How to improve high kicks?

[GoatArtemLobov]

Rotator Cuff injuries?

Ask professional swimmers how their shoulders are ahahahah

You don't need to swim 100km a week, I have been swimming 1 to 3 times a week for my entire life and I have nothing but good things to say about that sport.
Maybe it's hard on the shoulders, but, no brain damage, no neck injury, no torn ACL because of some tackle, no broken nose, there is literally nothing that can happen to you besides overuse injuries in the shoulders (which I don't think are that common unless you swim more than 30km a week or have bad shoulders...) and of course, drowning, but if you are a swimmer you aren't supposed to drown, are you, especially when there is a lifeguard in case you're in trouble...

 

[II Muchetto II]

And another question, how to you deal with getting countered with a rightcross.
When I kick let's say with the right kick (which is my rear kick) I put the left hand up and the right arm extended in front of my opponent's face (that's how I was taught).
I feel like there is no way around, the likeliness to get countered by the right hand will always be high.
Even with this guy who doesn't swing his hands at all it looks like there is lenty of space for straight punches, am I wrong?

If you are talking low kick and they are landing the cross at the same time as you land the kick, you need to take your head of the centre line. If they are landing the cross after your low kick (but before you bring your leg back) then you need to use your left hand (that you said is up) to parry the punch.

If you are talking about the mid kick being countered, you need to bring the knee past the centre line more so they can't walk through it. Being sparring, you are probably going lighter anyway, so it will be easier for them to counter than usual.

Like the previous poster said, it's a lot to do with timing. Not spamming your kicks. Throwing on the end of some punches. Or using kicks as counters yourself

Without seeing your kick it will be hard to see exactly what might be making it easier for them to counter you with a cross

 

[AndyMaBobs]

I'm primarly a boxer but I have also kickboxed a bit, with solid teaching, so I "know" how to throw kicks.
I'm taking profit of this pandemic (my bjj gym and boxing gym are shut down...) to work on my kicking on a big fairtex heavy bag I got myself to stay in shape.
I've noticed that, while I seem to have nice power for someone who is pretty a beginner in my low and body kicks, I struggle a lot getting those kicks high.
With my rear kick, I could barely touch the chin of someone who is my height, and with my lead kick, I could barely touch the shoulder.
I've watched every kicking instructional under the sun (whether it was a karate, taekwondo, MT, or KB instructor), I actually have long legs compared to my total height, and solid hip flexibility (not a supreme one either but far above average, I can almost put my two knees to the ground in this position )
Oddly though, when I kick through air, I can get thekicks pretty high (the shin at 74 inches with the rear from the ground and the lead kick around 65 inches) (I'm 75 inches tall), and numbers are 100% accurate I guarantee.
However on the bag, I suck.
What's your experience with that? Some tips?

It's not actually a matter of just flexibility, it's also the strength of your hips and core.

The best way to increase the height of kicks + knee strikes is to not only stretch but do isometric holds.

Here are a few videos to give you some ideas, but if you start doing these exercises a few times a week you'll see the results:









Karate/TKD/Kung Fu are pretty good for addressing issues like this because these sort of exercises are actually in the curriculum of the martial art. I found that even though I've got a decade of exp. in Muay Thai my high kicks were still suffering, when I started doing some of those exercises my actual control on my high kicks and body kicks went up by a lot - and they didn't change the kicking form either

 

[Frode Falch]

Set high volume training on kicking techniques higher on your priority list.

More important then stretching

 

[CFGroup]

A rare time that I disagree with @Frode Falch, but I'm a internet nobody and he's been a pro fighter with clips of him doing that crazy 360 tornado kick....

But.....

I'm an old beatup dawg with a bunch of training related surgeries under my belt.

The one thing I've kept consistent throughout my physical journey is making sure to carefully stretch. When I've taken time off or on the mat before training, if I'm home(for the last 6 months) after training in cool down. Touch my toes with my knees straight, shit I can touch my knuckles, but I stretch every time I train.

