Help with Machine gun kicks

[Samurai Shotokan]

Hey all do any of you have tips for machine gun kicking? Im not bad ar kicking but my knees slow me down so is there any training drills i can do to help?

Note: My heavy bag is down temporary so i cant use drills with that just yet

[Aodhan]

Hey all do any of you have tips for machine gun kicking? Im not bad ar kicking but my knees slow me down so is there any training drills i can do to help?

Note: My heavy bag is down temporary so i cant use drills with that just yet

Not sure what you mean by "Machine gun" kicking. Repeat kicks while moving down the floor? Repeat stationary kicks? Repeat kicks where you can touch your leg down between?

I've got some drills, just narrow it down for me a bit

Aodhan

[Samurai Shotokan]

What i mean is rapid kicking like doing a roundhouse then doing a side kick then another roundhouse followed by a cresent kick with the same leg without putting it down

[EternalRage]

Hey Samurai,

You need to be able to hold your chambers for each of those kicks. Try not to lean your upper body too much, and make sure your knee is above your belt. Do this standing, then on the stairs, then standing on like a can on the stairs. This will train your balance.

Then I think you should be able to do those individual kicks and hold it out at full extension without letting it drop below the height you initially kicked at. This requires hip strength - to hold a kick out (like in the movies). You can also do this standing, on stairs, then on like a can on the stairs for balance.

Then start by repeating the same kick on the same leg without dropping your leg. Don't lean too much, and try it out slow first, with 2 reps, then eventually increasing to like 10, 20.

When you start chaining different ones together, you should be aware of where your hips are. If you're doing a roundhouse, it wouldn't make much sense to do a peet chagi. If youre doing an inside out crescent, your hip is outof alignment for a sidekick, but it is fine for a roundhouse.

Then you also have to hit a target, like a standing back, to learn how to compensate for the return force from hitting an object.

Just little tidbits of advice. I'm sure the masters/instructors on here have some good drills to do.

[Aodhan]

Rage is right, the two most important elements for that style of a kick is balance and rechambering. You can snap the kick out incredibly fast, but if your rechamber lags, it will throw off the next kick and ruin the flow.

I like doing progression kicks to help work on rechambering and form. To start, you can do them from a hands and knees position, later you can do them standing with support, then standing no support.

Chamber for a kick (Lets say round), do one kick return to start. Chamber, do two kicks, return to start. Then 3, 4 and so on. Start with up to 10, and work your way up. When you are doing them with support, work on increasing your height (Turning your back foot will help some, as will flexibility drills.)

Aodhan

[Superfoot]

You can also use the Bound-Spring Principle if your kicks drop in height. If performing a high lead hook kick, followed by high lead roundhouse, you can always use the same foot to push of the opponents chest or torso to help develop a springing action to bring your foot up to head height.

Stay on the balls of your feet as well, as the hopping action will also help you move towards a retreating opponent whilst performing multiple kicks.

When throwing the kicks, don't straighten the knees out to full extension either, this will aid retraction of the foot, and thus the setting up another succesful kick.

[EternalRage]

When throwing the kicks, don't straighten the knees out to full extension either, this will aid retraction of the foot, and thus the setting up another succesful kick.

Is this assuming you're not going to hit them, like just faking? because if you dont get full extension, you won't be utilizing full hip and you distance will be a little different b/c your reach will be shortened? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding...

[Superfoot]

When throwing the kicks, don't straighten the knees out to full extension either, this will aid retraction of the foot, and thus the setting up another succesful kick.

Is this assuming you're not going to hit them, like just faking? because if you dont get full extension, you won't be utilizing full hip and you distance will be a little different b/c your reach will be shortened? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding...

OK, well when I said not to fully extend the knees, I meant whilst using kicks like front kicks and round kicks, where a potential miss would place a tremendous amount of shock on the knee joint.

Actually, it can also be for faking. When throwing kick at full extension, if the kick connects, force is transferred to the target, and no shudder (or minimal shudder) occurs at the knee joint (provided extension occurs right on impact). If the kicks hit at full extension, force is transferred, but for the purpose of retraction, I have always found it better to not fully extend the knee when performing multiple kicks with the same leg. I do not mean to keep the knee very bent, just not fully extend it. How bent the knee is kept is up to you.

However, the thread starter said "machine gun" kicks, so I assumed the kicks had to be fired rapidly. In order to perform another kick after you have just delivered one, the foot must be drawn in before launching another kick. By not fully extending the knee, retraction speed is increased by decreasing the arc of travel the foot must undergo, hence increasing the rate at which the following kick can be primed and launched. The greater the retraction distance, the more time needed to retract the leg for a successive kick. Again, as the term "machine gun" was used, I thought the use of a leg that was not fully extended would aid the speed.

I also meant that the hips should fully be extended, just the knee that should not. I am talking from the perspective of utilizing the leading leg from the side stance. However, the stance for delivering the kicks depends on preference, the side stance is mine. Please forgive me if I have missed anything. I have an exam on Monday.

[elila]

I would practice balancing with one kick for awhile like the others said.

When you come to the point where you switch from one kick to another, I would practice it a little differently at first, something that comes a little more naturally.

What i mean is rapid kicking like doing a roundhouse then doing a side kick then another roundhouse followed by a cresent kick with the same leg without putting it down

I'll break down what you said into steps as an example. It might seem a little odd hearing kicks broken into tiny steps, but I believe it's a good way to practice. Sometimes people concentrate so much on getting it done fast or strong, and it just looks sloppy when they try to combine three or four kicks.

round--side--round

After doing a round kick, you have to snap your calf back, pull your knee way back to your chest, kick out for side kick, snap calf back, and then roundkck, then do a crescent moon kick which I 've never heard of (is it similar to a "moon" or "axe" kick?) but I imagine is hard to do after you've done three other kicks.

Practice like this at first and work up to harder stuff:

side--hook--round--round

1. Side Kick- knee straight up and then to chest, kick out.

2. Hook kick- simply snap back calf since the first part (side kick) has been completed.

3. Round Kick- Snap calf forward- easy because it's already in the right position.

4. Repeat three.Then lower leg.

5. Practice other leg, and try more difficult combinations.

Do this standing, then on the stairs, then standing on like a can on the stairs. This will train your balance.

That sounds risky!

Hope what I've said makes sense.

[Samurai Shotokan]

Well i have a problem with balance sometimes when i do a few kicks and rechamber i push myself off balance why??