Advice for Jumping Kicks?

[singularity6]

Starting Tae Kwon Do in my mid-30's has proved to be a very interesting decision. I remember jumping all over the place when I was a kid, not having too much fear about landing weird or anything. Now I find a lot of apprehension when trying to do many of our jumping kicks in class. I'm okay with the front jump snap kicks (my right side is significantly better than my left, though.) I'm struggling to get my foot off the ground when it comes to our jumping side kicks, jumping reverse side kicks, and our tornado kicks.

My rate of improvement with these techniques seems to be much slower than my other kicks. Anyone overcome this barrier?

[DWx]

It will be slower and it will be harder the older you get. It is possible to improve but will take hard work.

Two things that will help will be building muscle and plyometric strength, and developing technique. If you think about it jumping techniques are all about explosive force and the more you can explode upwards, the more time you will have to form the kick and recover. Building strength will also protect your ankles and knees on landing and prevent injury.

The best way I have found to train the explosive power is to superset heavy leg exercises with explosive movements. So I would run through the following type of session:

warm up with jump rope

sets of barbell squat followed by box jumps

sets of deadlifts followed by depth jumps

sets of Bulgarian split squats followed by lunge jumps

sets of weighted calf raises followed by tuck jumps

jumping over hurdles

etc.

[singularity6]

I'll give those a shot, thanks!

[bushido_man96]

I have the same issue, as I've gotten older, its harder to do jump kicks. My knees hurt too much.

What I do is that I just don't jump as high as I used to. With some kicks, like the jumping front snap kick, this is ok, but with others, like the flying side kick in Choong Moo hyung, it suffers a lot.

If it were me, I'd do squats with weights twice a week, and maybe a box jumping workout once a week. Make sure to give your body time to recover, as jumping workouts are very taxing on the neuromuscular system.

[singularity6]

Yeah, I might be working toward a torn meniscus, too. I've been getting a burning pain inside my left knee from time to time. Sometimes it's only when I "do something stupid." Other times it'll be bothering me even when I kneel to tie my shoe.

[Alan Armstrong]

Yeah, I might be working toward a torn meniscus, too. I've been getting a burning pain inside my left knee from time to time. Sometimes it's only when I "do something stupid." Other times it'll be bothering me even when I kneel to tie my shoe.

You certainly have set the bar high for yourself singularity6 congrats for that

A few suggestions:

Practice your kicks in a swimming pool.

Practice your kicks on a sandy beach.

Pick up a very small trampoline to bounce on.

Practice hoping on one foot and one foot squats.

Reduce your weight if you have any to give up.

Practice your kicks with someone that can do what you want to do!

[singularity6]

Yeah, I might be working toward a torn meniscus, too. I've been getting a burning pain inside my left knee from time to time. Sometimes it's only when I "do something stupid." Other times it'll be bothering me even when I kneel to tie my shoe.

You certainly have set the bar high for yourself singularity6 congrats for that

A few suggestions:

Practice your kicks in a swimming pool.

Practice your kicks on a sandy beach.

Pick up a very small trampoline to bounce on.

Practice hoping on one foot and one foot squats.

Reduce your weight if you have any to give up.

Practice your kicks with someone that can do what you want to do!

Thank you, sir!

I've worked on sandy beaches a little this summer, and it's something I'd like to do more often in the future.

One-foot squats certainly would help, but it seems that squats in general aggravate the knee. I suspect there'll be some PT involved in the not-too-distant future.

[sensei8]

It will be slower and it will be harder the older you get. It is possible to improve but will take hard work.

Two things that will help will be building muscle and plyometric strength, and developing technique. If you think about it jumping techniques are all about explosive force and the more you can explode upwards, the more time you will have to form the kick and recover. Building strength will also protect your ankles and knees on landing and prevent injury.

The best way I have found to train the explosive power is to superset heavy leg exercises with explosive movements. So I would run through the following type of session:

warm up with jump rope

sets of barbell squat followed by box jumps

sets of deadlifts followed by depth jumps

sets of Bulgarian split squats followed by lunge jumps

sets of weighted calf raises followed by tuck jumps

jumping over hurdles

etc.

Solid post!!

In my youth during my high school days, I trained in TKD for 1 year, earning a Green Belt under GM Young Ik Suh. What DMx lays out, is pretty much what GM Suh put his students through.

Now, GM Suh's black belts were amazing through and through, and their jumping kicks were breathtaking. GM Suh's flying side kick, was literally astonishing. How so?? With each and every flying side kick, and with only taking 1 step, his head would grace the ceiling tiles above him!! And the power that accompanied it was pure!!

Now, Shindokan doesn't have any kicks above the stomach/waist, and this is for certain, we've no jumping kicks. However, that 1 year, and the continues cross training with many, many TKD GM's has helped me to add many TKD kicks to Shindokan.

Want to beat your enemy?? Then train with your enemy!!

That's why I went to GM Suh in the first place. To learn the kicks of TKD that were beating me in one open tournament after another...I had had enough of eating TKD kicks. And those jumping kicks, and that Axe kick were the bane of my existence. So I learned how to adapt!

After that 1 year with GM Suh, I understood, but still had much to learn, those TKD kicks much more clearer. I didn't come up with my answer to what I was searching to defeat, or at least match, my TKD practitioners, and that was this. Jam them!!

Jamming a TKD kick ends the completion of said attempt. That was Shindokan...being up close and personal...and jamming techniques is a vital part of Shindokan's close range techniques.

But, again, I'd follow closely to what DMx has advised you, and that my advice as an idea, but not as a solution. DMx...that's your solution, imho!!

[Luther unleashed]

I am 40! I have a difficult time with high jump kicks, as they should be taught at first they jump kick can be done with a springing motion in most cases, barely leaving the ground. In the end though this is still a jump kick because what he finds a job is not a certain height or higher. Hey small job is still a job so many of my jump kicks are low to the ground .

My vice if you wish to get higher or even if you don’t is just to focus on a slight elevation in these techniques because many of them are about footwork more than the jump itself.

[Alan Armstrong]

Practice/implement jumping jacks in to your warm up.

Practice your jumping kicks on a hanging bag.

Jump over things.

Jump as high as you can bringing your knees to your chest; be careful not to knee yourself in the chin, as this can happen. Oopppss ouch!