Читать книгу Solo Training - Loren W. Christensen - Страница 8
ОглавлениеIn this section we are going to explore ways to improve your kicking that are fun and innovative. We will look at how you can train alone to strengthen a weak kick, quickly improve a new one and explore ways to even increase the speed, power and flexibility in kicks you have been doing for a long time. We will also look at a few unusual kicks to see how you can use them in the street and in competition. As always, let’s begin with the basics.
VARIATIONS OF THE BASIC KICKS
Let’s begin with the basic four: front, round, side and back. These are the foundation of all leg techniques, which you must master before you can expect to perfect other ways of kicking. In addition, it’s the front, round, side and back kicks that trained fighters commonly rely on in a self-defense situation. Hopefully, no one thinks they are going to use a leaping, spinning, cartwheel kick against a 245-pound ex-con who has spent the last ten years pumping iron in the joint and fighting other cons. Most martial artists who have fought in the street say that it was their fast and powerful basics that saved their bacon, not those fancy ones seen in silly movies.
A good way to thoroughly understand your basic kicks is to analyze the many ways they can be executed. Contrary to what you may have been told, the way that your school teaches the roundhouse, side kick, front kick and back kick is not the only way the basic kicks can be done. I mention this because there are narrow-minded styles and systems that teach that their way is the only way. This is nonsense. While there are certainly many ways to execute these kicks incorrectly, such as with poor balance, improper body mechanics, wrong angles and so on, there are many varied ways to execute them correctly. Not only are there variations among styles and systems, there are often variations found within the same fighting art.
I don’t see a problem with this. What I do have a problem with are teachers who insist that their students kick exactly as they do. How can they expect this? How can a short-legged, broad-hipped student kick the same way as one who is long-legged and narrow-hipped? He cannot, nor should he be pushed to do so.
I first show my students the track of a kick. For example, I show them how a side kick is chambered, launched, extended, hits the target, retracted and returned to the floor. Once I see that they have the basic track, I let them discover how best to deliver it based on their physical structure. My job as the teacher is to ensure that they are employing the proper body mechanics, as they relate to their physique, to optimize their speed and power.
I also think it’s important to examine other ways to execute the same kick. We are blessed with a melting pot of styles and systems in this country, so we should take advantage and borrow and steal from each other. If you are a kung fu fighter but you really like taekwondo’s roundhouse kick, why shouldn’t you add it to your repertoire?
If you belong to a strict system that doesn’t allow for variations, I leave that to you to work it out with your teacher. I’m not suggesting that you be disrespectful or a traitor to your school, but if your teacher is unbendable, you have to decide if a rule is more important than a technique that may save your life. I’ve used my fighting art on the streets in Vietnam and as a cop in Portland, Oregon, so that decision has never been a tough one for me.
In this section, let’s take a look at a few variations of the front, round, back and side kicks. We will examine different parts of your foot and leg to kick with, as well as different ways to launch the kick. These kicking methods may be different from the way you regularly do them, so training alone is the perfect time to experiment, especially if your school has a strict policy as to how kicks are to be performed. Practice them away from your school and then use them on your classmates. When your kick smacks into them and they are left standing there scratching their heads, saying, “What the heck was that?” it will be interesting to hear their arguments against the technique.
The front kick, with the front or rear leg, is often the first kick taught to beginning students, though that doesn’t make it the easiest one to learn. Even an untrained person can do a kick that looks like a front kick, but to do it properly takes a lot of work. It’s important that you know how the body mechanics of the front thrust kick are different from those that make up the front snap kick. I’m not going to take the space here to describe them because every other book on the market does a good job of it. Just make sure you have a good understanding of the differences before you proceed to the variations that follow.
Angle Front Kick
This is one of my favorite front kicks because it’s so deceptive. It launches forward at an angle, half way between a straight front kick and a circular roundhouse kick. To do it, simply angle your lower leg out slightly—use your fast front leg or your more powerful rear leg, depending on which element you need at the time—and kick forward into the target. Kick with the ball of your foot, the top of your foot or your lower shin, just above your ankle. The difference depends on the target. For instance, if you are kicking an assailant’s thigh, hit with the ball of your foot. Kick him with the top of your foot, however, if you are firing at his groin or at his face as he is bent over looking downward.
A nice feature of the angle front kick is that an assailant can be turned three quarters away from you, but the angle of your kick allows your foot to “sneak” around his upper thigh and whack him in the groin.
3 sets, 15 reps — both front legs
3 sets, 15 reps — both rear legs
From your on-guard position (1), lift your leg into a slanted chamber (2) and launch the angled front kick (3).
Movement Continued
Movement Continued
Push Kick
This is an important kick that I never considered until I began watching full-contact fighters, especially Muay Thai competitors. As the name implies, the kick is a pushing action as opposed to a thrusting one. Although it can hurt your opponent, it’s mostly used to keep him off you or to set him up for a second technique. If you are quick and your opponent is slow, the push kick can be used to jam his hip as he chambers it.
Kick with the entire bottom of your foot or with just the ball. Use the bottom if you just want to push your opponent away or to stop him from advancing on you. If you have time to add a shot of pain to the push, use the ball of your foot and aim at his groin, thigh, or knee. You can use your rear foot, though most full-contact fighters use the lead since it’s closer and quicker. When using the front leg, shift your weight to your rear leg, bend your rear knee a little and push your front leg into the target. If you want to move forward as you push, move your rear foot up to the heel of your lead foot and then execute the push kick with your front leg.
Practice against a swinging heavy bag. As it comes towards you, push it away.
3 sets, 10 reps — each leg
Upside Down Front Kick
I learned this weird kick years ago from a kajukenbo fighter. He called it “cobra kick,” which is fairly descriptive as to how it looks when it strikes an opponent in the face or chest. I doubt its usefulness as a street technique, but it’s fun to sneak in when sparring and when practicing drills with a partner. Besides being a tricky kick, it’s a great exercise because it works the front kick muscles at a different angle. Here is how you do it.
Get in a left-leg-forward fighting stance. To chamber the kick, flip your lower, left leg outward while keeping your knee pointing downward (the position of your knee makes it difficult for an opponent to counter kick you to the groin). The chamber is complete when your foot, which is tucked as close to your rear as you can get it, is upside down and pointing at the target. To kick, simply thrust the ball of your foot into the target.
Air: 3 sets, 15 reps – both sides
Applying broken rhythm: Here is how you can use broken rhythm to set it up (“Broken Rhythm,” page 165). Throw two or three lead-leg roundhouses at your opponent, allowing him to block them. This establishes a rhythm and an expectation in his mind that when he sees your leg chamber, you are going to throw a circular kick. The next time, bring your chamber up as if you were going to roundhouse kick, but continue to swing your lower leg up until your knee is pointing downward and the bottom of your kicking foot is pointing at the ceiling. Since you have established an expectation in him, he will probably begin to block outward toward what he thinks is going to be a roundhouse. But you are too tricky and thrust your upside down front kick on a straight line right into his breadbasket.
Air: 3 sets, 15 reps –both sides
When escaping: It also works great when moving away from an opponent. Assume a left-leg- forward fighting stance. As your opponent moves toward you, retreat in your usual fashion by moving your right foot back to your left and then moving your left foot back. The next time he advances, do it again, establishing a rhythm in his mind. The third time he comes in, lean back to create an illusion that you are again moving away, but when he is in range, fire the kick in for the score. Ha,ha.
Air: 3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
Practice the upside down front kick in the air and on the bag. It’s a deceptive kick when sparring and, as an exercise, it’s a fun break from pounding out rep after rep of the standard front kick.
