# How to Have Fast Kicks?



## DavyKOTWF (Aug 20, 2018)

What's the best way to develop FAST front kicks?  Just wear ankle weights?


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 20, 2018)

Kick more.


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## DavyKOTWF (Aug 20, 2018)

Besides perhaps ankle weights, I mean are there some things technique wise? Maybe already have 80% of weight on back foot?  Angle hips a certain way?   Anything like that...


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## Martial D (Aug 20, 2018)

train more type less.


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## CB Jones (Aug 20, 2018)

One thing to remember is work on speeding up how fast you chamber the kick.

A faster chamber=faster kick.


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## DavyKOTWF (Aug 20, 2018)

Ok, makes sense.  Thanks CB. 
Martial D needs to take a couple years off and practice his social skills as well as respect.  Take a break sonny.  My ignore button is getting the workout today.  Don't bother trying to get in the last word...it will be like a tree falling in the forest when no one's there, sonny.


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## Headhunter (Aug 20, 2018)

DavyKOTWF said:


> Ok, makes sense.  Thanks CB.
> Martial D needs to take a couple years off and practice his social skills as well as respect.  Take a break sonny.  My ignore button is getting the workout today.  Don't bother trying to get in the last word...it will be like a tree falling in the forest when no one's there, sonny.


He said nothing wrong there. If you're offended by that then you need to toughen up a bit.

You want to get better at spelling? You spell more
You want to get better at driving? You drive more.
You want to run faster? You go running

you want to kick faster? You throw kicks 

Tree falling In the forest and no one there.....mate you're not Bruce Lee don't need to try and talk like him be yourself, be your own man your own martial artist, that's the only true way to honour lees philosophy


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 20, 2018)

The preying mantis master Brendan Lai told me the following method:

After shower, when your body is still wet, throw one front kick. you then check to see if your leg is completely dry.


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## Martial D (Aug 20, 2018)

CB Jones said:


> One thing to remember is work on speeding up how fast you chamber the kick.
> 
> A faster chamber=faster kick.


Unless you don't chamber kicks. I was trained to but some great kickers just throw from the floor.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 20, 2018)

DavyKOTWF said:


> Ok, makes sense.  Thanks CB.
> Martial D needs to take a couple years off and practice his social skills as well as respect.  Take a break sonny.  My ignore button is getting the workout today.  Don't bother trying to get in the last word...it will be like a tree falling in the forest when no one's there, sonny.


You say your ignore button is working, but you disliked my post like 2 hours after you said that. So either youre lying, or it bothered you that much you had to 'unignore' me just to dislike it


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## Martial D (Aug 20, 2018)

kempodisciple said:


> You say your ignore button is working, but you disliked my post like 2 hours after you said that. So either youre lying, or it bothered you that much you had to 'unignore' me just to dislike it


You best show this guy some respect. He may not know the first thing about martial arts, but I bet he has seen every Bruce Lee movie at least twice!


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## drop bear (Aug 20, 2018)




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## dvcochran (Aug 20, 2018)

DavyKOTWF said:


> What's the best way to develop FAST front kicks?  Just wear ankle weights?


I do NOT recommend kicking with weights. You can damage your joints (knees) very easy. Run, stretch, swing with weights. Use them in tension. But the explosive extension of a kick is hard enough to control without added weight. Practice speed kicks into some some kind of resistance, a target. Use a stick or step to force your leg to kick over to improve your chamber. Speed is relative and hard to gauge. A super fast kick alone can be quite ineffective against a quality opponent. I have seen more than a few super fast kicks with a terrible setup or chamber that just did not work.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 20, 2018)

Martial D said:


> You best show this guy some respect. He may not know the first thing about martial arts, but I bet he has seen every Bruce Lee movie at least twice!


plus, he's your dad...or at least I assume he is since he keeps calling you sonny.


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## yak sao (Aug 20, 2018)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> The preying mantis master Brendan Lai told me the following method:
> 
> After shower, when your body is still wet, throw one front kick. you then check to see if your leg is completely dry.



Yeah, then my wife comes in and gripes about the water all over the mirror....


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## yak sao (Aug 20, 2018)

Just as we don't chamber our punches in WC, we also do not chamber our kicks.
Raise the knee, yes, but don't pull it back into a chambered position.

