kicking air?

[dangermonkey]

when crocop first came out, someone (quadros) said that he didn't have any training partners, that he just "kicked air."

my question is, do any of you have difficulty with just kicking air? as in, working your teep or teh (spelling?) and not hitting bags/pads...

for me, master usually has me working with air, he says it helps to work balance and technique. but then when it's time to work the pads, or when it's time to spar, i'm just not used to the change in weight, and it totally throws me off.

what do you guys think? anyone else have trouble with this?

 

[Evil Eye Gouger]

when crocop first came out, someone (quadros) said that he didn't have any training partners, that he just "kicked air."

my question is, do any of you have difficulty with just kicking air? as in, working your teep or teh (spelling?) and not hitting bags/pads...

for me, master usually has me working with air, he says it helps to work balance and technique. but then when it's time to work the pads, or when it's time to spar, i'm just not used to the change in weight, and it totally throws me off.

what do you guys think? anyone else have trouble with this?

I honestly can't say that I've had trouble with this.

Being able to kick without resistance is very important so you don't lose balance when you miss.

You need to practice kicking moving targets, the heavy bag and the air to make sure you can keep balance in all cases.

 

[Brandinho]

You should be working on shadow boxing and fighting air quite a bit. They are both totally different from each other (air vs pads, bag), and this will teach balance and allow you to focus on technique. Make sure to do this in front of a mirror, of course.

 

[Corey123]

I honestly can't say that I've had trouble with this.

Being able to kick without resistance is very important so you don't lose balance when you miss.

You need to practice kicking moving targets, the heavy bag and the air to make sure you can keep balance in all cases.

I agree.



Kicking air (shadow boxing) is good to help you work on your technique, timing, coordination, and speed but it shouldn't be the only thing that you do in your training.

 

[IndyCovaHart]

I don't like hitting air because I end up fully-extending and straining my joints.

 

[Brazilian HKD]

I don't like hitting air because I end up fully-extending and straining my joints.

yup, thats why you never should do it with full force

 

[Gregster]

for me, master usually has me working with air, he says it helps to work balance and technique. but then when it's time to work the pads, or when it's time to spar, i'm just not used to the change in weight, and it totally throws me off.

what do you guys think? anyone else have trouble with this?

Your instructor is absolutely right.

Kicking air forces you to work on balance, coordination, and technique. When working the bag or pads, the temptation is to just muscle every kick and try to apply sheer brute force and ignore developing subtleties in your technique that will make you a better, more powerful kicker.

On the other end of the spectrum there is the McDojo ballerina, who kicks nothing but air and is a piss-poor fighter who throws love-tap kicks and loses his balance when he connects with an opponent.

My philosophy is how I trained: proper technique involves using a range of methods.

1) kick air to develop speed, balance, coordination, and learn the kinesthetics of the technique so you know how your body feels when throwing a good kick. As has been said before, avoid going all-out kicking the air or you'll get pain in your joints from snapping them around.

2) focus mitts to develop...well, focus. And speed.

3) Heavy bags and partners with air shields to develop raw power and get yourself used to the feel of connecting with an opponent in a fight. Doing so at first will unbalance you; give it time, it'll pass with practice.

 

[ANdyLaU]

yup, thats why you never should do it with full force

You sure about this? I shadow box using the Bas workout tape at full force. I don't think it causes much problem.

 

[phenomfan1529]

I don't like hitting air because I end up fully-extending and straining my joints.

yeah same here

 

[moodymikey]

punching at full force is going to damage your shoulder joints, and kicking at full force can easily pull your knee joints. you should never shadowbox at full force

 

[Evil Eye Gouger]

Well, it really depends on how strong your joints are. Lots of shadowboxing/air kicking at a lower intensity will build them up and make them much more resistant.

 

[dangermonkey]

i agree with the point that too much air kicking leads to pansy-ass kicks when it come to sparring. and i do agree with the rest of you who say that air kicking develops balance, technique, etc...

another problem though: sometimes i find it hard to concentrate when i have no target. i've tried visualizing oppenents and all, but still, air just seems to bore me...

 

[Gregster]

ianother problem though: sometimes i find it hard to concentrate when i have no target. i've tried visualizing oppenents and all, but still, air just seems to bore me...

Yeah, kicking air does lack the intrinsic reward and satisfaction that you get from beating the hell out of a solid object. But not all training is exciting; quite a lot of it, especially developing the critical fundamentals, comes from things like dull, boring, repetitive drills that make good technique second nature.

 

[PariahCarey]

I punch and kick air, it has definietly helped my balance and technique...but nothing beats the heavy bag...just so much fun to put some power into your shots...

 

[Jake Martin]

Just don't fully extend your punches and especially not your kicks. I thought that was common sense, though.

 

[Spoonman7]

Shadow boxing/kicking helps me a lot, punches are harder to maintain so I throw many more of them when I do shadow but I do work the kicks in, the great thing about shadow kicking is that you can throw them full power and work on technique, speed, balance. When you kick a pad or bag after doing some good shadow kicking, you will see the difference, I guarantee it.