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 15 reps – both sides
Seated Front Kicks
Practicing your front kicks while seated is a good exercise as well as an excellent offensive move that you should know how to do. As an exercise, it places a great deal of stress on your upper thigh and hip because you cannot lean back when throwing the kick. As an offensive or defensive technique, front kicking from a seated position can be quite surprising to an assailant.
Sit in an armless chair and grab the sides of your seat (the chair’s seat, not yours). Slowly chamber your front kick and extend your leg as high as you are able. Hold it there for a second and take masochistic joy in the burning and knotting sensation that is happening in your leg muscles. Rechamber and return your foot to the floor. Do slow reps to develop strength, and fast reps to work your fast twitch muscles.
Slow reps: 1 set, 10 reps — each leg
Fast reps: 2 set, 10 reps — each leg
Extra credit: Make up a few self-defense scenarios and see what you can and cannot do from the chair. For example, block an imaginary attacker’s punch, front kick him, get to your feet quickly and finish him off. Consider grabbing the back of the chair and using it to block and hit with.
Hold onto the sides of the chair’s seat and chamber your front kick. Extend your kick as high as you are able and hold it for one second.
Movement Continued
Squat Kicks
If you want to know which muscles this exercise affects, do several sets of high reps your first time and see if you can get out of bed the next day. If you manage to get up, the front of your thighs and knees will scream and buckle with your every step. For sure, this exercise gets right to heart of the front kick and, when done systematically, will help develop explosiveness. Here is how you do it.
Keep both arms in an on-guard position and your feet together as you squat down until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Now, drive yourself up as fast as you are able and launch a left front kick. Immediately snap it back and drop back down into your low squat. Spring right back up again, but this time launch a right front kick. Immediately snap it back and return to your deep squat. Be sure to keep your back straight throughout your reps and be cautious not to bounce at the bottom of the squat as this defeats the purpose of the exercise and can injure your knees.
Two variations:
1. To work on strength and explosiveness, push yourself up fast, kick fast, but lower yourself slowly back to the squat.
2. If you want to train for endurance and explosiveness, do as many reps as you can in 60 seconds, alternating your legs each kick.
Be kind to yourself with this exercise and don’t overdo it your first workout. Even if you are in good condition, it’s a good idea to start with one set and progress slowly over several weeks to three sets.
For strength and explosiveness: 1-3 sets, 10 reps — each leg.
For endurance and explosiveness: 1-3 sets, 60 seconds each —alternating each leg.
Hold both of your arms in an on-guard position and drive yourself up as fast as you can and execute a front kick.
Movement Continued
Kneeling Front Kick
This is similar to the last exercise, though most people find it more of a challenge. Eat the pain and you will develop incredible leg power.
Kneel on the floor with your knees in front of you as you sit back on your heels. If you can’t sit all the way back, go as far as you can. If it hurts one or both knees, you may not want to do the exercise at all because it only gets worse from this point on. Thrust your right leg forward and throw a left reverse punch. As you retract your punch, throw a left-leg front kick as high as you can (it probably won’t be too high), while coming up off your right knee only enough to allow your kicking foot to clear the floor. Retract your kick until your knee is again on the floor, and then drop your right knee and sit back on your heels. That is one rep. You got lots more to do.
The punch is an extra added element in case you need to get in some punching during your workout. I like to include it because it gets me thinking about my energy moving forward, and it feels more like I’m doing a self-defense drill rather than an exercise. If it confuses you at first, take it out of the exercise and do only the kicks. Add it later when you feel you are ready to do more.
2 sets, 10 reps — each side
Begin in a kneeling position. Thrust your right leg forward and execute a left reverse punch.
Movement Continued
As you retract your punch, throw a left-legged front kick and then drop back to the one-leg-up kneeling position and then all the way back to the both-knees-down starting position.
Movement Continued
The back kick is arguably the strongest kick in the martial arts, its power driven by the large gluteus maximus (butt) muscles. I can tell you from experience, it’s the best kick for smashing in doors on drug houses, even those that have been reinforced on the inside.
There are two versions of the standing back kick: lead-leg and turning. When you have your left leg forward, execute a lead-leg back kick by turning your upper body to the right and then thrusting your left foot straight into the target. To execute a turning back kick, turn your upper body to the right and thrust your right foot into the target. Always look over the shoulder of the side that is kicking. Most styles execute the kick the same way, although some traditionalist chamber the knee in front while others simply launch the kicking foot straight from the floor. My preference is to kick from the floor because it saves time. Any loss of power by not chambering is negligible.
No matter how you launch the two versions, here are a few important points to watch out for when practicing alone:
Hit with the heel. Making contact with the toes or the ball of the foot is a sure way to get an injury.
Don’t look over your opposite shoulder when kicking as the severe twist may injure your spine.
Don’t “unwind” your body (returning to your original position) after you have executed a turning back kick. Instead, kick and drop your foot to the floor in front of you.
Make sure the trajectory is straight out from your rear, as opposed to turning too far and making the kick a turning side kick.
Don’t hook your leg on the return, as you do when roundhouse kicking.
Don’t lean too far away from the target. The impact will be reduced and it will knock you off balance.
Here are a few ways to practice the two basic back kicks by yourself to help improve your accuracy.
Kick at a spot on the wall (as shown in Fighter’s Fact Book)
Kick at your image in a mirror
Kick at a mark on a heavy bag
Kick at an object hanging from the ceiling: ball, wad of paper, rolled sock, hacky-sack, etc
Here are some fun and practical variations on the back kick. As with any new technique, especially those that are sensitive to balance, they might require a little extra work so that you don’t fall into a heap.
Touch Back Kick
This is an interesting back kick that is easier to do than it looks. Even if you are not flexible, you can kick chest high, even head high because of the way in which your body is aligned. Unless you are especially fast with it, you shouldn’t use it as a lead attack since you have to turn your back on your opponent and drop down into a relative precarious position to kick. It works especially well, however, when in the course of a fight your back is to the opponent and you are falling. It’s also effective when you are on the ground and your opponent rushes you.
Here are a few variations of the touch back kick. Be careful of the standing ones because even though the kick doesn’t require a great deal of flexibility, you can still strain your support leg. As an added caution, be careful the first few times you do the standing touch-back kick against a live opponent. Both of you will be surprise when your foot shoots up higher than you intended and your heel crunches your partner’s chin.
Lead-leg, Touch Back Kick
Stand before a mirror and square off against your image with your left foot forward. Snap your body hard to the right while angling it downward, touch the floor with your right hand and kick back with your left leg. Look along your left side to see the target.
From your left-leg-forward, on-guard position, turn to your right, lean down and touch the floor with your right hand and kick upward with your left leg.
Turning Touch Back Kick
Square off against your image in the mirror with your left leg forward. Although you should be looking in the area of your opponent’s chin, for the sake of developing accuracy, look at and aim for the center of your chest in the mirror. Turn the same way you do when executing a turning back kick, but as you turn, angle your upper body to the floor and touch it with one or both hands.
3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
On One Knee
Say you are on the ground, right knee down and left knee up, when the assailant advances on you from your front. Pivot hard away from him to your right as you pivot around on your right knee (your lower right leg will turn to the right, too). Touch the floor with both hands and kick upward with your left leg. Don’t expect to kick as high as you do when standing. Look along your left side to see the target, such as a mark on the wall.
3 sets of 10 reps — each side
Back Kick for Flexibility and Power
This two-part exercise will put stretch in your back kick, power in the muscles and build buns of steel. Yesss!
For flexibility Let’s begin with the stretch. Grab hold of a support and swing your right leg up behind you as high as you are able. Keep your leg stiff, lead with your heel and lean your upper body forward no more than 45 degrees.
