Kicking Tips
What difference does it make how well you kick if you can kick well only after warming up?
Your kicks, like your punches, are supposed to be your weapons—always accessible and ready. You would not carry a gun disassembled, would you? You would not count on having the time to put it together while facing an attacker.
And yet . . . how many people practice kicks, especially high kicks, and can't use them right away without first warming up and stretching?
If you want to increase the height of your kicks and to be able to reach that height with no warm-up, you need to develop the right kind of flexibility—dynamic flexibility. Dynamic flexibility is the ability to perform dynamic movements within a full range of motion in the joints. Kicks are dynamic movements.
Dynamic stretches for kickers are simple leg raises in all directions. First develop the ability to move your limbs with moderate speed within a full range of motion in the joints. You should start at a lower extension (height) to avoid injury from any sudden contraction of rapidly stretched muscles. Do not “throw” your limbs; rather, “lead” or “lift” them, controlling the movement along the entire range. Then, after you have reached nearly your full range of motion, you can increase the velocity of the limb so the last few inches of its trajectory will be less controlled but the stretch will not be sudden. Do leg raises to the front, back, and sides. Make 12 repetitions in every set and do as many sets as you need to feel you have reached your current limit of flexibility.
If you rely on high kicks as your combat techniques and want to do them anytime without warm-up, you should do dynamic stretches twice a day. Research has shown the effectiveness of dynamic stretching twice every day. First spend a few minutes in the morning (before having your breakfast) on the dynamic stretching of your legs and then later during the day do dynamic stretches again.
