advice needed

[MercuryTurrent]

im not saying im gonna start with a spinning, or that i'll throw a high roundhouse wild. i keep my chanmer tight and snap that sonovabitch fast. i've worked with my legs well enough (taekwondo and kickboxing -dems mah credentials ) to throw them out very fast. then again, i'll never shoot striagh for the head, rather incoporate them with the MT kick and hip level ones. as from my spinning kicks, i usually throw them as the person backs up, and as i move foreward. not many people change their retreat fast enough to catch my vulnerable side, and my lil' advance/hop is still enough to cover the ground they retreated.

i donnot, however, condone aerials in a fight. unless, of course, the guy is dazed (and you hate his stinkin' guts).

[Guest]

getting back to the question.....

Your efforts to kick don't just generate the power in a technique, they are also necessary to get your leg in the right place to start with. This means that the more work you have to do merely to get the leg where it needs to be, the less actual power is then available for the target. You cannot use the power of gravity (as it is even working against you. Also your muscles will provide a resistance to movement so the less flexible you are the less power is available (again your efforts are used up merely getting your leg in the right place).

In short, your high kicks will never have as much power potential as your low ones, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't train and use them. I know about the plusses and minuses of high kicking, but many of us aren't in the martial arts purely to turn ourselves into fighting machines. Stretching is good for you for its own sake, and high kicks are aesthetically pleasing. And a demonstration of high kicking ability could do much to put a would be assailant off having a go at you to start with. And if none of us had training partners who could kick high, we would come unstuck in a contest or a real fight if our opponent was good at them.

Keep kicking.

[thekuntawman]

there is a saying, that if you think you can do it, then you are right. and if you think you cant do it, you are right too.

martial arts, fighting art, etc. is not easy. that is why when you reach a point, they call you "expert". an expert is a guy who can do what the average guy cannot do. so you work hard to be above the average guy.

common sense for the average guy says, that grappling beats stand up all the time, one punch knockout does not exist, ring fighting does not mean you can fight on the street, and high kicks dont work, etc. but you are not looking to be average, i am sure. thats why you train. show me a guy who cant beat anyone with a high kick, and i will show you one who can. with the proper training, even those pretty tae kwon do jump kicks will knock out anyone.

so, anyway, the reason you cant get power out of a high kick, is because you just need more training. and more flexibilty. any time you are straining to execute any technique its not going to have power and speed and balance. but as you improve with your training and flexibility, you can get just as much power in your high kick as the average guy will get in his low kick. the difference is you are more flexibile in your skills because you have more techniques you can do, with more ease than the average guy.

so my advice, if you like kicking high, keep doing it in your sparring, train it a lot, and more than the low kickings, and develop your flexibilty. it might take a while, but you will get it.

and before anyone wants to make fun of my advice, i represented the philippines in the international level in muay thai style competition for two years in a row.

[Bau]

very nice post thekuntawman...

but of course you make good posts about fighting....
You're Pinoy!!!

later!

[PentjackSilat]

As much as this hurts...I'm agreeing with Bri.
(A numbing pain shoots down the left side of PJ's body!)
"Damn that hurt!"

[sloanekick2002]

High kicks

Here is what I think of this subject I think that High Kicks can work but like others say they need to be used after a opponent is dazed and confused or if there mind is blank.

I went to a kickboxing tournament one time and there was this kid and all he did was throw High kicks from round 1 to 5 so I ended up winning the tournament because he threw too many high kicks and blocked and dodged them. Be smart use it appropriately and not much because it is like committing suicide you have to know when to throw the techniques otherwise don't fight

[savatuer]

like what was metioned before. hands for high, legs for low. "I'ts the one they don't see that knocks them out". that's what i've been taught. and it's true about the low kicks. if he can't walk he can't fight real good. then while he is on the ground then you can surprise him with "the head kick". better still don't. you might get yourself into a lot of trouble. forget i said that. go with whatever you feel best with. good luck

[terry]

Advice to the novice kicker:

1. Do your roadwork. Do a minimum of one hour of cardio every day.
2. Learn how to stand correctly
3. Learn proper kick mechanics and form
4. Practice the kick on a partner at slow speed. A trainer will adjust your body position in this way and help you with your form.
5. Once you have the basic mechanics, pay your dues. Do 250 kicks per leg each day full power into a bannana bag. Don't worry about kicking high just yet. Worry about kicking with good form, kicking hard and recovering quickly into a defensible position.
6. When you finish shadow box 5 rounds.
7. When you are developing a higher kick do a minimum of 100 high kicks at full power on a bannana bag. Make sure not to impede the swinging motion of the bag, but use your footwork to adjust distance accordingly.

I once put a 135 lb high school kid on this program who had never studied martial arts before. After six months he could, and did, kick through a 2x4.

Terry

[Brokenmace]

It's not that no one can successfully kick high (far from it), but that most people don't train properly to achieve this in the street. You have to predict/intercept your foe's emotional and physical intent. This can be gained through observance of behavior and goals before and during the confrontation, as well as baiting reactions through the leveraging of patterns.

Most important, you must train kicks to be both natural and instinctive

If he is only paying attention to your hands, because you've lulled him into such a state, his mind will be overloaded if you roundhouse him in the head after a flurry of punches. This is especially true if he is tired, confused, or blinded (fully or partially, such as in the dark).

Don't chamber your kicks, unless you are using them to herass or destract your foe. Torquing the hips gives just as much (sometimes more) power without telegraphing the kick. My lead Thai hook kick was weak and slow until I unlearned exagerated chambering.

You can win any fight if you remove one of the Three Legs:

Sight - eye gouge, break nose, darkness, scarfs, jackets, sweat (time it on the blink)

Mobility - tying up, breaking joints (knees, ankles), off-balancing, groin

Respiration - sternum/high gut shot, throat, high back shot, groin, floating ribs

Good luck!

[BlackSnow]

look down while you kick high... The expectation of your opponement will be a low kick..while you make a high one...

just a tip

Bye

~BlackSnow~

[BlackSnow]

to add..

i have to add something....this kick doesn't have to be a heavy one... because it was unexpected the opponement is confused and you will have your change to do what you want to do with him (or her)...

Hopes it helps you

bye

[charong]

you guys have to learn real muay thai!!! which will teach you how to apply power with the high kick.

[cocoy]

In my personal experience, the single most important factor in high kicking is flexibility. Follow this up with constant practice. As to the usefulness of high kicks, watch Peter Aerts, the Dutch lumberjack do some Nuclear damage with high Muay Thai roundhouses on sherdog.com.

After you learn to kick high and hard you have to learn to be deceptive a good coach will teach you these things.

[crazyjoe380]

These guys drop too much info..lol

1.) if you try to kick jagged it wont have power..


2.) use hips and raise your toe..

3.) aim above the sholder.. the kick will flow right to his face..