high kicks

[Daze]

Hi,

I started TKD as I am a 1st dan black belt in karate and still can't kick very high, and I know TKD is a good martial art for high kicks.

But I don't seem to be getting any better and my instructor can't kick very high either, and says it's not import how high you can kick it's more about style and power (which is probably true).

I have bought a very good book about stretching but it says in there that even if you can do the splits you still may could not be able to kick high, also there is a guy at our club who's not very flexible at all (he is miles off doing the side splits, he can't touch his feet with his legs straight) but he can kick higher than anyone else I know from cold..

please advise how I can get my kicks higher.. (don't tell me I can't, I'll cry)

Cheers

Daz

[CTTKDKing]

Your instructor is right about the power and technique stuff, but if you want height, you have to stretch. I don't mean doing splits on the floor either. You should start with an axe kick, simply because in my opinion it's the easiest kick to get height on. After a work out (because that's when your muscles are still hot, and most pliable) just keep doing the kick over and over. Start low at a very comfortable level, and each time you do the kick push it higher and higher till it's a strain. After a few weeks of doing this you should see some gains.

Another trick we use in my school to gain some height, is have some one kneel in front of you. Put your leg in a side kick position over their sholder with your back sholder against a wall. Have them slowly (very slowly) lift up on On your leg untill it begins to hurt. Tell them to stop, but to hold it there for 10 seconds. then do the other side. You'll see results in kicking height go up in a few weeks. Just gradually increase the height each time you do it.

[Daze]

thanks.

my axe kick is quite high, it my side kick I want to improve on, so I will give it a try..

Cheers

[danbong]

Besides flexibility, muscle strength plays a part, especially with side kicks. So besides the partner stretching mentioned by CTTKing (an excellent excerise by the way, we did that one in my hapkido school) try to do side leg lifts and also slow motion side kicks while supporting yourself with a chair or against the wall. Focus on good form and hold it out for a bit at full extension.

[Mike Flanagan]

You may also have a physical limitation imposed by the shape of your bones. For side kick in particular, everyone has a limitation imposed by the meeting of the head of the femur and the side of the pelvis. Admittedly, most people are restricted by soft tissue so they never get near this skeletal limit. So I doubt that's actually holding you back.

The key to stretching is little and often. Personally I'm not into ballistic stretching methods. If I wanted to get better flexibility I'd take a leaf out of the book of the most flexible people I know - people who do yoga. They tend to do daily, slow, relaxed stretches rather than all this ballistic stuff or gung-ho partner assisted stretching.

Although personally I've got to say that kicking thigh height is quite sufficient for my needs.

Mike

[tufrthanu]

Here is a tip I got from the highest ranked Ji Do Kwan TKD guy in the US. He said remember that front kicks require flexibility in the kicking leg. Side kicks require flexibility in the base leg. To see proof of this try doing some easy rising front kicks, then do rising side kicks.

[bushido_man96]

Besides flexibility, muscle strength plays a part, especially with side kicks. So besides the partner stretching mentioned by CTTKing (an excellent excerise by the way, we did that one in my hapkido school) try to do side leg lifts and also slow motion side kicks while supporting yourself with a chair or against the wall. Focus on good form and hold it out for a bit at full extension.

This is some good advise. Slow kicking, combined with the flexibility training are the two things that will improve your overall kicking ability. Whenever you do some kicks in forms or on your own, try to lock them out, and hold the leg out for a second or two. This will help to build the strength as well.

[bushido_man96]

Here is a tip I got from the highest ranked Ji Do Kwan TKD guy in the US. He said remember that front kicks require flexibility in the kicking leg. Side kicks require flexibility in the base leg. To see proof of this try doing some easy rising front kicks, then do rising side kicks.

This is an interesting note. I did not realize this, but it does make sense.

[Zorbasan]

high kicking is about flexability. the key is to streach. and when you have streached enough, streach some more.

it will come eventually. i dont think its anything to worry about

[Daze]

thanks all