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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 ...

One of my favorite exercises in that area is holding a side kick against the wall. You execute a side kick with your foot against the wall, and then you shift your weight forward until your foot no longer slides down. This will only work if you hold your leg at least in a horizontal line. Once you have some balance you can work on height. If you get your ...

As my sensei says, "there is the right amount of power and speed in the technique". Basically, what he is saying is that if you do it right, the speed will come on its own. Foundation That said, there is a difference between speed, strength, and power. It's one thing to say you can put 400lbs on your back and squat with it. That speaks to strength. ...

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 ...

What do you do to an old engine the first time you start it up ? You warm it. Literally, the most important thing is making sure your friend is actually training. Pay attention to the body warmth, not only when it comes to warm up (also very important), but also right after the end of the training. Gradually, he should come out of the dojo as warm (sweated ...

Stairs work really well. Power up and down, take them multiple steps at a time, go sideways, backwards, everything. Put as much vertical power into your step as possible. Second thing to try is working in front of a mirror or with a videocamera. This way you can watch your form and see where your sticking points are and where you're making unnecessary ...

There are some very extensive answers on this stretching question on Fitness.SE, which I will use as the basis for this one but adapt in relation to martial arts. Dance, particularly ballet, seems close enough to martial arts due to its large range of motions. Not all martial arts feature extended leg movements, but you can probably infer to some degree how ...

I have vague memories of simply trying various kicks in slow-motion, trying to keep my balance, until I could do most of them without losing my balance. Alternatively, try to just lift one foot off the ground from a "feet together" standing position. The foot only needs to be lifted until it's no longer touching the ground. Try to keep your balance. After a ...

A fun way to work on balance (and endurance) is to stand in your kick stance, and draw out the alphabet with your kicking leg. This doesn't really work your actual kicking technique much, but it will work your balance and your endurance and strengthen all the muscels needed for kicking, and therefor your balance and technique will improve.

When talking to people about this specific problem in class, I usually surprise them with my comment: "stop standing on your heel." If you are light on your heel but strong on the ball of your foot you have several advantages: You are using your calf muscles. They're very strong and confidence inspiring. You have less rotational friction than a planted ...

The body they have now is not the body they used to have. They may need a lot of attention for a few months, if they are not very self-aware, because they may try to do what they remember, and damage their body in the process. The best way is to start like any beginner would. Learn the basic movements. Slowly go down into the stances, getting feedback from ...

From what I've read regarding stretching is that your muscles need to be warm. Whether you do jumping jacks, jump rope, run, practice your forms, it doesn't matter. You need to get your muscles moving first. After that, it seems that dynamic stretching is more beneficial before exercise, and static stretching is better as a cool-down activity. You can ...

I suspect there are hardly any interesting scientific studies on this topic. Most studies I've read focus on popular sports like soccer, football or running. I was able to find two papers that did look (sort of) at martial arts: There is this paper but since they've measured bench-presses instead of actual training or fighting effectiveness I don't think ...

Static Stretching Doesn't Go in The Warm-up I disagree that the exercise science is of mixed opinion or quality. It seems pretty clear to me that static stretching before dynamic exercises is contraindicated. Warm-up before working out, but don't sit down and relax into a stretch, or hold it for thirty seconds. Per Tom Kurz, a martial artist who ...

I'm fifty two years old. Returned to Ninjutsu after decades of inactivity. After a few years I've had to stop training because of a back injury. My way back into training involved a one year term with the long staff: This allowed me to stay mostly upright, and not put a load on my back. Moreover, the group I've joined is a women's one, and is defined as ...

Both! Starting with dangerous: Obviously, if your partner pushes you to hard, you could easily over stretch and tear something. Just like if you try to stretch to much, or to cold by your self and over do it. Now on to the good stuff: It is absolutely beneficial. The one technique that I use quite often is to have yourself stretch to as far as it's ...

I think reaction time drills might suit you better. Like Dave said, spar copiously, but with intent. Work on conditioning yourself to not think, to kick. This is a basic overview of what you are trying to overcome, but its lacking on the practical ways to train it. I will see if I can dig up some actual exercises.

Spar copiously. Regardless of the physical attributes of speed, your reaction time will largely be determined by how quickly you notice your opponent moving in, and how well your nervous system is trained to react with that technique in that specific situation. No training outside of sparring can give you that kind of natural reaction.

I suggest walking up and down hills if possible. Then back that up with gentle stretching. Do that for 4-6 weeks and the body will have adjusted a bit to the stress of physical activity and loosened up a bit. Then can start trying out training. But make sure you arrive early, I'm 40, and I find I need to turn up to class a bit earlier and make sure I ...

The question is whether that person who hasn't done martial arts in a long time has done anything to stay in shape over the years. If they have been sedentary for a long time, they will likely need to build up to a base level of fitness first. This is just to get the joints used to moving, build up some mobility, and add a bit of strength. If they are ...

To mirror @Vatine - go in slow motion. Get into a stance, slowly bring your leg up in a chamber (that is, knee bent, foot as close to your thigh/buttock as possible) and slowly extend it, then slowly bring it back, then slowly put it down. Start with a kick about knee high and progressively increase the height. Do this ten times on each leg. If you're just ...

If it's Taekwondo, I've found there's too much static stretching before drills. If I'm training on my own, I feel better warming up through fairly relaxed but rhythmic turning (roundhouse?) kicks, first a shin height, and working up as you feel comfortable, and keep going in a steady rhythm till you're about as high up as you normally kick. Then for side ...