Stretching/ kicking question

[cmmder_cool]

When i kick with my left leg (i am right handed) it hurts near my hip/lower back, and I can barley kick Chudan level with out some kind of pain. With my right leg i can kick Jodan with out any problems. Is there any streching or anything i can do to loosen my left hip up so i can kick higher and with more power?

Thank you

[mal103]

I would be tempted to consult a Doctor or physio type, especially if you feel pain.

Look for general exercises but make sure you do all of them equally left/right, there could be plenty of reasons like trapped nerves etc but we aint doctors!

There are plenty of exercises, if I were to try and give advise then I would say to train in cardio and strengthening exercises first to see if there is an imbalance of muscles, but leave stretching until later and only on fully warm muscles.

[DWx]

What kind of pain? Joint or muscle? Sharp or dull? I would definitely follow mal103's advice first and get checked out by a doctor to see if there are any underlying issues first.

Having said that, it is natural people tend to favour one leg over the other - usually the leg that corresponds to which hand they use. Because of that they use that leg more and it becomes a lot easier to kick with. Concentrate on stretching left and right equally but also pay particular attention to how you are kicking with your left. You probably don't have to think much about your right but any awkwardness in your left will cause you problems. Even if you kick slower and lower with your left focus on correct rotation of your hips and standing leg as that is something that often causes people problems. And don't try to kick too high with the left until you've 100% got that technique down.

[brickshooter]

When i kick with my left leg (i am right handed) it hurts near my hip/lower back, and I can barley kick Chudan level with out some kind of pain. With my right leg i can kick Jodan with out any problems. Is there any streching or anything i can do to loosen my left hip up so i can kick higher and with more power?

Thank you

Sure you're doing the kick correctly? Often we think we're doing it right. But our techniques can be pretty awkward performed with our weak side.

In other words, have your instructors watch and get their inputs to see if you're not doing something weird that you can't see it.