video of my head kick, what needs to change?

Guards said:
I'd say I train a slightly different school of stand-up than you do, but I watched each of the kicks frame-by-frame, and I picked apart some of what I didn't like... Respectful, positive criticism follows:

1.) A few others have mentioned, your left arm 'drops' or telegraphs your kick like a neon-light to anyone who knows what to look for. You don't want that, at all. And by at all, I mean that left hand should NOT be moving from your preferred 'guard' position while throwing that kick, UNLESS you're with a live opponent and that left hand needs to move in another defensive fashion. Your left arm is the ONLY defense your upper body has while throwing head level kicks with your right leg. This means Kidney, Liver, Solar Plexus, Ribs, Neck, Jaw, Nose, Eyes, Ears... If your left arm is not a shield, you leave yourself COMPLETELY exposed to counter-strikers. When you practice by yourself, use any piece of headgear(hat, headband, helmet, whatever) and physically GRAB ONTO what's on your head to train your hand to stay up in guard and not swing, move, nothing.

2.) I know you're trying to keep your arms relaxed and fluid while throwing kicks, but please, please, please, keep your hands closed. In each of your kicks, there are are clear frames where your right hand is below waist level with your fingers outstretched. Some of them are worse than others, but unless you compete/train ONLY as a stand-up fighter with closed(8-16 oz) gloves, you run the risks of some very, very serious sprains, breaks, or worse. A counter-kick, a slip, a shoot, any number of things could get to your hands at this point, even by freak occurance. Broken fingers and hands don't just end fights, they can ruin careers.

3.) A 'little trick' that works for some, but really whittles down to personal preference, and the specifics of your sport. When throwing a kick that will result in one hand dropping, keep your elbow turned in, instead of out. Keep it a bit closer to your ribs. The 'feel' of the movement should be like throwing a backfist, instead of the 'scooping' downward hand motion. It's a little difficult to describe in only test, but in your pictures, your hand drops with your palm to the rear, back of the hand facing to your front. IF, on the off-chance that something goes awkward, you get countered to the body on the outside of your kick, you'll most likely take some trauma to a fully-extended elbow. Not so good. Recovering your right hand to the 'guard' is also very linear from here. If you swing your hand down, and the palm is facing forward, with the back of the hand to the rear, any counters, even to a fully extended arm, are going to impact muscle tissue and a joint that's ready to move into it's full range of motion. The real advantage comes in the recovery, though. When your leg comes back, and you're moving your right hand back to it's fighting position, it's already a fully cocked fist that can throw uppercuts, body shots, hooks, or block.

Some of these might seem nitpicky, and may not 'work' for you. We're all different fighters, from different schools. If they don't do what you want 'em to do, feel free to throw them aside. I've been training for quite a while, and some of these are things that I've picked up, been taught, learned from experience, or whatever. My game is also a bit more 'round' than just stand-up, though, as I train more for MMA than any other individual sport. You're doing pretty good so far, though. Got some nice basics, but tempering your basics is what separates the good from the great.


this is exactly what I'm looking for, thank you very much ^_^
 
Guards said:
I'd say I train a slightly different school of stand-up than you do, but I watched each of the kicks frame-by-frame, and I picked apart some of what I didn't like... Respectful, positive criticism follows:

1.) A few others have mentioned, your left arm 'drops' or telegraphs your kick like a neon-light to anyone who knows what to look for. You don't want that, at all. And by at all, I mean that left hand should NOT be moving from your preferred 'guard' position while throwing that kick, UNLESS you're with a live opponent and that left hand needs to move in another defensive fashion. Your left arm is the ONLY defense your upper body has while throwing head level kicks with your right leg. This means Kidney, Liver, Solar Plexus, Ribs, Neck, Jaw, Nose, Eyes, Ears... If your left arm is not a shield, you leave yourself COMPLETELY exposed to counter-strikers. When you practice by yourself, use any piece of headgear(hat, headband, helmet, whatever) and physically GRAB ONTO what's on your head to train your hand to stay up in guard and not swing, move, nothing.

2.) I know you're trying to keep your arms relaxed and fluid while throwing kicks, but please, please, please, keep your hands closed. In each of your kicks, there are are clear frames where your right hand is below waist level with your fingers outstretched. Some of them are worse than others, but unless you compete/train ONLY as a stand-up fighter with closed(8-16 oz) gloves, you run the risks of some very, very serious sprains, breaks, or worse. A counter-kick, a slip, a shoot, any number of things could get to your hands at this point, even by freak occurance. Broken fingers and hands don't just end fights, they can ruin careers.

3.) A 'little trick' that works for some, but really whittles down to personal preference, and the specifics of your sport. When throwing a kick that will result in one hand dropping, keep your elbow turned in, instead of out. Keep it a bit closer to your ribs. The 'feel' of the movement should be like throwing a backfist, instead of the 'scooping' downward hand motion. It's a little difficult to describe in only test, but in your pictures, your hand drops with your palm to the rear, back of the hand facing to your front. IF, on the off-chance that something goes awkward, you get countered to the body on the outside of your kick, you'll most likely take some trauma to a fully-extended elbow. Not so good. Recovering your right hand to the 'guard' is also very linear from here. If you swing your hand down, and the palm is facing forward, with the back of the hand to the rear, any counters, even to a fully extended arm, are going to impact muscle tissue and a joint that's ready to move into it's full range of motion. The real advantage comes in the recovery, though. When your leg comes back, and you're moving your right hand back to it's fighting position, it's already a fully cocked fist that can throw uppercuts, body shots, hooks, or block.

Some of these might seem nitpicky, and may not 'work' for you. We're all different fighters, from different schools. If they don't do what you want 'em to do, feel free to throw them aside. I've been training for quite a while, and some of these are things that I've picked up, been taught, learned from experience, or whatever. My game is also a bit more 'round' than just stand-up, though, as I train more for MMA than any other individual sport. You're doing pretty good so far, though. Got some nice basics, but tempering your basics is what separates the good from the great.

nice post........i don't have any real criticism other then increasing your flexibility a little will allow you to get that kick up a little higher...in the case of a much taller opponent. good job btw and also you kind of look like duane ludwig.
 
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