discussion at hand because at this point you are simply grasping at straws for something to say. Again as I've clearly pointed out it's a very valid tool used for teaching students so they can get their head around the ranges of motion, the flexibility and the strength that needs to be integrated into a full speed/power kick. That's it. Take a look. Go back and read it again. I'm pointing out the bigger picture here and you're busy stuck not seeing the forest for the trees. 1) Grow up. If you can't refer to people properly when you full well know their names why do you even bother to post? 2) Anything that helps a person to understand the components of a kick even if they are broken down into separate components and not done at full speed do improve a persons ability over the broader spectrum of training. Again - you need to figure out that no one is arguing that slow kicking replaces kicks at full speed or power. They are like anything else supplemental to training. Just like plyometrics are. Well welcome to the world of MAP. Thread drift happens and no one should have to be forced to listen to page after page of your ridiculous rants because you can't figure out that the horizon is slightly broader than you're able to imagine. Deal with it. Yawn. Absolute rubbish. Pull your shirt down. Keep it genius. Let's see how far this tact gets you. Welcome to a ban smart guy.
Socrastein - I'll try to dig up Supertraining when I get home and PM you the results (not at home right now so no access to it). However, I also recognize that you're not a fan of yoga either, which is along the same lines of what we're talking about, yet I think yoga is a great supplementary exercise for martial artists (though I'm certainly no mutant pretzel like Van Zandt). I think we're admittedly beating a dead horse by this point and may have to agree to disagree.
I might suggest people look at this article. This guy ran a trial on slow exercises that showed improvements in strength on the order of 50% versus the normal way of lifting. Why? Because it makes it almost impossible to cheat by using momentum "swinging" movements if you practice your form correctly by doing it slow. Has anyone here actually tried these slow kicks? They are not easy. If done correctly you will feel a burn that will make you realize what a workout you've had. http://www.ehow.com/way_5243265_slow-burn-exercise.html
Just for clarification I did not say Muay Thai shin kicks, I said shin kicks, obliques and the like. Stamping kicks if you like.
In terms of the OP's question regarding slow kicks and flexibility, there is an important distinction to be made. Flexibility is range of motion; mobility is control through that range of motion. Some authors refer to mobility as "static-active flexibility" and "kicking strength." Mobility is an integral part of an athlete's training program, even for full-contact fighters who use full-speed and full-power "whipping" kicks (refer to my previous reply), because mobility enables him or her to exercise better control of the limb along the plane of motion in dynamic stretches. Performing kicks and dynamic stretches slowly, and holding the limb in place at the apex of the movement, are good exercises for developing mobility. They can be done either as a standalone exercise or as a drill in a warm up preceding the main part of the workout in which movements are done with steadily increasing speed and range of motion (and which are specific to the skill being practised). Regardless of whatever arguments have been raised in this thread thus far, the importance of developing passive (static) flexibility cannot be overlooked. Passive flexibility is integral to all other forms of flexibility (static-active, dynamic, etc). As I have already said, passive flexibility is range of motion. How do you expect to move through the range of motion if you do not have it? As Kevin Costner famously said when referring to high kicks, "Do splits and they will come."
