Support foot/ankle stiffness

[Spartacus Maximus]

The are a lot of people who have difficulty turning/twisting their support foot for yoko-geri(side kick) and mawashi geri(roundhouse). 

What are some good exercises to focus on that part of kicking? How much does your style turn? Some will turn only about 45degrees and others almost 90 towards the target. 

[sensei8]

Styles differ in this regard. In Shindokan, our support foot for those two kicks are a full 180 degrees away from said target.

If a 180 degree turn of the supporting foot is required in your style, then inform your CI of your problem because your CI is always your first  go-to-go person.

Other than that, stretch real good. Make sure your balance and posture is consistent. Make sure your heel barely lift up as to turn 180 degrees away from said target.

Practice, practice, practice, and then some, forever!!

Don’t over think about it, just do it. Use a partner or pulley or a chair until your AHA moment arrives, and if you practice correctly, that AGA light will come on.

[Wastelander]

Perhaps you have been taught to do it differently, but your ankle really has very little to do with the pivot while kicking, because you should be twisting your entire leg at the hip. You may have heard the phrase "open your hips" in discussions on kicking, and that refers to this. The only flexibility you should need in your ankle is enough to either lift the heel or the ball of the foot slightly off the floor, depending on which way your style kicks. 

[bushido_man96]

On 4/21/2026 at 4:23 PM, Wastelander said:

Perhaps you have been taught to do it differently, but your ankle really has very little to do with the pivot while kicking, because you should be twisting your entire leg at the hip. You may have heard the phrase "open your hips" in discussions on kicking, and that refers to this. The only flexibility you should need in your ankle is enough to either lift the heel or the ball of the foot slightly off the floor, depending on which way your style kicks. 

I agree here, although I've never really heard it put that way before.

A drill I like to do is to start by using a chair or something for balance, and I'll pick my side kick chamber straight up (like a front kick to the front of my body, but I'm looking sideways as that's the way I'll kick).  Then I'll turn the hips over and lift the heel slightly and pivot at the same time.  No kick.  Just lift, turn hips/pivot, then back, then down.  When I turn the hips over, it turns my chamber from vertical to more horizontal with the heel of the foot that would kick more at the target.  You can take the same approach with a back leg round kick chamber by bringing the back leg up (we bring the leg up high, like we have to bring the chamber over a stool or a chair) and pivot the base leg as you bring your front leg forward to point the kicking knee at the target.

I also teach what I call a "pre-pivot," which @sensei8 will recall from our training time together.  Here's an example of how I do it.  In our class we will do a combination in basics consisting of stepping our front foot from a back stance into a front stance and reverse punching.  Then we follow up with a back leg round kick.  What I will do after the punch is "pre-pivot" my base foot by pivoting the toes out slightly, then proceeding with the back leg round kick, finishing the pivot as I snap the chambered leg forward as described above.  I find this helps with finishing the pivot further around upon completion of the kick, so I don't end up cutting the kick off.  I find it's also easier on the knees, and the older and some of the heavier students I teach it to find it quite helpful.

I use the methods above to help teach students that it's important that your base leg isn't playing "catch-up" to the kicking leg.  I want my pivot to be just a little bit ahead of the kick, that way I'm not putting all that stress on the base leg by letting it lag behind.  That's when knees get twisted and ligaments and such can get damaged.  Our style opens the pivot up quite a bit, usually close to 180 degrees on round kicks and side kicks.

[sensei8]

15 hours ago, bushido_man96 said:

I also teach what I call a "pre-pivot," which @sensei8 will recall from our training time together.  Here's an example of how I do it.  In our class we will do a combination in basics consisting of stepping our front foot from a back stance into a front stance and reverse punching.  Then we follow up with a back leg round kick.  What I will do after the punch is "pre-pivot" my base foot by pivoting the toes out slightly, then proceeding with the back leg round kick, finishing the pivot as I snap the chambered leg forward as described above.  I find this helps with finishing the pivot further around upon completion of the kick, so I don't end up cutting the kick off.  I find it's also easier on the knees, and the older and some of the heavier students I teach it to find it quite helpful.

Yes, I do a pre-pivot whenever I throw a roundhouse kick. I had a right knee injury whenever I was a JBB.

That injury proved to be quite troublesome. Whenever I threw a roundhouse kick, my right knee would hurt something ferocious.

So, with the help of my sensei, I learned to pre-pivot with every roundhouse kick. Overtime my right knee improved and got much stronger but the pre- pivot still remains, and I prefer to kick with my left leg, like Bill Wallace.

No. I do not telegraph my roundhouse kick whatsoever because I’ve matured in my techniques.