To learn fast kicks,kick slowly. If you always throw your kicks fast, you are relying on momentum and may be covering up bad technique.
If you go slow, you are bringing more muscles into play and have the added :benefit of seeing any flaws in your technique.
After doing this for a while, when you do get back to fast kicks you should see improvement.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 20, 2018)

yak sao said:


> but don't pull it back into a chambered position.


Most of the CMA kick don't pull back to the chambered position. The reason is simple, in CMA a kick can be used to "move in".


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## Martial D (Aug 20, 2018)

kempodisciple said:


> plus, he's your dad...or at least I assume he is since he keeps calling you sonny.


That actually explains so much..


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## yak sao (Aug 20, 2018)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> Most of the CMA kick don't pull back to the chambered position. The reason is simple, in CMA a kick can be used to "move in".



The second video is closer to how we do It in WT.
One of the maxims we use is _every kick is a step and every step is a kick._


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## CB Jones (Aug 20, 2018)

yak sao said:


> To learn fast kicks,kick slowly. If you always throw your kicks fast, you are relying on momentum and may be covering up bad technique.
> If you go slow, you are bringing more muscles into play



To increase fast twitch muscle fibers you either need to do fast explosive movements with light weight or heavier weighted slow movements.

Doing slow movement with less weight and more reps develops slow twitch muscle.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 20, 2018)

CB Jones said:


> To increase fast twitch muscle fibers you either need to do fast explosive movements with light weight or heavier weighted slow movements.
> 
> Doing slow movement with less weight and more reps develops slow twitch muscle.


It does teach you the technique though. When you're kicking slowly, proper technique and balance are much more important, so when you kick more quickly, it's a better overall kick. No clue about the fast twitch slow twitch stuff, it all goes over my head.


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## drop bear (Aug 20, 2018)

CB Jones said:


> To increase fast twitch muscle fibers you either need to do fast explosive movements with light weight or heavier weighted slow movements.
> 
> Doing slow movement with less weight and more reps develops slow twitch muscle.



Yeah i would have said plyometric and a high volume of training.

You also need cardio to be explosive.

Just basically kick so that you are rooted at the end of a three minute session.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 20, 2018)

DavyKOTWF said:


> Besides perhaps ankle weights, ...


Ankle weight is a bad idea. You can injury your knee joint big time.


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## CB Jones (Aug 20, 2018)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> Ankle weight is a bad idea. You can injury your knee joint big time.



Not if you are using them to increase chambering speed.

My son uses ankle weights while just chambering into a side kick position or front kick position as fast as possible because the leg stays perpendicular with the ground it does not put pressure on the knee joint


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## Martial D (Aug 20, 2018)

CB Jones said:


> Not if you are using them to increase chambering speed.
> 
> My son uses ankle weights while just chambering into a side kick position or front kick position as fast as possible because the leg stays perpendicular with the ground it does not put pressure on the knee joint


But wouldn't that pull down on the knee joint though?


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 20, 2018)

CB Jones said:


> Not if you are using them to increase chambering speed.
> 
> My son uses ankle weights while just chambering into a side kick position or front kick position as fast as possible because the leg stays perpendicular with the ground it does not put pressure on the knee joint


Slow speed and weigh may be OK. Fast speed and weight don't go together.


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## CB Jones (Aug 20, 2018)

Martial D said:


> But wouldn't that pull down on the knee joint though?



But how the knee is constructed pulling 5-10 lbs in a straight up and down motion doesn't cause damage


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## yak sao (Aug 21, 2018)

Of course you have to practice fast, but you need to start out learning by being slow, developing proper form and developing smoothness.

Then your technique will be truly fast, not just all jerky and tense.
I've used and taught this method for going on 38 years and it seems to work.


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## DavyKOTWF (Aug 21, 2018)

Thanks all!  
 I'll practice slow to get proper technique and will practice with 2.5 lbs slowly to just raise my knee.  So Yak Sao, that 2nd vid you showed above is what you mean by 
chamber our kicks but just raise the knee?  It's more of a step and kick?  via 'step to kick and kick to step' ?   
   et al,  so to raise the knee and chamber, while leaning body back for balance, then kick and retract, is only for a massive power kick to push? 
  But Yak Sao's fast, 'snap' kick is more for speed, surprise, efficiency, it seems.  Which is the Wing Chun way.