1 set, 20 reps -- each leg
After you have completed one stretching set with each leg, move to the power-building portion of the exercise.
For power Hold onto your support as before and lift your leg up behind you, leading with your heel. This time, lift your leg slowly so that it’s muscle lifting your leg, not momentum. You won’t be able to go as high as you did with the flexibility phase, and that is okay. When you have reached your highest point, hold your leg in that position for 10 to 15 seconds without bending your upper body more than 45 degrees. If you get a knot in your butt, lower your leg, shake it out and continue with the next rep.
1 set, 10-15 reps — each leg
There are at least two methods to side kick that are considered basic: the snap version and the thrust. The snap kick uses the knee joint as a hinge to flip out the lower leg. I think snapping takes its toll on the knee joint, so much so that it might shorten the training careers of some fighters who have vulnerable knees to begin with. The problem is that they don’t always know they have vulnerable knees until they begin having problems. In some cases, that may be too late.
There are fighters who can do beautiful, high snap kicks, even over their opponents’ heads. But hey can’t hit the heavy bag hard with it. If your high snap kick is only for kata or demonstrations, you have to decide whether you want to pound the bag with it. But if you consider it a weapon for self-defense, you absolutely need to work with it on the heavy bag to know that you can deliver it with sufficient power to hurt or at least stop an assailant.
I only do snap side kicks to the shin and knee because my knees and hips complain bitterly when I try to snap higher. I use thrust side kicks for all targets higher than my opponent’s shins. A thrust might take a hair of a second longer to get to the target, but it’s much easier on the knees and causes much more damage to the target.
A police war story: I had a workout partner many years ago who was a cop and a black belt. He was a powerful guy, though slender, with a thrust side kick that could send a rhino rolling. One night a big drunk discovered this for himself when he burst out the back of the paddy wagon and rushed my friend. That thrust side kick of his nailed the drunk right under the armpit and literally lifted him in the air, just like those fake photos on the cover of karate magazines. But the drunk was flying for real, about two feet off the pavement and backwards until he slammed painfully into the side of the paddy wagon. He sort of stuck there for a second and then began to crumple, like the Roadrunner in the cartoon does after he hits the side of a mountain. The big drunk slid down the side of the wagon and onto his butt, where he sat for several minutes listening to little chirping birds all about his fuzzy head.
Two Basic Methods of Chambering and Kicking
Some people launch their side kicks by first bringing their kicking knees straight up in front of their bodies, as if they were chambering a front kick. When their knees have reached the desired height, they snap their hips around and launch their side kicks. Although it’s a variation used by several champions, I have had many students complain that it hurts their knee joints after a few repetitions.
Perhaps the most common method to side kick is for the kicker to position the side of his body toward the target, chamber his leg as high as he can and then thrust. This is a powerful version, though not as fast as snapping it out. The weakness with it is that you have to turn your body to the side, which takes time and can telegraph your intent if you don’t camouflage your movements.
Since this is the most common way to side kick, let’s see how you can hide your intention to kick.
Shuffle to Camouflage your Setup
If you are like most fighters, you probably fight with your body angled a quarter turn away from your opponent. This means you have to deliberately turn your body one extra quarter turn to the side to launch the side kick, a movement that takes time and announces your intent. Here is a way to camouflage your setup.
When sparring, keep your body in motion by twisting your lead foot, as if positioning it for a side kick, and making short, snapping movements with your upper body toward the side stance. Repeating these actions two or three times without actually kicking conditions your opponent to seeing them but not to expect anything further. Then when you really do follow through with a side kick, it takes him a second or two to realize that you are doing more than just that weird twisting thing. A second is all the time you need to nail him with the kick.
Practice camouflaging your set up in front of a mirror.
3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
Side-to-side shuffle This variation of shuffling to camouflage your side kick looks a little strange, but it works. Assume your left-leg-forward fighting stance. As you move about stalking your imaginary opponent, hide your intention to side kick by moving your left foot over to your right about two feet, as if you were going to hook kick from the floor, and then swing your foot back to your left about two feet, all the while maintaining contact with the floor. Repeat this three or four times to confuse your opponent so that he doesn’t know if you are preparing to throw a hook kick or a roundhouse. Ha! It’s neither. Right in the middle of that shuffle, when he is at his most confused, thrust your side kick into his ribs.
3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
Side Kick Check
This variation of the side kick is not meant to hurt the assailant (but that is okay if it does), but is used more to keep him and his buddies away from you, similar to the way a boxer uses his jab. Since you are not delivering a full-power strike, you need only a minimum chamber before you snap out your kick to his shin or knee, and then snap it back. Always hit with the heel half of your foot since it’s the strongest and is supported by your lower leg.
Consider using the side kick check when facing two or more assailants, especially the types who don’t charge straight in but hop in and out of range as they punch and kick at you. Right after you punch that one on the right, snap a fast side kick check to the shin of that guy coming at you from the left. The kick will either cause him to jump back, or at least distract him briefly, giving you time to follow up.
To practice this, set a heavy bag on the floor in the corner of your room and begin shadow sparring around it. Imagine an assailant stepping toward you and you stop him with a quick side kick check to his shin (the bag). Afterwards, move quickly away or follow up with a couple of fast hand blows to the air over the bag. You can also practice by standing sideways to an imaginary assailant (the bag) in a neutral stance, as if waiting for a bus. Imagine that he suddenly steps threateningly into your space. Side kick check the bag at knee level and then step quickly away as if to flee, or turn and face the bag and execute follow up blows over the top of it.
Shadow spar: 10 minutes – execute an equal number of side kick checks with each leg
From neutral stance: 2 sets, 15 reps – both sides
Bent over Side Kick
When you are bent over at the waist, it’s impossible to front kick and a roundhouse kick, though possible, is weak. You can, however, launch a strong side kick. Perhaps you are bent over because you just ate a hard kick to your stomach, or your assailant has you in an arm bar hold. Or maybe you are a tricky fighter and you are faking an injury so that your assailant relaxes his guard and moves into range. For whatever reason, your upper body is bent 90 degrees at the waist.
If your opponent has you in an arm bar, extend an arm out to your side to simulate the hold. Adjust your feet so that you are sideways to him and drive a side kick into his leg. If you are pretending to be bent as a result of a blow or you are trying to make him think you are hurt, adjust your angle so you are sideways to your imaginary target, and drive a side kick into his thigh, knee or shin. Both of these scenarios look a little odd when pantomiming by yourself, so make sure no one is looking in the window.
Arms extended out your sides: 2 sets, 10 reps — each leg
Bent as if struck: 2 sets, 10 reps — each leg
From a bent-over position, adjust your angle so you are sideways to your opponent. As quick as you can, drive a sidekick into his leg or hip.
Movement Continued
Side kick Exercises
These exercises not only build strength in the thrust portion of the kick, but also at the focus point, that place where your leg is extended and your foot is making contact with the target. These are not fun exercises, so don’t expect to have a lot of laughs doing them. They are highly effective, though.
Side kick and hold There are two variations to this exercise, one where you strive to increase the amount of time you hold your leg out, and the other where you push to increase the height of your kick. Both variations greatly improve your balance, muscle control, hip flexibility and all the muscles involved in your support leg. Here is how you do them:
Time: Slowly extend your side kick as high as you can with flawless form, and then hold it at full extension for 10 seconds per rep. Grit your teeth and fight to prevent your leg from sinking. Over the weeks, increase the time to 30 seconds per rep.
