Kicking drills- minus the bag
Do you think you can’t practise your kicks without the sandbag? Perhaps you are thinking of “shadow-kicking”. Yes, that help to a certain extent but nothing beats better than having visible targets to improve your techniques. All you need are 3 stools (chairs) about waist high and you are ready to go.
Here’s the tip
Look at the picture below. The 3 grey circles represent the 3 stools that you would need. Imagine you are the red diamond standing in fighting stance facing stool A.
First, engage stool A with push kicks. Bring your knee up (chambering of your leg) and push the leg out, gently touch the stool (or back rest) using the ball of your foot. After touching, ensure that you retract your leg in the same trajectory as you extend. This works the gluteus (butts) and helps you to train and improve your push kicks. Do not rush as the key here is control both in the chambering and extension of the leg.
Secondly, maintain the fighting stance, engage stool B using roundhouse kick. This time, attempt to swing your leg over the stool. This helps to instil the fact that when you are hitting the target (bag or opponent), you are not merely touching or hitting at it. In fact, you are hitting through the target. Remember, it is crucial that you pivot on your supporting leg and swing your hips and legs over the stool, this will then generate enough torque when you work on the bags or pads later.
Thirdly, stool C represents a target for the sidekicks. To chamber the leg in preparation for the kick, you need to bring your knee to the front and then kick it out and above the stool. The action of chambering is essential as it would give you the power which would drive your kick. Again, after extension, bring the leg in the same trajectory.
A suggested routine is
- Left Front (chair A)
- Right Front (chair A)
- Right Round (chair B)
- Right side (chair C)
Completion of the above order is 1 cycle. And aim to do 12 cycle (1 set) and 3 sets in total with a rest interval of 1minute.
Challenge
Add in more stools at the back (directly or diagonally) and you are now ready to train your back kicks too.
Conclusion
Remember, key to technique is to go slow and control the chambering and extension of the kicking leg.