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## Gnarlie (Aug 21, 2018)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> The preying mantis master Brendan Lai told me the following method:
> 
> After shower, when your body is still wet, throw one front kick. you then check to see if your leg is completely dry.


Sounds like it could be slippy.... 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## paitingman (Aug 21, 2018)

1: REPETITION!
2: Explosive muscle training. Sprints and the like.
3: I would say no to leg weights, but kicking in water is good if done correctly. You can be ankle deep or waist deep, just focus on the initial explosion 

Always practice technique


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## Anarax (Aug 21, 2018)

DavyKOTWF said:


> What's the best way to develop FAST front kicks?  Just wear ankle weights?


I would Suggest checking out Bill Wallace's kick training videos on YouTube. He's a world renowned Martial Artist/Kicker.


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## Buka (Aug 21, 2018)

Anarax said:


> I would Suggest checking out Bill Wallace's kick training videos on YouTube. He's a world renowned Martial Artist/Kicker.



He also has a bachelor's degree in Phys Ed and a Master's degree in kinesiology.


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## yak sao (Aug 21, 2018)




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## Anarax (Aug 21, 2018)

Buka said:


> He also has a bachelor's degree in Phys Ed and a Master's degree in kinesiology.


That's right, he's an educated man. Bill is very intelligent and approaches his conditioning scientifically.


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## Jaeimseu (Aug 21, 2018)

I use this exercise to develop rhythm and increase speed, especially for combination kicking. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## yak sao (Aug 21, 2018)

Jaeimseu said:


> I use this exercise to develop rhythm and increase speed, especially for combination kicking.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



And the cool thing is you could practice while walking down the street and people would be none the wiser.


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## Buka (Aug 21, 2018)

The best exercise I’ve found to increase speed in kicking is sprinting. Short distance sprinting.

And obviously, at least I hope it’s obvious, being fit.


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## axelb (Aug 22, 2018)

Increased hip flexor strength for chamber,  quad strength for kick extension. 

Plyometrics after enough strength is built up. 

Flexibility, with increased range in ham strings and hip flexor, the kick can be executed with less resistance.


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## marques (Aug 23, 2018)

DavyKOTWF said:


> What's the best way to develop FAST front kicks?  Just wear ankle weights?


Up to the other options surely valid, I have made it look fast being slow. As most of my training was under the rule 'do it slow', I was forced to hide kicks in footwork, fakes, feints and in combinations with hands. Pure speed was just not an option in regular training. Of course, if I can had speed to my other skills, it is a nightmare for the opponent (I said if I can; or you).


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## axelb (Aug 23, 2018)

marques said:


> Up to the other options surely valid, I have made it look fast being slow. As most of my training was under the rule 'do it slow', I was forced to hide kicks in footwork, fakes, feints and in combinations with hands. Pure speed was just not an option in regular training. Of course, if I can had speed to my other skills, it is a nightmare for the opponent (I said if I can; or you).



This is a great point, outside the physical training of having a fast kick. 
A fast kick can be that you kick before they have the opportunity to recognize you are kicking.

Determine any telegraphing you may be doing when kicking. 
Cover kick execution, someone of my most used combination:
jab, cross, push kick
turning/round kick, push kick.
fake/feint:
feint jab - push kick
fake low kick - push kick
fake jumping front kick, front kick.

timing the front kick to attack on their attack to intercept, learning to read their initializing movements.
I used to drill this frequently:
start with attacked coming with a lunge punch - front leg push kick/teep
drill this static, then move to more live drill moving around
then work the same as static drill with the attack not lunging, but with a cross, or an over hand punch.
progress to a live drill with moving around.

This is a great counter to make your front kick appear fast when it may be an average speed kick, just executing before they register it.


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## JR 137 (Aug 23, 2018)

And along the lines of the last two posts - if the don’t see the kick, it doesn’t matter how slow or fast your kick actually is.  Throw it to or from your opponent’s blind spot, and they’re done.

