Superb kicking power

[Virgil Damian]

I want to improve the power of my kicks greatly. What exercises/ stretches should I do to improve my leg power?

[kamahlthedruid]

Bruce Lee said kicking heavy bags will build bulky muscles that will slow you down. I suggests kicking the air with combination kicks to build small muscles for faster kicks.

[bushido_man96]

Bruce Lee used to kick the heavy bags, and I don't recall him claiming that. Bruce Lee was a big time weight lifter, too, so he wasn't afraid of building muscle.

Building power and speed through plyometrics will help. Running sprints in sets will help with speed. You can do these twice a week, but I think I would do the plyos one week and the sprints another.

[wolverine uskf]

Squats, lunges, and calf presses without weights is what i did, and it definately builds power.

[isshinryu5toforever]

Kicking the air doesn't do a lot for power. You really do that to get the correct motion down, so you can transfer power into a target without hurting yourself. A heavy bag is a great tool to use for more power.

Squats, dead lifts, and Olympic power lifts like clean and jerk and the snatch will help build power as well. If you decide to do weights though, you need to have a solid cardio plan or you'll gain unwanted weight.

Also check out this video from Bas Rutten on kicking form:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5iTWCwlZyM

He's well known for his powerful striking.

[Kuma]

Bruce Lee said kicking heavy bags will build bulky muscles that will slow you down. I suggests kicking the air with combination kicks to build small muscles for faster kicks.

You can't increase power without actually hitting something. Striking is about penetration, and if you don't have anything to penetrate you can't develop power. This is very poor advice.

[tonydee]

I want to improve the power of my kicks greatly. What exercises/ stretches should I do to improve my leg power?

It's very hard to know without seeing your current ability. One crucial aspect of power is focus, and getting good focus on a moving target is best developed through kicking moving targets at a variety of angles and heights. Partner exercises with mitts or those sports taekwondo targets with the clapper bit at the top and the long handles - quite useful.

It's also important to understand that power is delivered to a target over time... it's a curve. You might increase the total area under that curve (i.e. the total energy transferred) but decrease the peak momentary rate of transfer (the maximum height of the graph). This corresponds to more of a push, where-as peak power is important for shattering strong but fragile targets, and IMO more important for self defense. Therefore, if you do heavy bag work make sure you're focused on good technique, timing, and increasing the overall amount of energy transferred into the target while decreasing the transfer time. This will produce more of a chain-rattling bang with the bag snapping taught and perhaps jumping up and down a bit, rather than swinging smoothly away from the technique. That's good. Focus on increasing that to make sure you're getting the muscles used to the proper intensity you need for fighting.

In terms of muscle development, plyometrics are a great way to go. I've found "burpees" quite effective. This is a terrible demonstration of it - but just in case you don't know what they are, check the "alternative" form presented second in this video: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Perform-Burpees-Exercise-121354519. When I do them, I kick back the legs and fall straight into the pushup ensuring I keep the body very straight so the arms are actually getting the full sudden shock of body weight, and try to do that smoothly as I descend from the jump. Push up explosively so you raise and tuck the legs in in one motion, preparing to jump.

While not enough by itself, kicking in the air is useful to get the body used to full unopposed speed, and habituate the muscles to locking out and through a target. Consciously contrasting your technique while hitting targets with that in the air can give you insight into how much you're holding back either total power or snap - due to uncertainty about safely coping with the reaction forces from the target, or simply not trusting yourself to make clean contact with the right striking tool... sometimes useful feedback to push yourself on to harder efforts.

Do be careful though... there's more potential for injury with some kicks than others... e.g. turning/roundhouse kick's pretty safe, but a spinning back kick where the ball of the foot hits the bag but not the "footsword" or heel can put a lot of stress on the ankle.

(Of course the most important factor for power is still technique.)

[wolverine uskf]

Something else you could try is, do a squat then come up and kick. Kick with one side then go back down and come up and kick with the other side. You could even throw in a bag or other target to kick while you do this.

[bushido_man96]

Something else you could try is, do a squat then come up and kick. Kick with one side then go back down and come up and kick with the other side. You could even throw in a bag or other target to kick while you do this.

Nice idea.

Richard, thanks for the video. Very insightful.

[isshinryu5toforever]

You're welcome. I'm glad stuff like that is popping up on youtube. I had watched some of Bas Rutten's stuff a long time ago, and it definitely helped me with power production. He has a great way of explaining why things work, and he has the ring experience to prove that it does. His liver shots are pretty devastating, and never by accident.