Unleash Bone Crunching POWER in Your Kicks!

Are your kicks powerful? Oh sure, you may be able to smack the hell out of a heavy bag with a well placed front snap kick or your favorite roundhouse.

But I'm talking real organ-churning POWER!

Unfortunately a lot of kicks work far better in TRAINING than they do in a real life street attack scenario.

This is because real "power training" that takes place in many martial arts schools is done with repeated motion against a striking pad.

The intention of this type of training IS to "kick hard"...but to also follow up with ADDITIONAL kicks as part of a drill.

But when done correctly - with real power - you should only need ONE SINGLE KICK to finish the job or give you an open target for an easy fight-ending follow up strike.

Here's how to do it...

First, it doesn't matter WHAT type of kick you're launching...it's the PRINCIPLE OF POWER that is most important.

You see, in close quarters combat, one of the methods I hold as a foundation is to constantly be in FORWARD MOTION as you fight.

This ensures that YOU "own" the offense and your attacker is focused on defending himself rather than striking you.

Understanding this principle, when you deliver your kick, you should focus on kicking THROUGH your attacker and dropping your foot down where HE is (was!) standing.

This goes against many training drills which have you retract your kicking leg back into your "ready stance" to prepare for the next kick.

In addition, driving your foot THROUGH your attacker and dropping down, projects the momentum of your foot, deep into his guts or smashes through bone much better than "static" kicks that instill the instinct to retract the kick.

So even when training with a heavy bag, train one kick at a time and focus on kicking and stepping straight down (with the kicking leg) to INCREASE POWER...maintain FORWARD MOMENTUM...and OWN the offense!

Jeff Anderson is a 10 year veteran of the U.S. Army, a Master Fitness Trainer, and Master Instructor of Close Quarters Combat self defense. A full time fitness and self defense author, Jeff has trained thousands of men and women in the practical application of advanced military fitness methods as well as close combat tactics for "real life" self defense.

Striking power is very important to practice. Especially since gross-motor coordination is lost due to the mental and physical stress of a self-defense situation

Rick

#1 Posted by: Sensei J. Richard Kirkham B.Sc. | Sep 2, 2009 1:35 AM