The trick with high kicks is the way you were trained coupled with how you "open up" your hips with stretching. I was the most flexible back in my TKD days when we did two person stretching drills. Every floor stretch you go to your maximum range and then have your partner push or pull you past that point while you relax. Partner stretching is the best way to open up your hips, short of that I humbly suggest focusing on stretching your hips and legs as a dedicated 20 minute portion of training.

That Scott Atkins clip @AndyMaBobs posted has a good variety to start with. I'm a Judo guy now that's taken 13 years of breakfalls on his hips and I can still do(not as smoothly) head high kicks in my dedicated portion of home training. I credit my dedication to life long stretching.

 

[Lonewolfmcquade]

Not everybody can do this though. She has decent control of her body!

 

[Lonewolfmcquade]

A rare time that I disagree with @Frode Falch, but I'm a internet nobody and he's been a pro fighter with clips of him doing that crazy 360 tornado kick....

But.....

I'm an old beatup dawg with a bunch of training related surgeries under my belt.

The one thing I've kept consistent throughout my physical journey is making sure to carefully stretch. When I've taken time off or on the mat before training, if I'm home(for the last 6 months) after training in cool down. Touch my toes with my knees straight, shit I can touch my knuckles, but I stretch every time I train.

The trick with high kicks is the way you were trained coupled with how you "open up" your hips with stretching. I was the most flexible back in my TKD days when we did two person stretching drills. Every floor stretch you go to your maximum range and then have your partner push or pull you past that point while you relax. Partner stretching is the best way to open up your hips, short of that I humbly suggest focusing on stretching your hips and legs as a dedicated 20 minute portion of training.

That Scott Atkins clip @AndyMaBobs posted has a good variety to start with. I'm a Judo guy now that's taken 13 years of breakfalls on his hips and I can still do(not as smoothly) head high kicks in my dedicated portion of home training. I credit my dedication to life long stretching.

Which did you find most effective between static and dynamic stretching?

 

[AndyMaBobs]

A rare time that I disagree with @Frode Falch, but I'm a internet nobody and he's been a pro fighter with clips of him doing that crazy 360 tornado kick....

But.....

I'm an old beatup dawg with a bunch of training related surgeries under my belt.

The one thing I've kept consistent throughout my physical journey is making sure to carefully stretch. When I've taken time off or on the mat before training, if I'm home(for the last 6 months) after training in cool down. Touch my toes with my knees straight, shit I can touch my knuckles, but I stretch every time I train.

The trick with high kicks is the way you were trained coupled with how you "open up" your hips with stretching. I was the most flexible back in my TKD days when we did two person stretching drills. Every floor stretch you go to your maximum range and then have your partner push or pull you past that point while you relax. Partner stretching is the best way to open up your hips, short of that I humbly suggest focusing on stretching your hips and legs as a dedicated 20 minute portion of training.

That Scott Atkins clip @AndyMaBobs posted has a good variety to start with. I'm a Judo guy now that's taken 13 years of breakfalls on his hips and I can still do(not as smoothly) head high kicks in my dedicated portion of home training. I credit my dedication to life long stretching.

I'm lucky tbh, aside from medical problems I had to deal with as a kid - my coach happened to be quite old - and I saw the ridiculous shape he was in despite his age and thought 'yeah I want to be like that when I'm old' - so I'm really big on those sort of exercises now rather than brute forcing it.

The joints are the first thing to go so you should be paying attention to them from day one. Doing Shaolin forms (which is my only exposure to TMAs outside of a few weeks of karate as a kid) was a big eye opener for me

 

[MixMartialFarts]

I did Muay Thai for 11 years and had quite a few fights. I could never get the flexibility to do head kicks, Most of my kicks ended up in the ribs or thigh. I was primarily a boxer as well but my body is a mess from rugby. Find a fence and put one leg up on it in front of you. Hold it there. And every week try and move closer to increase the angle.

This is what worked for me TS. I put my leg up heel down on my bathroom counter then rotate my hips so the inside of my ankle is facing down against the counter and slowly bend the knee of the other leg your standing on to get that stretch in the groin/hip area. If you have a training partner you can do the same thing by having them start crouching with your foot on their shoulder and then turn your foot in as they slowly stand up.