I say that from personal experience.  There’s a gentleman I regularly spar with on Tuesday nights who’s done that to me several times.  A while back we were doing some point sparring.  He got offline and in his combo I felt a light tap on the side of my head.  I thought it was incidental contact but everyone’s hand went up for a point.  I head “roundhouse kick; point.”  The puzzled look on my face must’ve cued everyone to laugh, and I was told he hit me with a roundhouse to my head.  I never saw it coming.  He’s done it several times since (outside of point sparring), with the latest ones being Tuesday night.  Apparently he got me twice without my knowledge.  Both were a crescent kick that he turned into an axe kick onto my head.  I saw the foot leave the ground, but that’s it.  At the end of the round, I joked that I would’ve been KOed twice if he wanted to follow through (I saw and felt two kicks upside my head that I missed blocking). He and my teacher laughed and said there were two more I never saw.  He showed me what he did after class.  It was a simple getting off line and a fake to get me looking away, followed by his kick.  

It’s like a sucker punch of sorts - impossible to block if you never see it coming.  You wake up wondering what happened


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## Regroove (May 30, 2019)

A couple of key things that works for me:

The set up before the kick
Relax




Octavio Quintero - THE ART OF JKD ONLINE


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## Christopher Adamchek (May 31, 2019)

Dont do ankle weights (not that great for the ankle)

some good training tips for faster kicks

squats (with or without weights)
pistol squats
frog hops
short sprints 
lots of stretching 
hopping kicks
double and triple kicks
kicks from low stances 
kick timing so that the kick appears faster


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## PhotonGuy (Aug 5, 2019)

DavyKOTWF said:


> What's the best way to develop FAST front kicks?  Just wear ankle weights?


No, ankle weights I believe can have a detrimental effect and make you slower. Naturally your kicks will be slower when you use ankle weights do to the added weight. Therefore your body will get used to kicking slower and so your kicks will be slower, the opposite of what you want. If you want to develop speed I would say its best to practice kicking without any weights or resistance.


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 5, 2019)

PhotonGuy said:


> No, ankle weights I believe can have a detrimental effect and make you slower. Naturally your kicks will be slower when you use ankle weights do to the added weight. Therefore your body will get used to kicking slower and so your kicks will be slower, the opposite of what you want. If you want to develop speed I would say its best to practice kicking without any weights or resistance.


Yeah, I think that sort of thing only works right before the kick (tricks the muscles into expecting more resistance), but not as a way of developing speed.


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## jobo (Aug 5, 2019)

PhotonGuy said:


> No, ankle weights I believe can have a detrimental effect and make you slower. Naturally your kicks will be slower when you use ankle weights do to the added weight. Therefore your body will get used to kicking slower and so your kicks will be slower, the opposite of what you want. If you want to develop speed I would say its best to practice kicking without any weights or resistance.


well no, not unless they are hugely large, they will slow acceleration from rest, but only marginal as there weight will be mins cule compared to the weight of your leg they may or may not slow the kicks velocity, or may or may not increase it as the extra momentum t will improve the velocity once you've over come the inertia, dependent on what type of kick

the science is that once you've trained your body to move fast with extra weight, removing that weight will make you faster again in much the same was that srinting with a big rubber band tied to you waist will make you faster when you sprint with out the rubber band.


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## dvcochran (Aug 5, 2019)

jobo said:


> well no, not unless they are hugely large, they will slow acceleration from rest, but only marginal as there weight will be mins cule compared to the weight of your leg they may or may not slow the kicks velocity, or may or may not increase it as the extra momentum t will improve the velocity once you've over come the inertia, dependent on what type of kick
> 
> the science is that once you've trained your body to move fast with extra weight, removing that weight will make you faster again in much the same was that srinting with a big rubber band tied to you waist will make you faster when you sprint with out the rubber band.


That is the best non-answer I have ever read.
Resistance band training is very effective. The resistance is from the ideal direction,  compound, and limited. Adding ankle weights creates brief resistance at the beginning of the motion and then becomes uncontrolled and in the wrong direction as velocity takes over. This out of control motion can be very damaging to the knees from over extension.
I do not know if there are bands that allow a person to do a full high kick but it is a great idea. I picture the band pinned at ground level and strapped to the ankle. For side and roundhouse kicks (any non-front position kick) the wall could be used for balance. This would be excellent strength training.
For speed I strongly suggest working on technique with the mirror and a trainer/instructor. Kicks using a speed bag are very good. DON'T wait for the bag to stop moving and kick it. A LOT.
I hope @DavyKOTWF see this.


