Let's talk about Balance!

[orion82698]

How long did it take before you started to notice you were able to keep that foot up, without jumping around?

What it take to get your there?

Here is what I do, to work on my balance.

Hold onto a chair, and position myself as if I just kicked. Then, I release the chair, and hold for as long as I can.

Another thing I do, it bring my knee as close to me as I can while standing, and try not to jump around.

What are some of your practices?

[younwhagrl]

Well I think it took me wow..i dun remember but I knew when I first started i had no balance at all..i think i started noticing it at around green or blue belt

well i guess i learned balance the fun way...we play a game in class where you have to balance on one foot and and throw a ball around to people and say the training principles

also what i do is a pull my knee up as high it will go and see how long i can hold it..then i switch feet...

then i get in all my kick positions and hold them... w/o using a wall or a chair..at first when i started doing kicks in balancing we used the wall now our instructor said we cant use anything not even to set up the kick position

and a side note on the kick positions..w/o letting my foot touch the ground for more challenge i turn my kicks in different directions...

and after i have all of the above in position i close my eyes which makes it more challenging, and see how long i can hold it before hoping around...we usually have contests in class who can stay balanced the longest

balance is really important!

[karatekid1975]

I cheated. I used a chair or a wall LOL. I was pretty good at it till I hurt my hip and I had to start from scratch I still have a "bum" hip, but I'm working at it on my left side because I have to balance on my bad hip (right leg/hip) to kick with my left

[vertigo]

I have no idea how I got the balance I do now I just kept training, and I noticed after a few months of that that I could simply stand on one leg/kick without any problems or falling over.. I guess I just picked it up as I went along.

The chair idea sounds pretty good... or pretty much use anything that you could catch when/if you lose your balance and fall over

[Kicker Chick]

We do drills where you execute a right-leg kick (e.g. front kick), and then without putting your kicking foot down, you turn 90 degrees to the left and kick, turn 90 degrees to the left and kick, turn 90 degrees to the left and kick, turn 90 degrees to the left (this is your starting position) and execute one final kick. So basically you're turning counter-clockwise and kicking at the 5 times without putting your kicking foot down.

Repeat this 5 - 10x, then switch to left-leg kick and do the same drill, but this time turning to your right (clockwise).

Another drill we is to line up at the far end of the mat, and each student has to perform the prescribed kick (e.g. side-kick) the full-length of the mat without putting your kicking foot down. So, you kick and then hop on one leg about 2 feet, kick again, hop, kick, etc. To make this more difficult, we do this drill around the full perimeter of the mat. The object is to keep your kicking foot off the mat at all times. At the instructor's discretion, he may make a more advanced student who puts his foot down do push-ups or sit-ups.

[orion82698]

Didn't think of that, but a nice way to practice balance!

[taekwondomom]

I'm a dancer besides doing TKD. My ballet instructor reminds us all the time that you need core strength for balance. So do those crunches and ab strengthening exercises!

Also, from ballet, I know that spotting helps (looking ahead at your target). This is especially helpful during a turn.

Finally, it helps to have your body aligned. Hips over knees over feet. Shoulders aligned over hips. I'm not always good at this in TKD because we're not always in a completely upright position, like in ballet. I think it's a matter of practice.

I think those drills that have been mentioned are a good idea. Just getting the feel for being on one leg, how you have to compensate for not standing on two legs--all that strengthens your core muscles and helps balance.

[orion82698]

Yeah, I practice/stretch with my Wife. She used to dance, and is very flexable and has tones of balance. I sometimes get jealous

I have asked her to try MA, but she doesn't have the time with school, and laughs at the though of yelling when punching.

I'll get her into it