Balance....

Gringo23 · 07-05-2005, 04:53 AM

Has anyone got any good tips for working on balance when chucking out high kicks?

If i ever put decent power into a high kick in sparing i always end up losing my footing.

I did a ten lessons tai chi course at a friends advice, but i would rather spend more time kickboxing tbh.

Any advice would be appreciated

FreestyleMMA · 07-05-2005, 07:04 AM

start out by standing in sand. a local beach or something like that...it really helped me when I moved to a more solid surface

Gringo23 · 07-05-2005, 07:36 AM

Really?

Thas, will give it a go.

consortium11 · 07-05-2005, 08:50 AM

Just keep practicing... after 6 months of TKD my balance went from appaling to average, merely by throwing kicks

Gringo23 · 07-05-2005, 09:40 AM

I just think that my poor flexability means that i may be leaning to far back to get the height i want.

Have been training for about 9 months and although i am improving, its still consistantly my balance that lets me down.

Thanks for all you help guys!

Spoonman7 · 07-05-2005, 11:25 AM

practice stretching, and also, practice standing on one foot with your other one as high as you can get it and do that for as long as u can, it has helped me a great deal.

dapunisher · 07-05-2005, 12:36 PM

Continue to work on increasing your flexibility and stretching all the time. Also losing your balance when kicking can many times be attributed to poor posture wen throwing the kick. If your leaning to much or your technique is bad when you kick, then your leaning and technique will be twice as bad when throwing a high kick.

aaron_mag · 07-05-2005, 01:04 PM

Your foot needs to be firmly planted. Don't come up on your toes. Sometimes I curl my toes up to make sure I am not relying on them when doing a high kick practice.

Plus you need to know when to throw a high kick. Anyone can get knocked off balance when throwing a high kick. You need to catch your opponent off guard...

Evil Eye Gouger · 07-05-2005, 01:13 PM

1) Improve your static flexibility through PNF and isometric stretches
2) Improve your dynamic flexibility by practicing leg swings every morning and before every practice
3) Videotape yourself or look in the mirror. Make sure your standing leg is vertical when throwing high kicks. If it isn't, then you're not flexible enough for them, and you should reduce the height.

Kicking too high will only give you bad habits and injuries. It may take a while to develop the necessary flexibility for a proper high kick. If you can only kick to the body, do that for a while, while improving your flexibility.