# How Many Kicks do you practice



## Yoshiyahu (Dec 6, 2008)

At many Wing Chun Kuens they practice 1000 front punches.

But they do practice that many kicks.

How many kicks do you practice at your Kuen.

*My Sihing once said* "I was taught to practice One thousand Punches, One Thousand Sit Ups, One thousand Push Ups and One thousand kicks everyday. This make you strong and when you hit or kick someone they are going to feel like they been kicked or punched by a mack truck."

So I was woundering do you guys practice your kicks as diligently as you do your punches. Do you use a heavy bag to practice your front kicks and side kicks. I would think since the front and side kick are the most powerful it would be advantageous to practice on 200lb heavy bag. So when you kick your foe he will feel like he been kicked by a foot ball player.


I have heard on other forums that Sifus teach you should kick only 200 hundred times or 321 times. But I was woundering doesn't that kinda of leave the body uneven?


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## mook jong man (Dec 7, 2008)

I'm not with a school any more but i suppose i would probably practice punching a little bit more than kicking . But when i do practice kicking and I'm training solo i tend to do a lot of snap kicks (groin kick) on the bottom of the heavy bag trying to make it bounce up .

 My heavy bag has sand bags in its core so its pretty heavy , and is mounted on a heavy duty spring so it doesn't shake the crap out of the house ( its hanging outside under a pergola that is connected to the house ).

 I usually do thrust kicks on it as well , i also have it on a pulley system so i can lower it down to train my hook kick ( shin kick to thigh). I also have a contraption that used to be a heavy bag stand (from years ago when i had nowhere to hang a bag) i have modified it by wrapping lots of padding around the square steel tubing at knee height and there are places on it that will hold weight plates so it doesn't move much.

 I use that for training my low heel kick , low side kick trying to develop that bone crushing power to destroy someones kneecap or shin , i also glued plywood skids on the bottom of it so it can move a bit .

 Having weight plates stacked on it forces me to sink down and have a good stance and actually move the the thing several inches with full power kicks and not have the recoil come back through my leg and disrupt my stance . 

I recently acquired another heavy bag a smaller one that i found in the garbage bin , perfectly good condition , nothing wrong with it , looked like it hardly ever been hit , i use that one more for speed work .

Thai pads are pretty good for training kick combinations on if you've got somebody who's a good feeder , bit of a headache if they don't know how to hold them properly .

 It adds a bit of a reflex and mobility component to it as well as conditioning if you go hard enough rather than mindlessly churning out kicks on a heavy bag (although that does have its place to hardwire the neural pathways) .

So in summary i do like kicking and try to practice it diligently as the punching , but i'm also rather fond of elbow strikes and knee strikes as well , basically i think i just like hitting things , nothing better for getting rid of the aggro in my opinion .


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## Yoshiyahu (Dec 7, 2008)

Awesome Mook Jong Man, That sounds like a great work out. Have you notice a difference in your kicks and power?

Why don't Wing Chun Guys practice kicks as much as a punches?


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## mook jong man (Dec 7, 2008)

Yes i have noticed a big increase in power , i seem to get more of a hip action into the kicks than i used to and this seems to add a little bit more penetration into the kick .

 I also make sure i practice the forms reasonably often because as we all know even if we are only practicing SLT or pivoting we are still building a strong foundation from which to launch powerful hand strikes or kicks .

 As for why Wing Chun people train punching more than kicking it probably just comes down to laziness i think , it takes a little bit more physical effort to kick than it does to punch .

It could also be that for most situations the handwork is more than adequate to take care of business so they probably think why should they bother spending so much time with training low kicking .


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## Yoshiyahu (Dec 10, 2008)

Excellent Post I love your feed back.




mook jong man said:


> Yes i have noticed a big increase in power , i seem to get more of a hip action into the kicks than i used to and this seems to add a little bit more penetration into the kick .
> 
> I also make sure i practice the forms reasonably often because as we all know even if we are only practicing SLT or pivoting we are still building a strong foundation from which to launch powerful hand strikes or kicks .
> 
> ...


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## profesormental (Dec 11, 2008)

Greetings.

Remember that in Southern Chinese systems, specially Wing Chun, the legs are for a firm base and foundation for strikes, takedowns and controlling attackers.

There are a series of kicks which are very effective and powerful though...

Yet every time you practice a powerful punch, you are working your legs to transfer that energy to the target.

Also, knowledge of advanced kicking techniques is not something everyone knows... and few have the skills to manage good kicks after old age...

Has to do with proper mechanics of the hips.

Yet managing a high number of kicks is exhausting also... good exercise though!

Juan M. Mercado


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## Yoshiyahu (Dec 11, 2008)

Good training for kicks?

Practice Chain Kicks

If you are old then you may need to take extra time strecthing

As for Kicks being exhausting. How do you think those shaolin men were able to do all those jump kicks and flips with out getting exhauster. Answer is you have to build up your cardio. Meaning Running every day and practicing kicks everyday. If you Strecth before then run then practice kicks then strecth again your kicks will become easier to do.

Cardio And Strecthing is the answer!



profesormental said:


> Greetings.
> 
> Remember that in Southern Chinese systems, specially Wing Chun, the legs are for a firm base and foundation for strikes, takedowns and controlling attackers.
> 
> ...


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