1 set, 10 reps, 10- 30-second each — each leg
Height: Slowly extend your leg as high as you can using your hip and leg power. When your leg is fully extended, take hold of your pant leg with your finger tips and pull your leg up as far as you can and hold it there. Be careful not to let your arms do all the work; this is a leg exercise. Hold for 5 seconds and then slowly chamber and return to the floor. That is one rep.
2 sets, 10, 5-second reps — each leg
Seated side kicks Okay, enough fun. Here is one that will put a nice knot in your upper thigh and hip. It’s a seated exercise, so it’s hard to cheat by leaning excessively away from the direction that you are kicking in. The position places considerable strain on the muscles involved in the side kick, so much so that you have to keep telling yourself that this is good for you. Here is how you do it.
Sit in an armless chair and face forward. Lift your right knee in front of you and slowly extend it to the side in a perfect side kick. You can lean your upper body a little, but not too much since you want to make those side kick muscles work. Strive for precise form and for as much height as you can (which won’t be very high) to really get a feel for how those muscles are working. Do slow reps to develop power and fast reps to stimulate your fast-twitch muscles.
Slow chair side kicks: 1 set, 10 reps -- each leg
Fast chair side kicks: 1 set, 10 reps -- each leg
While sitting in a chair, chamber your right leg and slowly extend it into a sidekick .
Movement Continued
Extra credit After you have trashed your muscles doing the chair exercises, finish your workout with this fun drill. The idea is to practice scenarios from your chair as you did with the front kick. Pretend that you are blocking a shoulder grab from the side and counter with a side kick. Leap to your feet and finish him off with whatever you choose. Have fun with it and learn what you can and cannot do while sitting.
Taekwondo fighters definitely don’t throw their roundhouse kicks the same way Muay Thai fighters do. In fact, not all taekwondo and Muay Thai fighters throw their roundhouses in the same fashion. The same is true of the various Chinese, Japanese and American eclectic systems. They all have subtle, or not so subtle, variations that have developed over time either by deliberate intent or happenstance.
Is one method better than the other? Who knows for sure? To conduct a scientific study would be overwhelmingly complex because of the large number of variables that would have to be factored in. My advice is that you first master the method taught in your style and then examine how other styles perform theirs. You may or may not find a method so superior that you want to replace yours, but you probably will find one or more that you want to include in your repertoire.
I encourage you to examine your basic roundhouse kick to learn all the variations that are possible with it. Begin by asking yourself questions about it and then seek out the answers. For example, how can you deliver it faster? More powerfully? How can you better set up your roundhouse to successfully get it in on an opponent, both offensively and defensively?
Kicking with All Parts of Your Leg
Perhaps you learned to roundhouse kick by making contact with only the top of your foot. This is fine, but depending on the circumstances there are actually several other places on your leg that you connect with. Use your solo time to experiment to see how versatile the roundhouse kick really is.
The Ball of the Foot
When I began training back in the 1960s, we learned to roundhouse kick barefoot with the ball of the foot, just as our teachers learned in the Orient. That was okay until I was in the military. On several occasions in Vietnam, I kicked people with the ball of my foot while wearing combat boots. I curled my toes back as I had done in class, but the heavy, steel-toed boot didn’t curl, so every time I ended up limping afterwards with a sprained ankle and jammed toes. Since I’m a slow learner, I hurt myself several times before it dawned on me what I was doing wrong. When I changed to kicking with the shoestring area of my boot, the problem went away.
But don’t let my experience discourage you from considering the ball of the foot as an impact point. Perhaps you wear really flexible shoes and you can kick with the ball of your foot while wearing them (they aren’t those gold-colored ones that curl up on each end, are they?). Or maybe you train for other reasons than self-defense, so it doesn’t matter to you that you can’t curl your toes back in your street shoes.
To be completely confident kicking with the ball of the foot, I highly suggest that you practice on the heavy bag. Take it easy at first, because a bent-back toe is not a fun moment to live in. Although you can use the ball of the foot to kick any target, from your opponent’s head to his shin, I think it’s a big risk to kick someone in the head with it. If your foot is angled wrong, a jammed toe against someone’s hard skull is going to send you spiraling to the floor, wailing like a newborn babe.
One of my black belts loves to kick with the ball of his foot to the inside of his opponent’s thigh, and it really hurts. He doesn’t stretch his leg out as he would if he were kicking to the head, but he keeps it bent and delivers it within punching range. Like a boxer with a quick jab, he pops his kick to that tender spot every time his opponent starts to move in on him. He knows it’s doubtful that he could use it while wearing shoes, but he doesn’t care because he is having too much fun putting little bruises on everyone’s thighs.
Practice kicking the bag at all heights so you are familiar with how your foot position needs to be modified. But if you just want to kick at one height, say the abdomen or to mid thigh, concentrate your bag work at that level.
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 15 reps —each foot
Air: 3 sets, 15 reps — each foot
Shoestring Area
The most common impact point for the roundhouse kick is the top of the foot where your shoestrings are laced. Since it’s a broad surface, it lacks the penetration that kicking with the ball-of-the-foot has, but it’s safer on your toes. Should you kick someone in the point of his chin, you risk breaking the fine bones on the top of your foot, but it’s relatively safe when kicking to non boney surfaces. Kicking with the top of the foot is effective in competition because it provides you with several inches of reach versus kicking with the ball.
Any target from the side of the face to the calf is good, but be cautious of kicking boney surfaces. The kidneys, ribs, groin and thighs are favorites because impact to them can cause debilitation.
Air: 3 sets, 15 reps — each leg.
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 15 reps — each leg
Lower Shin
Muay Thai fighters believe so much in the effectiveness of kicking with their lower shin, that portion of the leg 6 to 10 inches above the ankle, that they use it almost exclusively to knock their opponents into Tweety Bird land. They believe that the foot is weak and that it lacks support. The shin, however, is a hard and thick bone that when slammed at 60 mph into a human target, the target loses.
If you haven’t used the lower shin as an impact point, the hardest part of kicking with it is making the mental adjustment to do so. First, you have to implant the idea in your mind to use it. Secondly, you have to adjust your range from the target. Since you are kicking with an area that is higher up on your leg, you need to be about 12 inches closer to the target than when kicking with the top of your foot. Once the mental and physical adjustments are made, you will wonder why you didn’t kick with your shin before.
Begin by thinking shin as you practice your reps in the air, and aim it at your imaginary target on each rep.
Air reps: 3 sets, 20 reps — each leg
If you have tender shins, wear your shin guards when kicking the heavy bag. With the added padding, you can slam it hard without screaming out in pain and hopping around on one leg.
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 20 reps —each leg
Roundhouse Knee
Moving up the leg (do I sound like a travel guide?), we come to the boney knee cap. First a warning. Have you ever bumped knees with your training partner? What a laugh riot, huh? It’s for that painful reason that it’s not a good idea to deliberately slam your knee cap against a boney surface on your opponent’s body, such as his skull, knee, shin or elbow. You can get away with hitting a hard surface if you make impact a couple of inches above or below your knee, but if you hit with your knee cap, you may find yourself as out of commission as your opponent. To be safe, strike only soft targets on your opponent.
You can execute a roundhouse-knee strike with either your front or rear leg. The front is fastest, since it’s closest to the target, and your rear leg is strongest since it’s traveling the greatest distance and gets help from your hip rotation. To add power to the impact, grab your opponent’s shoulders or the back of his neck, and pull him in hard as you drive your round knee into him. The direction follows the same circular track as your roundhouse kick. Pull his body forward, rotate your hips and drive your knee in hard. Rise up on the ball of your foot at the point of impact to deliver just a little more energy into the target. It’s a great technique to slip under an opponent’s arms or to drive into the side of his thigh.
