JRRMAS Staff members NL, JC and DG practice defensive (not stepping in) Side Kicks in a recent Adult American Karate-Do class. NL is leading the class. All are demonstrating excellent form.
Lesson 1:
Side Kicks are both a classical and a modern basic technique
The kick also crosses over to real life self-defense
from both a standing and a lying position.
It is one of the most powerful techniques in Martial Arts, especially for women.
For men the legs are twice as powerful as their arms,
but for women the legs are four times as powerful as their arms!
So learning to kick is a must for women's self-protection,
especially the side kicking action
that uses the joints of the hip and the knee working in unison.
The Side Kick is a very powerful kick indeed!
Lesson 2:
Remember to drive your knee straight up (as in a front kick)
and learn to use the momentum of the initial vertical action of the knee
changing it from vertical to horizontal
The 'secret' to a quick and powerful Side Kick
is keeping the knee up as the initial power of the vertical knee drive
turns the 'corner' to a horizontal thrusting action using the hip and the knee joint
Be very clear about the 'line of power' at the end of your kick!!
JRRMAS Staff member DG demonstrates his excellent kicking form. This is an exercise I learned from Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace back in the 1980's and has become an intergral part of the American Karate-Do curriculum for both the Youth and Adult groups.
Lesson 1:
Doing the kick slowly gives you the best indication of your kicking ability. Your knowledge of the kick will be revealed by going slowly. This knowledge includes:
Kicking knee position,
Supporting foot position,
Hip position,
Upper body position
Slow kicking will also reveal :
Your stretch,
Your strength
And most importantly your balance.
Slow kicking is healthy for practitioners of all Martial Arts
and for praticioners of all ages!
Slow kicking is a tried and true method that has come down through the ages.
Many thanks to Bill Wallace for pointing us in the correct direction!
JRRMAS Staff member DG talks about smoothing out the combination. DG is the newest American Karate-Do Black Belt. He was promoted in January of this year and is doing an excellent job with the programs that he is helping with on Staff. He is currently involved with the Little Dragons, Youth Karate-Do and Adult Karate-Do programs. DG is often seen hosting free-sparring clinics/sessions after classes on Monday and Thursday evening. He is having very positive effect overall on the three Karate programs at the Studio.
Coming up shortly, I'll be posting a video clip of DG practicing/demonstrating the 'Wallace' slow Roundhouse Kick exercise....stay tuned as his skill and ability in kicking is truly remarkable!
Lesson 1:
When the Cross (rear hand) retracts, it's like pulling on a lever that drives the rear knee up for the Front Kick. In a combination the moment the first technique starts to retract the next one starts it's journey to the target and as that new one starts retracting, it set's the next technique into motion and so on...... Smoothing out the relationship between the techniques in the combination. Feints and fakes and minor timing changes (broken motion) can also be added to the combination to increase the chances of creating an opening that you can take advantage of.
JRRMAS Staff member JK leads the adult Karate-Do group in classical basics (retracting hand going to the hip for the rear elbow strike)
Lesson:
Crescent step...
feet come close together
to protect the groin
while advancing forward
at the moment the rear foot
shuffles to
the new Seisan Stance
Focus your Reverse Punch (classical vertical punch from the rear side)
or focus your block
Then Reverse Punch
At either end of the Studio
Triangle Step
to turn around
with power.
This drill builds dynamic root and stability, coordination and basic mind/body connections needed for Martial Arts and overall neurological conditioning. Rows of basic stepping, blocking, puching/kicking and turning are an intergral part of many Styles of Martial Arts.....it's the foundation of the Kata's and the basis for more advanced practices.
Sifu
At this Adult Karate-Do rank testing Dennis Gobiel was promoted to Probationary Black Belt. Dennis started training with me at NMH while in high school. He is on JRRMAS Staff, helping with the youth and adult Karate-Do programs