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making kicks faster and stronger at the same time


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Especially in TKD, speed is the primary thing that makes kicks more lethal. Personally, I suggest that you work on your speed and technique before working on power. Power will only be gained by more speed, improved balance, and larger mass of muscles. Work on speed, and then try a little weight lifting if you can. Force = mass X acceleration.

 

Don't forget to do lots of heavy bagwork. Kicks in the air are primarily helpful for learning combos and improving the extension techniques within your kicks. Standing bags teach you different things than swinging bags, so do both if you can.

 

Also, there are two primary kinds of kicks with reguards to the heavy bag: pushing and striking. Pushing kicks have little or no penetration power, but they move the guy back. Stiking kicks are the ones that break bones (ideally). Both have their place, but in TKD, you should probably be focusing more on the speedy snap of your kick. Strike the kick with the aim of causing it to cave-in, not heave it through the wall of the gym.

 

Oh, by the way, stances in your hyung (kata for Karate) or drills that involve stances should be emphasized more. Believe it or not, to work on your kicking form better, it is benificial to have nice, deep, low stances that cause your leg muscles to cramp up (no pain, no gain). Their gaining flexibility, and endurance will be a good asset. Even if your kata or hyung doesn't have any kicks in it, you could still be helping them nonetheless.

"An enlightened man would offer a weary traveler a bed for the night, and invite him to share a civilized conversation over a bowl of... Cocoa Puffs."

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knee raises

 

standing from choonbee jaseh quickly raise your knee to your chest and bring it back down (without touching the ground) try these in sets of 20.

 

isometrics kicks

 

basically, doing the kick in slow motion. once you reach full extension, hold it out for a few seconds, then retract and set it back down.

 

machine gun kicks

 

with your knee already cocked up, do about 10 kicks with the same foot without setting it down. i like to do this with round house kick. you can do them all to the same level, or low, mid, and high.

 

squats

 

squats build explosive power.

 

wall sit

 

a good finisher. basically put your back against the wall and "sit" in your imaginary chair. hold as long as you can.

I'm no longer posting here. Adios.

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One word on isometric kicks (very good, by the way): after doing those for a while, learn to throw the kick as fast and hard as you can and then hold it for a few seconds or longer (more challenging on your balance and form). And yes, the other specifics tommaker mentioned will help as well.

"An enlightened man would offer a weary traveler a bed for the night, and invite him to share a civilized conversation over a bowl of... Cocoa Puffs."

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Quicker kicks:

 

1. Practice sprints. This will get your legs used to moving quickly and explosively. Also good for anaerobic stamina.

 

2. Focus pads to quicken reaction time. Have someone hold focus pads and try using as many of one technique as possible in a given time-say 30 seconds. Stay away from single-leg machine gun kicks without setting the leg down. Absolutely useless. Try them if you don't believe me. Focus pads are what many WTF competitors, who depend on speed kicking, use to quicken reaction time.

 

Power kicking:

 

1. First, strengthen the leg muscles. This can accomplished several ways:

 

A. Utilize a weight lifting program to target the quads, hamstrings, and calves. You must have strong leg muscles to develop the ingredients necessary for power.

 

B. Execute and hold Front-Back-Horseback stances for as long as you can. This sounds easy. It will not be.

 

2. Get your muscles used to isometric kicking. By this I mean practice kicking, especially the three basic kicks, and forcing every muscle in your body to lock as you do the kick. Strong kicking requires your whole body, not just legs. If you lock your whole body, you will eventually learn to transmit all your energy into your technique. I do not like snap kicks.

 

3. After you have become proficient at the above, and not before, work on bag kicking. Your body needs the resistance training. Start slow. Hit the bag, aiming for the other side. Allow your foot and leg to pivot all the way around, otherwise only part of your energy is being transmitted. if you start bag training too early, before your body has learned to kick correctly, you will injure yourself.

 

Good luck.

My opinion-Welcome to it.

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Dear Sir,

 

All ideas listed are great for building speed and strength. One addition should be made to any training for the purpose of strength and speed...stretching!

 

The muscle you develope through isometric excercise is great, however the muscle needs to be flexible and elastic to allow the most freedom of motion and speed!

 

A good stretch, a hard work out, and a good cool down!

 

Also, were as you may need to give your legs a day off after a hard workout, the stretching can be done everyday!

 

TAEKWON!

 

Spookey

Do not defend against an attacker, but rather become the attacker...Destroy the enemy!

TAEKWON!

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There are 3 ways to improve speed in leg techniques.

 

1. Stretching.

 

2. Repetition (thousands of kicks)

 

3. Be relaxed.

 

For stretching, we don't kick higher than the belly button, usually lower, but you don't want tight muscles when you kick because they will resrict the speed through tension, especailly at the end of the kick.

 

Pepetition is vital, as the muscles and your mind need to be used to the movement of the kick. same applies to all movements of any actuivity you do.

 

Relaxed and prepared are also vital, as tense muscles move slower because then have to un-tense first before they will move.

My nightly prayer..."Please, just let me win that PowerBall Jackpot just once. I'll prove to you that it won't change me!"

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Very good points.

 

I forgot about stretching (Doh!). It is impossible to produce very fast explosive kicking without the muscle elasticity that stretching provides. The more elastic and warmed up your legs are, the faster the kicking potential.

 

Don't forget about pre-stretching warmups to increase blood suply to the legs. Very important.

My opinion-Welcome to it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

do the kicks over and over again

 

after that add weights onto your ankles and do the kicks over and over again

 

after that add more weight onto your ankles and do the kicks over and over again

 

stretch

 

lift weights

 

run

 

that's about it

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do the kicks over and over again

 

after that add weights onto your ankles and do the kicks over and over again

 

after that add more weight onto your ankles and do the kicks over and over again

 

stretch

 

lift weights

 

run

 

that's about it

 

I wouldn't recommend the leg weights myself. Added weights make your legs harder to stop the kick before they reach full extension, and could cause you to tear ligaments or muscles in your joints and legs, possibly causing permanent injury.

My nightly prayer..."Please, just let me win that PowerBall Jackpot just once. I'll prove to you that it won't change me!"

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