I'm having trouble getting any decent height with front and side kick. They have enough power but no-where near the height I'd like. Any recomendations on weight exercises or stretching that would help? I do plenty of pracitice on them, so it's not from laziness. If I do get any decent height in them I lose out on technique.
With Front kick, make sure you bring your knee up as high as ou can before you kick. The height of your knee determines the height of your kick. I wish I could help with the sidekick, but I haven't been working on height. My instructors been pushing speed and power more.
Front kick usually is limited by your hamstring. If you've got the strength to drive your knee and get the snap, the limiting factor is your hamstring's tightness. Your hamstring in that situation is like a spring...it resists the motion out. Oh, if you've got a huge gut that will also limit the motion as well. For side kicks, where is the strain? A properly executed sidekick going high up will strain two parts. 1)The side of your ass. As you lift your leg sideways, you should be able to feel some sort of compression on your ass. 2)The groin. If your groin is not limber enough, like the hamstring with front kicks, it will not let you get your leg high enough for the side of the ass issue to even be a problem. Splits are a good way to get the range of motion you want for a side kick. That's what I did when I was a teenager...harder to get that now.
For a front-kick, unless you are doing a front _rising_ kick, the kick shouldn't go higher than your waist. As soon as it does, the foot strikes the target as it is moving upwards, not into, the target. Consequently, less powerful. Of course, ignore that if you ARE doing front rising kicks For side kicks, lots of side leg-raises (make sure you're lifting with the glutes, not your quads). Also, slow-motion kicking (out to a slow count of ten, back the same) will help build up your leg strength, but you have to be sure you're doing the kick correctly. Doing the same thing with leg weights is also effective, although it is inadvisable to train full-speed kicks with leg weights, as you can potentially damage your knees. Hope that helps. As an aside - where in Oz are you? Cheers.
More specifically, the front splits. The side splits aren't really used in front or side kicks, although the flexibility in your hips from side splits is bound to help some. If you look at your side kick, or a front kick, the positioning of your legs and hips are the same as if you are on the ground doing a front split. However, just because you have flexibility doesn't mean you would have the leg/hip strength to drive your kicks that high. Others have posted good advice on this.
Way I did it was.... Side-kicking very slowly, tensing at it's full extension and holding it a few seconds. Do this whenever you can. Do it 10 times each leg as a warm-up. And putting my feet in a side-kick configuration on any object that's as high as your flexibility will allow [Which is now a 6 ft Wavemaster. Lol] and then lean your body gently down towards your legs. You should see results quite quickly. I did that and literally woke up the next day and felt I was kicking about 2 inches higher.
Stretching links: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6306 Should keep you reading for awhile.
they are very different, the front kick has the hips pointing towards the target and supporting foot at a 45 degree angle to the taregt, the side kick (a proper side kick with hips committed) the hips are facing away from the target and the supporting foot is 180 degrees from target. Your kicks must look weird. Front splits helps mainly with front and roundhouse kicks. The sidesplits will help with side kick where you are striking with the knife-edge of the foot (WTF style). coriolisdave - the front kick can be to the chin, solar plexus and groin. leg raises will help as suggested. do them twice a day, front side and back. dont neglect the back and you should feel the stretch on the supporting leg.
You sure? I finish My roundhouse kicks with my hips facing away from the opponent, using a follow through motion so i can generate power from my hips and my legs and finished basically sideways on (providing i miss the target which isnt something i really do much). Not only does it vastly increase power there is also less change for injury. Btw hey Rag, its MMC!
that is one version of the roundhouse kick, which is a follow through and requires a spin to return to stance. I was referring to the more common roundhouse snap kick where you kick and return to your chance. your kick is more powerful, but is more of a finishing move as it can leave you wide open for counter. dont see how there is less chance of injury.
my dojang is a school sports hall with climbing bars, before the lesson i do personal stretching and hook foot onto highest rung and lean into the stretch. Always aiming to get just one rung higher.
So you just contradicted yourself there... do you believe front split is for front kick or not? Regardless, the way I was taught to do front kicks, in Soo Bahk Do and also when I was in WTF TKD, was to rotate the base foot all the way to 90 degrees and to push out the hip when kicking so that you aren't so square. If your hips are square like you are describing, you are using all leg and no hip or upper body torque. And the way you described the side kicks is pretty much how I was taught. It is with the base foot rotated 180 degrees and with your hips rolled over so that your kicking foot is almost at a 45 degree angle from the perpendicular normal to the ground. That being said, it is the same as if you are doing front splits. There's two different ways to do the front splits, one with your back leg knee on the ground, and then also having it to the side. I am talking about the front splits where your back leg is like in a side kick, where your knee is NOT pointing to the ground.
If you read the ITF manual coriolisdave is correct in asserting the front kick should only be performed waist height or lower. Mitch
I could help you with you're side kick..if you're going to use side kick be sure you're in striking range..and look at your target when your going to kick....
where exactly have I contradicted myself . front splits help with front and roundhouse kicks because they target the hamstrings mainly. side splits will help with the roundhouse if your style involves turning the hips way over as you recruit the adductor muscles much more than e,g, the roundhouse as a snap kick. the other front splits you are talking about are called the martial arts split. basically the front splits targets the hamtrings more which is why most people find them easier (hence helps with the front kick, axe kick and roundhouse where the knee chambers in front). the side splits target the adductors more so help with side kick and roundhouse where the hips roll over more such as Muay Thai style. the MA splits (the one you describe with the rear leg knee is to the side as it would be in a side split) helps with all these kicks because it targets the hamstring of one leg and addcutor of the other so you are getting the most benefit. hence the name Martial Arts split. BTW each of these splits targets more than only the muscles I have mentioned but you get the idea. as for turning the support foot to 90 degrees in a front kick. if you do this kick in a thrusting style where you throw your weight forward then this would slow your movement and put excess lateral torque on the knee. by keeping the foot at 45 degrees, you open the hips up but still keep everything facing in the right direction. With regards to the hips, I just did the kick and you are right the hips are not square, what i meant is you throw the hips towards the target, your explanation was correct.