Simulate grabbing with both your hands behind your imaginary opponent’s neck to pull him toward you, and drive in your round knee.
Air reps: 3 sets, 15 reps — each knee
With the heavy bag, grab the top of it and pull toward you as you ram in your knee. Be sure to rotate your hips for maximum power.
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 15 reps — both knees
Kicking with the Thigh
Although this is seldom used, it’s a great technique for punishing an attacker who tries to pull you in close for a clinch. The direction of force is circular and the striking area is your thigh, that place just above your knee to about mid-thigh. The leg is held the same as when executing the round knee strike, and the hips are rotated in the same fashion. Timing-wise, it works great when the two of you are about 12 inches apart and moving toward each other.
You need to fire it off quickly because once you are in the clinch, you are too close for the blow to have sufficient impact. Even when you are in the ideal range, the blow is not terribly powerful since your thigh doesn’t travel far enough to build significant momentum. Nonetheless, it’s still capable of whooshing the air out of your opponent when you drive it into his ribs, especially right under the bottom one, or make him dizzy when you hit him in the head. The impact can be increased by pulling your opponent into the blow.
Simulate holding onto your opponent and pull him into the blow.
Air reps: 3 sets, 15 reps — each side
Pull from the top of the heavy bag to simulate pulling your opponent into your kick. Be sure to bend you’re your leg as you kick because driving your thigh into the bag with a straight leg may hyperextend your knee, which is in the Top 5 of things you can do to yourself that really, really hurt.
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
Roundhouse Kick Exercises
Here are a couple of exercises that add power, speed and dexterity to all of your roundhouse kick variations.
Sacrifice roundhouse kick I doubt the effectiveness of this concept in a real fight, but it’s a fun trick to use in your school sparring and in competition. It develops flexibility, speed and power in your legs, so if you don’t have those elements yet, don’t try this technique against an opponent. Instead, use this as an exercise to develop those attributes. Spend time training alone on this and when you can do it quick as a wink, take it to your class and surprise your buddies with it.
The roundhouse kick is arguably the easiest offensive leg technique to do in karate, so much so that it’s the most often used in class and in competition. It’s easy to do, and it’s also easy to block, even by students with just a couple of months training. And that is okay, because you are going to use that to your advantage.
Face the mirror with your left side forward. Step up with your rear foot and throw a roundhouse kick with your lead leg. Pretend that it was blocked and snap it back just far enough to change it to a side kick without your foot touching the floor. The switch is easy to do, but it takes training to do it with speed, which you need to get the side kick into the opening that was made by his roundhouse block.
Let’s say you do the sacrifice roundhouse and you roll it nicely into the side kick. But your opponent is having a good day and blocks or jams your second kick, too. Instead of setting your leg down and cursing under your breath, roll your leg right back into a roundhouse chamber and pop another roundhouse into his ribs. Ha, ha on him. This works because you are kicking at different angles: You start with a circular kick, abruptly change it to a linear one and then back to a circular one. Your opponent’s eyes will be rolling in their sockets like a cartoon character’s.
To reiterate, if you don’t have the flexibility, speed and strength right now to do this as well as you would like, don’t worry about it. You will develop those attributes by doing repetitions, lots of them.
Here are a few other combinations using the roundhouse kick that are good exercises because they develop hip and leg strength, flexibility and the ability to change directions of force quickly. Be sure to do all the kicks before returning your foot to the floor. Work them hard as an exercise and soon you will be using them against an opponent.
Roundhouse kick, side kick, roundhouse kick
Roundhouse kick, front kick, roundhouse kick
Roundhouse kick low, roundhouse kick high
Roundhouse kick, hook kick, side kick
Roundhouse kick, side kick, hook kick
Air reps: 3 sets, 10 reps -- both sides, each combination
Superset roundhouse drill This is a simple but effective two-part exercise I’ve been using since I read an article about it written by Black Belt Hall of Fame member Jon Valera in the March 2000 issue of “Martial arts Training” magazine. Though simple, it’s a tough one that when done consistently will develop power, endurance and explosiveness in your roundhouse.
Part one: Assume a left-leg-forward fighting stance in front of a heavy, hanging bag. Whip a right roundhouse kick into the bag and then retract it all the way back to its starting position. Repeat for one minute and then switch your stance and kick with your other leg for one minute. Don’t stroll in the park here, but go all out for as many reps as you can squeeze into 60 seconds.
Part two: Now, without pausing, you are ready for the second part of the superset: roundhouse kicking with the front leg. So that you begin this set with a relatively fresh right leg, assume a right-leg-forward fighting stance. Whip out as many hard and fast lead-leg roundhouse kicks as you are able in one minute. Switch stances and do the same with your left leg.
Here is how the superset looks:
Rear-leg roundhouse kicks: 1 set, 60 seconds —each leg
Front-leg roundhouse kicks: 1 set, 60 seconds —each leg
Free of charge, I’m including five of my favorite kicks that are sort of out of the norm but have always served me well. Although many fighting systems incorporate them, there are many more that don’t. I encourage you to include them in your fighting repertoire because they are sneaky, versatile and they can be combined easily with other techniques to make effective combinations.
Here is how you do them and how you can practice them on your own.
Funny Kick
I learned this technique from a friend who studies and teaches kajukenbo, an eclectic system developed in the late 1940s by five instructors from five different arts, specifically, Korean karate, jujitsu, judo, kenpo and kung fu. The funny kick was designed by them because they wanted a fast, deceptive and hard-to-block kick that required little flexibility and could be delivered with minimum telegraphing. The funny kick does all this while looking sort of odd in the process.
This is because your foot moves toward the target on a circular path and connects with the outside edge (the little-toe side) of your foot.
Assume a left-leg-forward stance and make a sharp twist of your upper body to your right as you “flip out” your lower leg using the hinge action of your knee. The knee actually points down throughout the motion, which provides several advantages. Your upper leg is in the way, so your all-important groin is protected against your opponent’s counter kick, which is not the case with the standard roundhouse that also travels on a circular path. There is a minimum of telegraphing since you don’t have to lift the leg prior to kicking, which makes it an effective kick against strong counter punchers. Although the lack of telegraphing makes it a great kick for the street, it can be hard for tournament judges to see since the delivery is different than the usual roundhouse kick. Try shouting as you kick to draw their attention to it.
It’s also a good street technique because you can flip it easily into an assailant’s groin even when you are wearing tight pants (I once tore the crotch out of my pants in a street scuffle when I threw a head-high roundhouse kick). Since the motion of the funny kick comes from the hinge action of your knee as opposed to body momentum, its impact is not as great as other kicks. While kicking an opponent in the stomach, chest or head will get you points in competition, it’s doubtful it would stop an enraged person or a drug-sopped street creep. When using it in a real fight, you will have greater success kicking to the groin and then following up with hard punches.
If you have not practiced the funny kick before, go easy at first. It’s quite stressful on the knee joint. Be kind to your knees and go easy the first few workouts. Trust me on this. I have had many students limp into Wednesday’s class after going too hard with the funny kick in Monday’s class. It’s also wise not do it on the bag for several workouts until your knees get use to the motion.
First two weeks (Go easy)
Air: 2 sets, 10 reps — each leg, 2 times a week
After first two weeks (Pick up the pace but watch for knee pain)
3 sets, 15 reps — each leg, 2 times a week
After 3-4 weeks
Heavy bag: 2 sets, 15 reps —each leg, 2 times a week
From your on-guard position, twist your upper body hard to your right as you flip out the lower portion of your led leg, striking with the little-toe side of your foot.
