Is this roundhouse kick acceptable enough for grading?

[Prototype]

Prototype, whilst its great you want to improve and are coming to KF for guidance, have you asked your instructor? They might be able to provide more specific advice about what they want to see from you.

I will drop Taekwondo and stick to Boxing. I have more natural ability in that. My progress in TKD pretty much stagnated.

[OneKickWonder]

Prototype, whilst its great you want to improve and are coming to KF for guidance, have you asked your instructor? They might be able to provide more specific advice about what they want to see from you.

I will drop Taekwondo and stick to Boxing. I have more natural ability in that. My progress in TKD pretty much stagnated.

Progress only stagnates when either, you give up, or you believe you know better than everyone that can offer you guidance.

It is of course your decision. Nothing to do with anyone else. But it's something to think about.

I know from other posts that you have doubts about your instructor. That's fair enough. But is that a reason to give up taekwondo after you've invested so much time in it? Only you can answer that. From the videos you've posted up, it looks like you're doing OK. Maybe when you get some criticism of it, perhaps it doesn't feel like that, but in my experience, most genuine martial artists only give criticism to help someone further improve.

[Prototype]

Prototype, whilst its great you want to improve and are coming to KF for guidance, have you asked your instructor? They might be able to provide more specific advice about what they want to see from you.

I will drop Taekwondo and stick to Boxing. I have more natural ability in that. My progress in TKD pretty much stagnated.

Progress only stagnates when either, you give up, or you believe you know better than everyone that can offer you guidance.

It is of course your decision. Nothing to do with anyone else. But it's something to think about.

I know from other posts that you have doubts about your instructor. That's fair enough. But is that a reason to give up taekwondo after you've invested so much time in it? Only you can answer that. From the videos you've posted up, it looks like you're doing OK. Maybe when you get some criticism of it, perhaps it doesn't feel like that, but in my experience, most genuine martial artists only give criticism to help someone further improve.

You asked if I bounce of the mitts throwing those side kicks, the answer to that is yes. I have done this for 4 years. I don't have the flexibility to kick properly and use my hip like I'm supposed to.

[OneKickWonder]

Prototype, whilst its great you want to improve and are coming to KF for guidance, have you asked your instructor? They might be able to provide more specific advice about what they want to see from you.

I will drop Taekwondo and stick to Boxing. I have more natural ability in that. My progress in TKD pretty much stagnated.

Progress only stagnates when either, you give up, or you believe you know better than everyone that can offer you guidance.

It is of course your decision. Nothing to do with anyone else. But it's something to think about.

I know from other posts that you have doubts about your instructor. That's fair enough. But is that a reason to give up taekwondo after you've invested so much time in it? Only you can answer that. From the videos you've posted up, it looks like you're doing OK. Maybe when you get some criticism of it, perhaps it doesn't feel like that, but in my experience, most genuine martial artists only give criticism to help someone further improve.

You asked if I bounce of the mitts throwing those side kicks, the answer to that is yes. I have done this for 4 years. I don't have the flexibility to kick properly and use my hip like I'm supposed to.

But have you bounced off pads for 4 years?

Often we practice kicks more against thin air than against a physical target. There is great value in kicking thin air, but only if it's backed by practice against resistance. Lots of schools overlook the latter too much. If that's the case with your school, then it's understandable that a few times, you'll bounce off.

I remember when I first got the hang of spinning back kick. I thought I was awesome. I could fire out those spinning back kicks with speed and precision every time. Awesome. Until the first time the kick shield came out. Guess what happened. Yup. I bounced off. The guy holding the kick shield told me honestly, he felt very little impact. Yet still I'd bounced off. Why? I wasn't throwing my weight into the kick. Many practice sessions later, I'm practically kicking the pad holder over.

It's just a matter of practice. Practice and analysis. It wasn't perfect. Why not? What can improve?

None of this means that you as a martial artist are having any problems beyond anyone else's. It just means there's always improvement to be made. Don't be put off.

And with regard to hip flexibility. I saw the videos you posted. You are more flexible than many. If you're having issues with it, I suspect it will all come down to subtle adjustments. When I was a young man, I could cross my legs behind my head. I used to do it sometimes to show off. Yet I couldn't get a roundhouse kick or side kick much higher than my own waist. It was years and years before I realised I wasn't quite getting my various joints into the right angles when kicking. I worked on this, and within a week I was kicking to about my shoulder height, and within about a month it was head height. That's too short a time for significant changes in flexibility. So it could only be that by making subtle adjustments I'd maximised the available range of motion.

[singularity6]

Does someone in your class have a nice, solid kick? Work with them for a while (in person.) I am one of the least flexible in my class, but my classmates and instructors all say they feel it when I kick the shields.