Legs training

[fallenyuyu]

Hey guys. Right now I am a brown belt in Gojo Ryu karate. Recently I figured out a problem about myself. I have no confidence in using my legs. The most I would do during a sparring match would be couple of front kicks and the rest are fists. Now my question is what is the quickest way of gaining confidence in using legs?

[Bushido58266]

well the best way to gain confidence in my opinion is just do more and more in sparring, dont be afraid to throw them, if you get hit you get hit just keep up ur guard and let em rip. throw roundhouses often. mix the kicks up in combinations, for example throw a jab, cross, roundhouse or cross, jab, cross, front kick. dont be discouraged that u r using a lot of punches they are very effective in sparring, also pratice more and more kicks on heavy bags, kick them hard and fast. do squats also to help build strength in ur legs so they will be faster. mix up ur stricking of the kicks location, kick to the head, body, and legs (alot if you can or if ur even aloud) i dont know to much about ur style goju ryu do they emphasize on kicking?

[bushido_man96]

Just doing it more is good advise. Try to limit yourself in sparring, to work on things that you might not be as good at. Try to find drills to do away from sparring that allows you to develop your kicking, and then take it to sparring with you.

[tallgeese]

Agreed. Get to using them.

Drill heavily with kicking shiled, MT pads, ect. Do some target work live moving with a training parnter at low contact. Then bag work, alot of it.

Now to sparring. Keep doing this, and try to use the kicks. Like bushido man said, try limiting yourself to a set of kicks and use them (while defending of course). We call this limited engagement sparring. Let your opponant know what you're doing so he can limit the contact level and the types of attacks he's throwing. A good parnter wile doing these drills will "feed" you openings for the kicks.

Depeding on the trainees time in, I might make this very obvious, even stop moving a second to get him to hit it. Maybe even verbally coach him into for the first few time. Then progressively make it more difficult.

Then work them in open sparring. Remember, the goal of sparring isn't to "win" a sparring match. It's to train. Getting hit is sparring isn't a bad thing, it's part of learning. So don't worry to much if you're game suffers while you're trying to utilize more kicking. That's part of it as well. Just make sure you're woring your other tools to keep them sharp.

Lastly, be certain that your form is good when drilling. That might be part of the problem (maybe not as well- just covering the bases). Good form will make it mcuh easier to throw kicks (or anything) effectively.

[bushido_man96]

try limiting yourself to a set of kicks and use them (while defending of course). We call this limited engagement sparring. Let your opponant know what you're doing so he can limit the contact level and the types of attacks he's throwing. A good parnter wile doing these drills will "feed" you openings for the kicks.

Depeding on the trainees time in, I might make this very obvious, even stop moving a second to get him to hit it. Maybe even verbally coach him into for the first few time. Then progressively make it more difficult.

Then work them in open sparring. Remember, the goal of sparring isn't to "win" a sparring match. It's to train. Getting hit is sparring isn't a bad thing, it's part of learning. So don't worry to much if you're game suffers while you're trying to utilize more kicking. That's part of it as well. Just make sure you're woring your other tools to keep them sharp.

This is a great idea for training, and I would like to see our school utilize it more in a sparring-focused class, even if it was focused on only TKD sparring. I know it would help me out more, because I don't have a lot of natural ability at picking these openings out all the time. But, we usually only spar at the end of a class, and rarely is it in a more cooperative way like this.

[tallgeese]

Glad you like the concept. Part of the strength of it is that it can be applied across the board, no matter what kind of free fighting you're doing. I use it often for sd focused things as well as mma. It could just as easily be used in a setting specific to TKD sparring.

I use the same concept while rolling with newer people or when I'm working a new skill on the ground. The other half can feed you submission openings to see if you're seeing the entry. Again, he can point it out if you miss it and move on.

You can also use an "out" man for this. We have guys not rolling coach a lot of times, even during a free roll or spar without the limiting factors, just to help people see there openings.

The trick is, unless you're training exclusively to fight in a ring, don't make yourself dependant on it. Probilbly won't have that extra set of eyes on the street. Even so, it's a fantastic training tool and very versitlie.

[Kuma]

My sensei is a big fan of limited technique sparring as it teaches you to utilize techniques you normally wouldn't inside your game plan. You can even break it down even more such as in one of the last sessions I did was sparring with only the lead punch and reverse punch available to you. Not only was this to work more on two important techniques for kumite, but also you could really focus on watching the movement of your opponent and seeing how they telegraph the movement to better enhance your defense.

Another great drill that we picked up from Loren Christensen that can work well with kicks is called "Statue." When sparring, one individual will be designated A and the other will be designated B. A and B begin sparring, then a third individual will yell "A, freeze!" whereas A has to stop directly in their tracks right where they're at. B then has to the count of 5 to strike any opening that he sees with a kick. You can then alternate and as you get better they can reduce it to a 3 count or even a 1 count.

[bushido_man96]

That's a good drill. Learning to see the openings, and decreasing the time alotted for reaction. Nice. I have always liked Christensen's drills.

[Kuma]

As have I. Still a ways to go before I can instruct any kind of class, but that one will definitely be included in my curriculum. I have the majority of his books and each one is fantastic.

[white owl]

My sensei is a big fan of limited technique sparring as it teaches you to utilize techniques you normally wouldn't inside your game plan. You can even break it down even more such as in one of the last sessions I did was sparring with only the lead punch and reverse punch available to you. Not only was this to work more on two important techniques for kumite, but also you could really focus on watching the movement of your opponent and seeing how they telegraph the movement to better enhance your defense.

Another great drill that we picked up from Loren Christensen that can work well with kicks is called "Statue." When sparring, one individual will be designated A and the other will be designated B. A and B begin sparring, then a third individual will yell "A, freeze!" whereas A has to stop directly in their tracks right where they're at. B then has to the count of 5 to strike any opening that he sees with a kick. You can then alternate and as you get better they can reduce it to a 3 count or even a 1 count.

What a cool drill.