Movement Continued
Groin Slap with a Hook
As if slapping your foot up into an assailant’s groin isn’t bad enough, the little added bonus I offer here will make his experience even more miserable. As the old saying goes: Don’t pick on me if you don’t want to get your groin kicked into the dirt. (Actually, I just made that up.)
The slap kick is done with either the front or rear foot; it’s faster with the front and stronger with the rear. You don’t have to take time to chamber your leg, since it’s already bent from crouching in whatever stance you are in. When the assailant is close enough, all you have to do is straighten your leg and it snaps right up into the target. If he is out of range, close the distance by stepping up with your rear foot to the heel of your front foot, and then kick with your front foot into the target (this is the replacement step discussed on page 92, “Five Basic Ways to Step.”). As you probably know, it doesn’t take a lot of force against the groin to make the recipient’s face turn crimson, his cheeks inflate and his eyes roll about like ping pong balls in a lotto machine.
When the top of your foot is brought straight up between the recipient’s legs, anything and everything in the way gets crushed. The harder you kick, the greater the crush. But why stop with a little ol’ crush? Here is an add-on you can do to really make him cry “uncle!”
Add a hook Assume your stance, and then step up to your front foot with your rear foot and launch your front-legged slap kick with a snap of your knee. The moment your foot hits the imaginary target, point your foot upward and jerk it back as if trying to strike yourself in the chest with your knee. What happens is that after your slap kick crushes his groin against his pelvic bone, the front of your foot hooks the wounded target and then rips and tears everything in its path on its way out. I’ll pause here until you stop grimacing and groaning.
Practice the following drill with a step and also without one. When stepping, move your rear foot up to your front heel and slap kick with your front foot. Think of the action of your rear foot as sort of “kicking” your lead one out of the way. As mentioned, you don’t need to chamber your front leg because it’s already partially bent from your stance. Just snap it up and into the target, hook it —and pull back with extreme prejudice. Make the motion fluid. Don’t do it in three separate motion, such as, first, a slap kick, and then hook, and then a pull. Instead, make it one smooth motion: slaphookjerk.
In the air: 3 sets, 15 reps — both legs
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 15 reps — both legs
Scoop Kick
One karate style calls this “toe out kick,” which describes exactly how the foot is formed. It was taught to me as “scoop kick,” and since old habits are hard to change, I’ll continue calling it that. Besides, scoop kick is also descriptive since the kick is launched in a scooping motion along the floor and up into the target where the arch of the foot makes contact.
I teach that the scoop kick should be used for the same purpose a boxer uses his jab: to harass, to set up the opponent, to measure distance and as part of a combination. It’s a marvelous distraction technique, because when you pop three or four scoop kicks to a street assailant’s lower leg, his brain focuses on the pain, which leaves his upper half wide open for whatever you want to do to him there.
To launch the kick, assume your fighting stance with your left leg forward. Scoot your rear foot along the floor, just grazing it, and scoop it up and into your imaginary opponent’s knee. Set it down in front of you if you going to continue to advance with other blows, or return your foot to where it was initially if the scoop is all you intend to do.
The kick can also be done with the front leg, though it isn’t as powerful as the rear one. You can generate a little more power by doing a replacement step (the same method you used with the slap kick), which adds forward momentum to the impact. Because it isn’t as powerful as when done with the rear foot, many fighters use the front scoop simply as a way to harass and distract their opponents by keeping them busy trying to avoid the kick. It’s also a good interrupter. Every time your opponent sets himself to attack, you pop a scoop against his closest leg.
The target is anywhere on the opponent’s leg: front, side or back. Incidentally, the knee cap is not as easy to break as many people believe, though it’s still no picnic to get hit there. If you want to use the kick as a take down when you are behind him, scoop your foot into the back of his knee, and then press forward until his kneecap makes painful contact against the asphalt. Feel free to jerk his shoulder back or pull the hair at the back of his head to hurry him down a little faster.
If you are having problems turning your foot out far enough, keep working on it until you have the necessary flexibility in your ankle. One way is to press the arch of your foot against a wall and hold it there for a minute at a time. Include this as part of your warm up and your foot will be flexible enough in no time. To keep from spraining your ankle, it’s a good idea to avoid kicking the bag hard until you can turn your foot out properly.
In the air: 3 sets, 10 reps – both legs
Against a bag: 3 sets, 10 reps – both legs
Scoot your rear foot along the floor and into your opponent’s closest knee.
Stomp scoop: Some karate people might argue that technically this is not a scoop, but for our purposes here, it’s similar enough to include it in this section. If the situation justifies it, you can use it to stomp an assailant’s knee. Say you have knocked him against a wall, and he is sprawled there with one leg extended before him. Scoop your rear foot forward, and at about the half way point, draw your knee up high and then slam the bottom of your foot down on his bridged knee. This variation carries with it the risk of crippling the man, so it’s imperative the situation justifies that level of force. For example, you would be justified if he was armed with a knife or club, but him calling your mother a name is not enough reason for you to give him a permanent limp. Trust me, lawsuits are not fun.
In the air: 3 sets, 15 reps — both legs
On the bag: 3 sets, 15 reps — both legs
Angle stomp scoop: There are two primary differences with this version: You kick with the bottom of your foot, slightly toward the outside edge of the little toe side. The other difference is that your opponent is lying on the ground.
The kick begins with a high chamber. Lift your knee up to the front of your body and position your kicking foot in front of your groin as you angle your knee outward slightly. The kick is executed with a powerful, angled thrust across the front of your support leg and downward to the target, which is your opponent’s head or body. To add greater power to the kick, arch your back a little just prior to your foot making contact. This is a wonderful technique to use as a follow-up after a take down.
Air kicks: 3 sets, 10 reps — both legs
Prone bag kicks: 3 sets, 10 reps — both legs
To build flexibility in your ankle, press the arch of your foot against a wall, twist your foot outward and hold for one minute.
Pantomiming that you are holding onto the arm of someone you have dumped on the ground, lift your foot up near your groin. Thrust your foot downward at an angle into your opponent’s head.
Movement Continued
Inside-knee strike
Some Muay Thai fighters call this “inside-knee strike” while others call it “curve kick.” I call it inside-knee strike since it better describes the action of your leg. The strike is used when you are literally stomach to stomach with your opponent in a clinch, an often awkward position where it’s nearly impossible to deliver a front or rear knee strike with significant force.
To do it against a live opponent, snuggle up close, wrap your hands around the back of his neck and pull him into your blow. Press your forearms close together to make it difficult for him to punch you in the body. Stay light on your feet, shifting your weight back and forth as you jerk your opponent around. Come up on the ball of your left foot as you swing your bent right leg away from your opponent’s side, and then forcefully swing it back into him, striking his ribs with the inside area of your knee. Striking his ribs, especially the so-called floating rib just beneath his rib cage, causes him pain and nausea. I also like to strike the outside of his hips because impact there sometimes collapses the supporting leg.
Instructor Frank Garza agrees. “The key to this particular knee is to be belly to belly and then slyly move your knee out and then into his body. Anything you hit with this technique, ribs, kidney, hip joint, gets the opponent to drop his hands, which opens him up for an elbow to the face. The only problem I can see is when you haven’t yet softened up your opponent. Then when you lift your knee, he can trip your support leg and you’re in for a nasty fall. But every technique has a downside when it’s not setup properly. But, wow, talk about an effective technique; this is a good one.”
To practice the inside knee strike by your lonesome, hug your heavy bag, a manikin or even a padded pole. Alternate striking the sides of your target with both knees, striving for stability while staying in motion on your feet. Be sure to pull the bag into the strike for added impact. If you are doing it on an immovable pole, pull with your arms anyway just to establish the habit.
