Having an arguement with a friend about developing power etc in kicking. His theory (wu shu guy) = If you jump up and down you'll develop leg power and hence be able to kick. My theory (WC guy) = Kick a heavy bad, or focus pads. Developing the technique with resistance will make you better at kicking. I'm not ruling out jumping, but i don't do it to get more "explosive power" i just tend to kick things harder and snap out more etc. Am I wrong?
Both have merit. Though I also prefer to smack a heavy bag, or a larger opponent, which ever is handy, to develope power. Of course, a good workout with squats (which I can't do at the moment due to my dodgey knee :woo: ) will also help.
As Narcsarge says... both have merit. One one hand you with the actually kicking (bags/pads/people) you're working the actual technique. You can refine that technique and you can see how it works against a moving resisting opponent etc. on the other hand... Jumping... or more properly... plyometrics hold massive benefit for the martial artist. You are building strength and conditioning. There are any number of professional sports that use plyometrics to condition their athletes. We use them in boxing (plyo push ups) and we often do box jumps. A favorite all time workout of our crew is to head down and train in the harbor docks. We will stack up palettes mid thigh high and do drills of continuously jumping onto and off the stack... we also do lateral movement drills - much like ski box jumps. Where you continuously at a fast pace are jumping onto and then off of a box or palette in a lateral motion. All of which are great for response time, relfex and conditioning. We do a ton of this stuff and it has good carry over to our boxing and MT. So actually both of you are correct... you should look into trying out some plyometrics and the like... you might be surprised how well they work for you... above and beyond being just fun to do.
Yup and there's a 3rd part! Add in some Weight Lifting and you're well on your way to becoming a Cro Cop Caliber Kicker!!!! Maybe not, either way weight training, be it bodyweight or Iron, shouldnt get neglected. (Resitance is resistance to the body, Can O' worms I know) You can enhance the effect of plyometrics by combining a heavy movement and/or maximum-tension isometric with a plyometric movement. It's called the Static-Dynamic Protocol or Complex Training, there should be no rest between the two (plyometric and the heavy/isometric): Couple of examples would be: Heavy Squat/Wallsquat -> Depth Jump Isometric Crunch -> Ballslam Heavy Bench/Supramaximal Hold -> Clap pushup Isometric Pistol/one-legged supramaximal legpress hold -> explosive stepup (lol that sounded fancy) And here's a credible source incase you dont trust me. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/rossboxing5.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_training
Yo slip, how come you dont post in H&F more man, I bet you could put together helluva post about sport specific training... hint hint
Honestly... I kept getting lost after they broke it down into the new format. I guess I'm oldskool.. I liked the jump in a wade through a bit of everything style. Call me crazy. One of these days I'm gonna write up something. Christ... other than just being the resident flamethrower. I've been threatening that for ages. Chances are it will coincide with my Gaggia espresso maker getting fixed.
Well jumping will increase explosive power. Lots of athletes use plyometrics to great effect. However they will gain more from it because it translates directly to their sport. Basketball players will use vertical plyometrics to increase jumps for blocking, dunking etc. High jumpers will use it to jump higher. You will get stronger legs, but from kicking a heavier bag you could probably get stronger kicks because of the movement. There might be some crossover in terms of strength from one to the other but I think if you are after stronger kicks then kicking is the best way to go about it. Anyone who thinks/knows otherwise please correct me
Well, I might be one of the biggest fans of jumping on MAP, but when it comes to doing a certain activity well, I think practicing the actual activity is the best course of action. Doing both is fine, and a good jump height is surprisingly useful, but I think it is better to work on the technique itself rather than another activity that can add just add a bit of leg strength. Or I could be wrong. Just do both, then you won't need to worry.
Good God Sick! As if Slippy needs more homes to rumage through! LOL! J/K there Slip old man! I am sure that you have from sage advice for this forum too!