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## jobo (Aug 5, 2019)

dvcochran said:


> That is the best non-answer I have ever read.
> Resistance band training is very effective. The resistance is from the ideal direction,  compound, and limited. Adding ankle weights creates brief resistance at the beginning of the motion and then becomes uncontrolled and in the wrong direction as velocity takes over. This out of control motion can be very damaging to the knees from over extension.
> I do not know if there are bands that allow a person to do a full high kick but it is a great idea. I picture the band pinned at ground level and strapped to the ankle. For side and roundhouse kicks (any non-front position kick) the wall could be used for balance. This would be excellent strength training.
> For speed I strongly suggest working on technique with the mirror and a trainer/instructor. Kicks using a speed bag are very good. DON'T wait for the bag to stop moving and kick it. A LOT.
> I hope @DavyKOTWF see this.


it's a none answer as no one is saying what the weight of the anckle weights are and as such they could range from not at at noticeable to so heavy you can't get you foot of the floor. in between there will be a sweet spot that allows extra resistance with control, I'm not sure they are worth the trouble myself, but they won't have the effect of making you slower, even if they don't do much for your speed, but I practice all my kicks with a fairly hefty pair of urban " police" boots on, as that what is  I likely need to kick with, if I needed to kick someone, so doing that or having ankle weight that replicate the weight of your foot ware isn't a bad idea, if you don't want to kick a bag with your shoes on


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## dvcochran (Aug 5, 2019)

jobo said:


> it's a none answer as no one is saying what the weight of the anckle weights are and as such they could range from not at at noticeable to so heavy you can't get you foot of the floor. in between there will be a sweet spot that allows extra resistance with control, I'm not sure they are worth the trouble myself, but they won't have the effect of making you slower, even if they don't do much for your speed


For those with common sense the question of weight is implied. You run. Have you ever used the commercially available ankle weights? I am sure the OP was referring to them. They range from around 1/2 pound up to 10 pounds. If you are stupid (like I was) you wear two weights on the same leg.


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## jobo (Aug 5, 2019)

dvcochran said:


> For those with common sense the question of weight is implied. You run. Have you ever used the commercially available ankle weights? I am sure the OP was referring to them. They range from around 1/2 pound up to 10 pounds. If you are stupid (like I was) you wear two weights on the same leg.


well exactly, a range half a pound to ten is huge and where you choose to be in that range will make a significant difference to both restannce and control


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## Buka (Aug 6, 2019)

Kicking with ankle weights is like snorting cocaine. Immediately upon removing the weights you can feel your feet flying really fast.......for about ten seconds. 

Then the feeling is gone but you want it again.


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## _Simon_ (Aug 6, 2019)

Buka said:


> Kicking with ankle weights is like snorting cocaine. Immediately upon removing the weights you can feel your feet flying really fast.......for about ten seconds.
> 
> Then the feeling is gone but you want it again.


Hahaha!


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## JP3 (Aug 6, 2019)

CB Jones said:


> Not if you are using them to increase chambering speed.
> 
> My son uses ankle weights while just chambering into a side kick position or front kick position as fast as possible because the leg stays perpendicular with the ground it does not put pressure on the knee joint


CB, that's not... quite... accurate.  If your son's lower leg is hanging down perpendicular to the ground, there's no lateral stress on the knee joint, but there an extra bit of axial stress running down the axis of the joint.  I'd bet it doesn't matter for a young person though.


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## MartialHermit8 (Dec 14, 2020)

In my experience, physical exercises only go so far, the best way to get faster kicks to achieve a deeper state of relaxation before launching it. Practice standing meditations, sitting mediations, try to relax and explode, etc.


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## Gerry Seymour (Dec 14, 2020)

MartialHermit8 said:


> In my experience, physical exercises only go so far, the best way to get faster kicks to achieve a deeper state of relaxation before launching it. Practice standing meditations, sitting mediations, try to relax and explode, etc.


I don't think it's quite reliable to expect to have a chance to meditate before a kick in most situations.


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