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Kicking has four parts to it: flexibility, technique, focus and ab's. For the flexibility, I have found PNF stretching to be quite beneficial. This is a form of stretching that uses periodic resistence/contraction followed by relaxation to achieve a deeper strectch and excellent long term results (here is a reasonable Youtube example). Of course flexibility ...

First off, start small. Any stretch should be done by going to maximum natural (untensed or relaxed) extension, then moving slightly past it until it feels relaxed and natural, breathing through discomfort, but heeding pain. Once you get into position, hold it until it relaxes, then extend the stretch a little further. Repeat as possible. By going further, ...

Try pivoting on the heel, before you shift your weight onto the foot, as opposed to pivoting on the ball after the weight is already on it. I had an interesting experience regarding this question when I switched from traditional Tae Kwon Do to Shaolin Kung Fu years ago: In TKD, there was a very intense focus on all the little details of how exactly to ...

My answer is not exactly on the question "Rising on the ball or staying flat", but rather tries to make clear the reason why exactly you might prefer to stay flat, and not even pivot away. The underlying reasoning can be transferred to your question, since standing up will diminish power and snap according to the views below. Of course, all of the following ...

I am a huge fan of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching. It is what I used to be able to do the splits cold. Ideally you need a partner for it, but most of it can be done by yourself although you will have slower or limited results doing it solo. The premise of the stretch is to relax the target muscles, then force them to tighten and ...

"It depends." Partly on your goals, partly on what you hope to achieve via sparring. First things first: If shin guards are standard in your studio or if your instructor recommends them, then absolutely get them. You might talk to the senior students and see if they agree with the advice before springing for them, but this is one of the situations you ...

Short answer - catch your shin on your opponent's knee or elbow in a roundhouse kick without shin guards and see how you feel. ;) Or, to look at it another way - Do targets defeat the purpose in training? Does a face mask or mouth guard defeat the purpose of training? Does practising with dull/not metal throwing stars or a wooden blade defeat the purpose? ...

It depends on your target area and your intended results. I use two different types of front kicks, which I refer to as a snap and a thrust. The thrusting front kick is much like a side kick, where you lift your leg and fire the kick straight towards your target area. The snap kick, on the other hand, is comparable to a round-house kick, focusing more on ...

Slugster's great post forgot to mention relaxation. Conditioning to build strength and improve flexibility is very important. However, fast, fluid motion also requires you to be relaxed and it's harder to achieve relaxation of the large leg muscles than it is of the arms. One drill I give people is to get a pile of cushions at a height they can ...

I can think of two: Heel front kick. As @Sean Patrick Floyd said, it's more of a thrust kick Toe front kick. Basically, you will kick straight in, with your toes into the target. The target, in this instance, is the abdominal waist band muscles. The direction of the strike is in and down. I do not recommend the toe front kick lightly - for most people ...

If there's one thing I've learned over the years of training (Ninjutsu as well): It's better to have the equipment and not need it than to need it and not have it. If the instructor suggests them, buy them; he'll make your life hell if he thinks you're not taking his advice. Any sort of padding will make the training less realistic, but is that necessarily ...

Icing reduces swelling. That is the only reason to ice as far as I know. Swelling can inhibit the motion of joints and make the injury more painful. It may also take a long time to reduce back to normal levels. Icing is effective up to about 48 hours after the injury occurred. Basically, if it keeps swelling, then icing it will continue to help stop that ...

You need to shift your thinking slightly. When wearing a boot, stop thinking about striking with the toes back, down, etc. You want to focus more on what part of the shoe will be striking for the most effect. Read flody's answer, it's pretty good. The other thing to think about is striking for maximum damage. When we practice street sparring, I rarely go ...

Pain It sounds like the problem isn't strength so much as your shins hurting when you hit the bag. The pain will get better if you keep hitting the bag several times a week to the point of discomfort or mild pain, but stopping before severe soreness or severe pain. You'll get used to the feeling. If you only go to class once or twice a week, an additional ...