3 sets, 10 reps -- both legs
From a tight clinch, angle your right knee outward, and then slam it into your assailant’s lower rib area.
Hug your heavy bag close to your chest as you angle your knee outward and then slam it in hard. In the first photo, my knee is fairly close to the bag. You can also practice with your knee pointing all the way to the side prior to slamming the bag.
Outside Crescent Kick
While the outside crescent kick isn’t as off-the-beaten path as the last four, I like it so much that I have included it here just to encourage you to work on it. An outside crescent is one where your leg arcs away from your body as opposed to an inside crescent, which arcs across the front of your body. I prefer the outside version because it’s faster and it isn’t as hard on the knee. Once, a high-ranking martial artist argued that it wasn’t a good kick, but then he changed his mind when he had trouble holding the bag for one of my students who, at 135 pounds, can nearly shred a hand-held bag with it. There are two variations of the outside crescent: front leg and rear leg.
Front-leg outside crescent Assume a left-leg-forward stance and face your imaginary opponent who is standing at 12 o’clock. Step up with your rear foot just behind your left and snap your left foot up with a slightly bent leg toward 2 o’clock. When it reaches whatever height you want, whip it toward your imaginary opponent, hitting the target with the outer edge, the little toe side, of your foot. Its power comes from speed, hip rotation and a slight snap of your knee. Don’t tense your leg or hip muscles in an attempt to hit hard. Strive for smoothness and speed and power will come naturally.
Time your crescent, whether you are kicking to a high target or a low one, so that you make contact at the apex of the arc. I like to kick low with it -- kidney, groin and inside of the thigh -- so the arc isn’t as pronounced as it is when kicking high. But that is okay because a low crescent still hurts. With practice, your speed, muscle development and application of proper body mechanics may make the crescent one of your favorite kicks.
Rear-leg outside crescent Crescent kicking to the outside with the rear leg isn’t as fast as with the front leg but it’s more powerful and quite deceptive. Be careful that you don’t hook your front ankle with your rear foot as it passes; it not only hurts like the dickens, but you look stupid when it happens (been there, done that). If you are just learning the rear crescent, try this variation taught by Instructor Alain Burrese. Here is how he describes it.
“Assume your fighting stance face to face with the heavy bag, right leg back. Step off to the left at a 45-degree angle or so. The right leg goes straight up to 12 o’clock and then snaps to the right into the bag, connecting with the outside of the foot. Switch stances and repeat on the other side.”
When you move at an angle to your opponent, he is momentarily confused as to what you are doing. His eyes follow as you step to your left, and then he sees your rear foot shoot straight up at his side, two feet away from him. Just as he starts to think, “What the --,” your foot slaps into his groin.
The crescent kick with either leg will chalk up points in competition because it’s impressive when snapped to the opponent’s face and it makes a resounding slapping noise when whipped into his upper body. It’s especially pertinent for the street because it can be delivered with very little telegraphing against vulnerable targets, such as the groin, inner thigh, outer thigh, back of knee and kidneys.
Instructor Alain Burrese steps off to the left with his lead foot and begins moving his rright foot forward and up into an outside crescent kick.
Movement Continued
Exercises and drills for the crescent kicks
Try the following exercises to develop speed, power and flexibility for the crescent kick.
Front-leg outside crescent:
Air reps: 3 sets, 10 reps – both legs,
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 10 reps – both legs
Rear-leg outside crescents:
Air reps: 3 sets, 10 reps – both legs
Heavy bag: 3 sets, 10 reps – both legs
Supported slow motion kicks: Hold on to the back of a kitchen chair, or anything else that works, with your left leg forward. That grease spot on the wall in front of you at 12 o’clock is your opponent. Slowly lift your slightly bent left leg up toward 2 o’clock as high as you are able. Even if you never kick high, do so when you exercise your crescent to more intensely stimulate the involved muscles. When you have reached your maximum height, strain to lift your leg even higher. Yes it hurts, but move your leg slowly in an arc toward that spot on the wall. Bring your foot straight down to its beginning position and repeat. Do these slowly and eat the pain.
2 sets, 10 reps — each leg
Kick over the chair: Here is another kitchen chair exercise, one that has a built-in incentive. Face the chair in your fighting stance, step up with your rear foot and execute a slow crescent over the chair’s back. I strongly suggest doing them slowly at first because if you don’t kick high enough or your leg is somehow off course, you get a not-so-friendly reminder in the form of a crunched toe. Once you get the feel of distance and height, kick over the chair as fast as you want.
3 sets, 10 reps — each leg
Kick over a standing bag: Hapkido instructor Alain Burrese uses this exercise to work all the muscles involved with the crescent kick, especially the hips. You may not like to kick as high as this requires, nonetheless use it as an exercise to loosen and strengthen all the involved muscles. Use a freestanding bag or, if you don’t have one, use a pile of boxes or tires. Stand in front of it with your left leg forward. Step up with your rear leg and quickly lift your front leg up the right side of the bag, swing it over the top and down the left side. Aim with the outside edge of your foot throughout the movement.
2 sets, 15 reps — each leg
From an on-guard position, Instructor Burrese steps up to the bag using a replacement step, and then kicks up and over it.
Movement Continued
Bungee cord: This exercise works great, feels great and hits the exact muscles involved in the crescent kick. It also makes it hard for you to walk the next day if, in your enthusiasm, you begin with too many sets and reps. Train smart and start out with one set and progress to three.
Attach the cord to your right ankle and lie on your left side. Extend your left arm along the floor for balance and cross your right leg over your left. Scoot yourself away from whatever you have the cord attached to until the cord is tight. Remember, you hit with the outer edge of your foot, so position your foot accordingly as you slowly lift your leg straight up. You can either stop there and return it to the floor, or you can go beyond the straight up position to get a little extra stretch and resistance in the rep.
1-3 sets, 15 reps — each leg
Position yourself so the cord is taught. Slowly bring your crescent kick straight up and then back to the starting position.
Movement Continued
Most kicks can be done with either your lead leg or your rear leg and, as a general rule, the rear leg is more powerful, while the lead leg is quicker. Years ago, martial artists used to argue that lead-leg kicks were weak, but when champion full-contact fighter Bill Wallace and others began knocking opponents unconscious with their lead kicks, the arguments died a quick death.
As a street-oriented stylist, I emphasize that my students use mostly lead kicks in their training and aim for vulnerable targets, such as the inner and outer thigh, knee, groin, solar plexus and kidneys. My reasoning is this:
The lead is closest to the opponentIt’s faster than the rear legThere is less telegraphing, which means there is less time for the opponent to defendThere is less body leaning (at least there should be)It’s easier to follow the kick with punches
There is nothing exotic about the following exercise; you probably do lots of lead-leg kicking now. I’m suggesting, however, that you practice the kicks with a mindset that you are in competition or in a street self-defense situation, and it’s imperative that you launch your kicks with speed and accuracy. Concentrate on each kick to bring out your best. Such as:
• Concentrate on throwing it without preparatory movement
• Concentrate on launching it as quick as a wink
• Concentrate on where you want to hit (use a manikin-type bag, or if you have a heavy bag, put pieces of tape on it to represent targets)
• Think about what you would do as a follow-up
To reiterate, don’t just mindlessly throw out these lead-leg kicks. Think about each rep so that the reason behind it is imprinted in your mind.
Front kick - 2 sets, 10 reps —each side
Side kick - 2 sets, 10 reps — each side
Roundhouse kick - 2 sets, 10 reps — each side
Back kick - 2 sets, 10 reps — each side
Your favorite kick(s) other than the basic four: 2 sets, 10 reps — each side
ONE LEGGED NONSTOP KICKS
To do this exercise, lift your right leg and throw every kick in your arsenal for 60 seconds before you return your foot to the floor. Then lift your left leg and do every kick you know for 60 seconds. Continue alternating your legs for as long as you can without spewing up your last meal.