 

[Lonewolfmcquade]

Don't lean forward or backwards.

Do it like this. There is no dogma with hand position, it depends on the range from which you kick

 

[DoctorTaco]

And another question, how to you deal with getting countered with a rightcross.
When I kick let's say with the right kick (which is my rear kick) I put the left hand up and the right arm extended in front of my opponent's face (that's how I was taught).
I feel like there is no way around, the likeliness to get countered by the right hand will always be high.
Even with this guy who doesn't swing his hands at all it looks like there is lenty of space for straight punches, am I wrong?

move your head to the left when you kick.

 

[DoctorTaco]

For high kick mobility and flexibility You have to stretch your hamstrings, your hip flexors, your IT bands, and your lower back. It’s all tied together so yoga series like, “pigeon pose “Are really good for that.

I also like putting your leg straight up onto something with your toes up and then “turning” the hip over as if you’re kicking. You can do reps like that

 

[shincheckin]

practice kicking high, more often than you practice kicking med or low

 

[Frode Falch]

A shaolin saying goes like: never kick higher in fight/, sparring, then what you can do slow and relaxed.


Most people with a normal fit body can force a fast crappy head kick.

But you need the balance, flexibility, and form, to be able to do it slow and relaxed.

Not taiji slow.. but light shadow box slow

 

[Woldog]

Don't lean forward or backwards.

Do it like this. There is no dogma with hand position, it depends on the range from which you kick

WAS THIS ANOTHER SPACETIME ALT LMAO

 

[CFGroup]

WAS THIS ANOTHER SPACETIME ALT LMAO

Boomp, Boomp, Boomp "Another one bites the dust" Budda Boomp, Boomp, Boomp!

Yippers, I'd recognize that hall way anywhere....and I tried to avoid the SpaceBalls "me kicking for 30 seconds" tutorials like the plague!

 

[shunyata]

Set high volume training on kicking techniques higher on your priority list.

More important then stretching

This plus...

Sit on the floor at home for the next year. Give up on chairs.

Eat your meals sitting cross legged or in half lotus on the floor ( you can use a pillow under the butt if you have hardwood or other unforgiving flooring). If you watch tv on the couch, sit in front of the couch on the floor.

One year of that will really open your hips up. Then the volume kicking training will build the muscles you need and ferment the muscle memory.

 

[Mad Dollar]

Don’t expect stretching to be the key for you! You need more reps, just kick the shit out of the bag, and kick as high as possible with prober technique ! If you do that several times a week you will be high kicking with no problems before the end of the year.!

 

[Gavster]

Go do yoga and stretching as your cheat way up with the kicks, it will also increase your muscle memory. Also adductor stretches, hamstrings, quads, itb.

Other than that just keep kicking and adding an inch higher as you get more relaxed with it. I used to train the 1-2-3... and keep going up to 10 kicks then 10-9-8 down to 1.. I had a couple of heart attacks training like that but my kicks got awesome.

Check if you turn your hips over properly too, both hips should face where the roundhouse power is headed.

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

I'm the op.
I've been focusing on my kicking a lot lately and I already can see some improvements.
-I warm up with shadow kicking, about 15 minutes
-Then I go on the heavy bag where I continue the warmup with 20 low kicks, 20 body kicks and 20 high kicks, on each side
-Then I do a 20 minute workout for power and speed on the heavy bag, but still focusing on my technique.
-And I finish with that oldschool workout, which just kicks my ass
As many have said it on this thread, tma will give you a kicking dexterity that muay thai or kickboxing won't. There is a difference between landing one hard roundhouse on the bag and doing that type of workout. I still look stupid when I do that considering how I suck at it but everyone starts small.
And once in a day, I stretch for 15 minutes, I like the Scott Adkins video that @AndyMaBobs posted above a lot for that.
Naturally, I do a lot of research to improve my combos, try new ones, and to find workout ideas to keep them effective and entertaining.


Of course I still work a bit on my punching but I really want to take profit from this covid situation to put the emphasis on my kicking.
And I don't know if I'm deluding myself but man my shins feel hard. I expected it to take months if not years before seing results but they already feel twice as hard that they were one month ago.