There is an additional angle here: the shin guards do not just protect your shins, they also protect your sparring partner from your shins. This can even be the more important thing, because while your shins can hurt a lot when hit, they are actually quite robust, they are very effective as blocks and can do great damage in attacks. Head, groin and gum ...

tl;dr Flat foot Pros: More balance, uses groin muscles to produce more power (is this proven? probably not) Cons: Puts a lot of stress on your knee, restricts rotation Ball of toes: Pros: No stress on knee, easy rotation Cons: Requires more balance . Foot planet: The idea with this one is that you hyper stretch your groin muscle by pointing your ...

I think this nicely illustrates the mental conflict between drills and practical application. Consider one of the key points of a high spinning kick (taekwondo in my case but the commonality with hapkido is obvious): a high spin draws your upper body down and away from your target. Obviously, the movement of your upper body will differ based on flexibility ...

Precision comes with practice. There is no other way. However, there are a few things that you can do to help that practice be more purposeful. Video. It's amazing how many mistakes are made manifest by an unforgiving lens. It will help you judge things like your approach, accuracy, body position, etc. Field of Vision. You mentioned that you can ...

Roundhouse kick - if not already, try rotating a bit more on the balls of your feet to reduce some of the surface area that may be causing friction. Just be careful you're not compromising your balance in the process. You can also try different mats - foam puzzle mats, such as those used for taekwondo sparring matches, may be more comfortable for practicing ...

We utilise a drill where the kick is broken down into four stages. The stages are: Raise the knee (keeping the leg bent) Thrust the kick out, and hold it for a couple of seconds Return the kick to the position attained at the end of step #1 Place the foot back on the floor, so you are back in your stance (place the foot, don't just drop it) This is ...

I understand what was said about the increased reach, but it is my experience that as you decrease the surface area of the foot in contact with the ground, you decrease your stability and support, meaning that if you kick someone who is in a stronger stance you have the tendency to fall backwards rather than drive through them.

The question you need to answer, empirically, is if it will work for you. Every action generates an equal and opposite reaction. Going on the ball of the foot might be a bad idea if the way you kick does not take into account a potential loss of balance when you encounter the resistance of your target. Of course, there are also many ways of delivering ...

I find when doing a muay thai push kick, i can get my kicking leg up higher if i go on the ball of my base leg, i think it has to do with my base leg bending a bit. my kru also said you can get more power b/c of the way it makes you engage your hips more to be on the ball of your foot.

There are two principle exercises, one for inside round kicks, and one for outside round kicks. The excersices are also referred to as 'inside-out' and 'outside-in'. Basically, for inside-out: Bring your right leg as close to your chest without bending over or lifting your left foot off the ground. Rotate your right leg to the right, while bringing ...

PNF is great! I started using it about 10 years ago and it has done wonders for me and some students. It is tough to show this method to students in class to most as there are different skill levels, and sometimes a new student or two. I try to incorporate this into my karate program as well as yoga poses in the beginning and at the end. I also use straps ...

I'm aware of Tang Soo Do and at least some forms of Karate having a spinning heel kick, but beyond the Korean martial arts and Karate, I'm not aware of any (though it seems likely that there is at least a related move in Capoeira and some styles of Kung Fu). In Alex Gillis' A Killing Art (a heavily sourced origin of modern Taekwondo), Gillis relates an ...

The things that help for me, or maybe I only thought they did, were: stretching and warming up thoroughly in the morning going for walks drinking plenty of water eating lots of quality food In other words, the things we should be doing normally.

In my own experience, dynamic stretching is really effective for kicking flexibility. For kicking, you need a dynamic motion in your limbs and joints, so that is what you practice. For example, rest a hand against the wall for balance, and do leg swings. Keep your leg straight, relax your muscles and lift it up until you feel a stretch, for a number of ...

I'd go strongly with no. The only people I've seen have full compound fractures of the tibia and fibula are Muay Thai fighters. They're also the ones to spend the most time conditioning their shins to toughen them up. Long term it weakens them. And really there's no point, you're not going to make them stronger not wearing shin guards, all you'll do is ...

Yes they defeat the purpose, they prevent conditioning. Are you going to hurt a few times if you don't have them? Absolutely you will :) As you practice Ninjutsu I wouldn't expect the leg kicks to be raining down on your shins though. Any conditioning you do also has flow-on benefits - I play football (soccer) without shin guards, I haven't needed them for ...