Chambering the kick

terryl965

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What is the single most important way to chamber a kick in your mind and if you could go back in time what would you have done to make chambering better for today world?
Terry
 
I think drilling the chamber is important to do. I see a lot of kicks where you can tell an important element of chambering is completely missing. Breaking down the kick to this point is a good one for those who tend to scoop.
 
Sometimes when we get sloppy with chambering, we will get kick paddles out. We grab a partner and do roundhouses without putting our foot down. On our instructors command we will keep kicking. This requires us to focus on chambering after each kick to prepare for the next kick. This makes such a difference when doing patterns and other technique. You can really tell if someone drops a chamber, it just looks so much better to see a nice front kick, chamber, land, instead of front kick drop next move. It is nice asthetically and from a practical standpoint (get ready for nezt kick).
 
Welcome to MT TKD Jen!

I view and train knee kick as the chamber for both front and round kicks. We do knee kicks on muay thai pads for power or paddles for speed.

Chambering for side kick is different and we don't train this in isolation, but we probably should....same for back kick.

Rechambering is another area that we work on since we don't do too many single kicks, rather, I want my folks to think in terms of combination kicking.

Miles
 
Miles said:
Rechambering is another area that we work on since we don't do too many single kicks, rather, I want my folks to think in terms of combination kicking.

Miles

That's a good point, I guess I was focusing on chambers while performing patterns, because my instructor showed me the difference between a "kick-chamber-land" and a "kick-land" In patterns when often you only do 1 kick an accentuated chamber looks kinda cool to me. But you are right as far as the combinations reply, I didn't think of that!
 
Some things to consider about chambering pre-kick:

1) A proper chamber will not expose you unnecessarily.

2) A proper chamber will not necessitate major balance adjustments.

3) A proper chamber will aid in target acqusition.

4) A proper chamber is not a move unto itself, but rather a transitory movement used in conjuction with other offensive or defensive movements. A solitary chamber is called a telegraph.

Some things to consider about re-chambering post-kick:

1) The vast majority of the time your kick will retract along the same line it entered. The exception would be straight leg kicks such as the crescent kicks, axe kicks or spinning heel kicks. These type kicks require follow through not re-chambering.

2) You should always endeavor to retract the kick faster than it went out. A hanging kick is a gift to your opponent if they know what they are doing,and you can't assume they don't

3) Examine your method of kicking to insure that post-kick you are not dead-legging into the opponent placing yourself unwillingly in a vulnerable position.

4) Re-chambering should aid in your balance, not fight against you.

Just another voice in the wilderness.

Respects,
Bill Parsons
Triangle Kenpo Institute
 
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