This is a tough one that works your cardiovascular system, the muscles of your legs, hips and your balance. A valuable side benefit is that you become acutely aware of the necessary body mechanics of each kick. When you do a front kick rep, followed by a hook kick, followed by a back kick, all with the same leg, you develop a greater understanding of your support foot placement and all the necessary body turning, twisting and leaning needed to perform each kick.
Perform each rep with power, speed and snap, striving for fast retractions and fast body shifts that position you for the next kick. As you get tired, strive to keep your form perfect. Fatigue is not an excuse to throw out sloppy kicks. Aim for perfection no matter how drained your energy.
3 sets, 60 seconds per leg, 30-60 kicks per minute (both legs counts as 1 set)
I call this “The last leg exercise” because after you have completed it, it’s the last thing you do that day. I stole it from something I read on Ultimate Fighting Champion Ken Shamrock, who uses this to develop leg strength and overall endurance. You can do it for that, too, or you can do it when you really want to trash the ol’ gams. It’s tough, but if done regularly, your legs and your discipline will be ironclad. Here is how it’s done.
Deep, body-weight squats: 1 set, 500 reps
No, that is not a typo, you really do 500 squats. Although, Shamrock may do one giant set of them, arguably that is not as productive as breaking them into sets with a 15-30 second rest in between. No matter how you break it up, 500 reps makes for a tough workout, so you shouldn’t do it more than once every two or three weeks.
You can be like Shamrock and do all of them at once, or you can split them, such as:
5 sets, 100 reps
10 sets, 50 reps
25 sets, 20 reps
50 sets, 10 reps
When Shamrock finishes his 500, he drops to the floor and burns out as many crunches as he can. He then finishes his workout by rolling over and doing three sets of push-ups, each set to failure. What an animal!
If you can’t chamber your kicks quickly and effortlessly, your kicks will never reach their full potential. The muscles that chamber your legs get lots of work anytime you practice kicking drills, reps, kata, and sparring, but they benefit even more when you do specific exercises that develop their strength, speed and flexibility. Greater strength means less effort to lift your legs into a chamber, which facilitates the speed of the action. Faster chambering means less setup time for your kick, which ultimately leads to faster delivery of your foot to the target. The more flexible you are, the higher you can chamber and therefore the higher your kick. This is important for high kickers, but flexibility is also important for fighters who favor kicking to low targets, since flexible muscles help enable you to kick with greater speed. Interesting how it all blends together, isn’t it? Let’s look at some exercises that improve all three areas.
Building Strength in the Chamber
The following exercises build strength in your hips so you can chamber your leg with speed and kick with power.
Front kick chamber with kick You may do this exercise holding onto a support, though your eventual goal is to do it unsupported. Chamber your right leg as high as you are able and then use your hand to lift it even higher. Hold for 10 seconds. Remove your hands and execute a medium speed front kick as high as you can. Return to the chamber and repeat the entire procedure.
1 set, 10 reps — each leg
Front kick chamber and hold Chamber your front kick as before and use your hand to lift it even higher. This time, hold it for 30 seconds and then lower your foot to the ground without kicking. Do 10 reps, but use your hip and leg muscles on the last three to keep your chamber as high as possible with just a minimum of help from your hands.
1 set, 10 reps — each leg
Building Speed in your Chamber
Before we look at the exercises, allow me to make a little announcement here. If you are less than 30 years of age, you probably won’t believe what I’m going to say, but if you are over 30, you understand exactly what I’m saying. Here is my announcement: Your joints—shoulders, elbows, hips and knees—are not going to tolerate your snapping them in the air and slamming heavy bags forever. While there are some people who can get away with it for several years without a problem, there are others who cannot.
Which one are you? You don’t know, and that is the problem. If you go 30 years before your joints start to rebel, you know then that you are one of the lucky ones, but if you train for only four years before you start having problems or have irreparable damage, you are not so lucky. Since you have no way of knowing which category you are in, does it not make sense to baby them from the get go?
But how can you take it easy when proficiency in the martial arts requires lots and lots of repetitions in the air and on the bag? The solution is simple: Don’t do all your reps at maximum speed and power. I understand that is a concept that is hard to accept for fighters who think that every rep must be slammed out as if they are fighting for their lives. If you are one of these people, you have to change your way of thinking if you want to enjoy the fighting arts for many years.
I’m continuously searching for exercises that develop technique, power and speed but do not require pounding out bone-wearing reps. The good news is that there are plenty of them out there; the bad news is that I didn’t discover them until about 10 years ago. But better late than never. I’m convinced that I’m still training because I made the switch in my thinking. I encourage you to also explore exercises and drills that are easy on your joints.
Here are eight exercises that are easy on your hip bones, but still develop the muscles necessary for a fast chamber. They are not easy, so grit your teeth and, as they say in those hanging-fern restaurants—enjoy.
Front knee chamber Up against the wall! Although I uttered those four words a few hundred times during my police career, this time I’m saying them to get you in position to work on developing fast chambers. If you haven’t got a wall, which is a little hard to imagine, use the back of a kitchen chair. This is an easy-on-your joints exercise that develops flexibility and speed in the chambering portion of your front kick, and any other kick that begins similarly. It also gets you huffing and puffing, which makes for an excellent aerobic workout. If you lift weights, consider doing these between sets to keep your heart rate elevated.
Place your palms on a wall at about shoulder height and position your feet side-by-side about two feet back. Incline your body about 45 degrees toward the wall and then raise your left knee as high as you are able. Set it down and immediately raise your right one as high as you can. Think of striking yourself in the chest with your knees as you alternate as fast and as high as you can.
3 sets, 25-50 reps — each knee
Roundhouse chamber Support yourself on a wall or chair with one hand and lean slightly to the side as you do when executing your roundhouse kick. Turn your stationary foot away from the direction you are kicking and keep it in that position as you snap up your roundhouse chamber and then lower it. Keep your stationary foot turned as you repetitiously snap your chamber up and down. You can either touch your foot to the floor each time or stop it an inch short. Push yourself to go faster and faster.
3 sets, 20 reps — each leg
Side kick chamber Use the same format you used with the roundhouse chamber. The difference is that you lift your knee closer to your midsection (if your style chambers it differently, do this exercise anyway; it’s good for you), and position the bottom or the edge of your foot toward the imaginary target. Do it for speed.
3 sets of 20 reps — each leg
Double side kick chamber How you return your side kick is very important. When you return your kick on the same path as it went out on, you unconsciously kick correctly out to the target. A common error beginners make, however, is to launch their side kick out and then return it by snapping their heel back toward their rear, as if they had just thrown a roundhouse kick After a few of these, their side kick begins going out to the target more like a roundhouse. To correct this, they need to stress returning the side kick on the same path it went out on.
I got this simple exercise from a taekwondo friend, and I’ve used it for years because it not only develops speed, but it ensures that the retraction is done properly. Chamber your leg as you normally do when side kicking, launch the kick and then retract your leg all the way back into the same tight chamber you used to launch it. You get two chambers per kick, which arguably develops your side kick twice as fast.
3 sets, 10 reps — each leg
Note: While the double side kick chamber is a good exercise and learning device, the extra time it takes to tightly chamber your leg after you have kicked might get you scored on in competition or hurt when defending yourself against a skilled fighter. Therefore, consider this only as an exercise. When applying the side kick in a tournament or the street, bring your leg back about 12 inches and then quickly set it down and continue hitting.
