In TKD Poomsae, every technique should have a brief pause at the end of it.
Improving side kick
- Thread starter andyjeffries
- Start date
In TKD Poomsae, every technique should have a brief pause at the end of it.
Because your ignorance is showing. Doing ladder stretches won't have any impact at all on AndyJeffries tweaking of some extremely fine details of his sidekick.
It's not so much that I disagree with you, per se, so much as I disagree with posting from a position of ignorance. I find it unlikely that someone with no training is going to be able to help a high Dan holder improve these details.
But hey, I'm open to having my mind changed.
So tell us, Nate, when performing a sidekick in Kukkiwon poomsae, what is the correct position for the hips, shoulders, torso and arms? Is it acceptable to rotate the kick-side shoulder forward, or does it need to be perpendicular to the floor? Do the hips need to stay aligned with the hips, or is a degree of misalignment a good idea?
Now tell us WHY you believe each of these answers to be correct.
Gnarlie
Master of Arts
I would have said the same...but I have to admit, I used to do the side kick with the dropped shoulder, and in the last few years have changed to shoulder back, meaning that I have had to retrain with a completely different muscle set to bear the weight of a held side kick. I am still not where I want to be either, I have a flexibility 'blind spot' between kicking high towards 11 o'clock (ok) and 1 o'clock, (also ok). Kicking toward 12 o'clock means I lose about 20% of the height and about 50% of the power AND means I can't seem to hold the kick out as well as I would like. Improving this has been an ongoing battle of will over the last 15 years. I was OK when we could drop the shoulder and effectively kick a bit backwards.
Thousand Kicks
Green Belt
I'll add my 2 cents.
When I first started TKD I was shown that the chamber for a side kick was with the base foot pivoted and the knee and ankle in line with the target. After that you simply extended the leg.
My current instructor chambers his side kick similar to a front kick. So, when he extends, or kicks, he pivots his base foot and extends his kick in one motion. He said he was taught that way because you get more of your body into the kick and the power has a spiral to it at the point of impact. Instead of just piercing with the kick the pivoting of the base foot is turning your kicking foot kind of like a boxer snapping his hand over at the end of a punch.
When I first started TKD I was shown that the chamber for a side kick was with the base foot pivoted and the knee and ankle in line with the target. After that you simply extended the leg.
My current instructor chambers his side kick similar to a front kick. So, when he extends, or kicks, he pivots his base foot and extends his kick in one motion. He said he was taught that way because you get more of your body into the kick and the power has a spiral to it at the point of impact. Instead of just piercing with the kick the pivoting of the base foot is turning your kicking foot kind of like a boxer snapping his hand over at the end of a punch.
A valid version, and very useful for sparring. Bill "Superfoot" Wallace advocates this technique.
But this thread is specifically about the KKW version as it's performed in poomsae. This technique would not be recommended.
TrueJim
Master Black Belt
Speaking for myself, I find the Kyu Hung Lee videos on YouTube to be what I aspire to in terms of poomsae. For example, Taegeuk Sa Jang, about 20 seconds into the video,
I'd say that is one difference between someone who studies the art, and someone who practices it full time as a profession.
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I don't think anybody is advocating holding the kick, except in the very specific case of KKW poonsae performance.
Which is what we're talking about here...
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Gotcha. My bad.
Bad Buka! Bad! Now go sit in the corner!
The reason for the pause, in case anybody not familiar with TKD poomsae is wondering, is for the judges. "Speed hides slop" is a truism. A slight pause at the end of a technique allows the people scoring the form to really see the technique; is the knee fully extended. How's the foot position? What would be the contact point for the kick? OMG! Is he adjusting his cup???
Gnarlie
Master of Arts
We use the chamber as that's what's required for KKW forms. This is particularly emphasised when Korean KKW instructors teach Kodeup Yeop Chagi, the double side kick at the start of Koryo - less of a chamber for the low kick but a proper rechamber is necessary before the high kick. Is this in line with other's experience?
TrueJim
Master Black Belt
I was taught that the first low kick isn't really a kick at all, even though it's called a kick. Rather, the first low kick is you hooking your foot behind the opponent's knee and pulling his knee toward you so that he'll drop toward you. Then the second kick is you kicking him as he falls toward you. I was told that that's why the rechamber is so important: it's not just a rechamber, it's actually you pulling the opponent's knee toward you to make him drop.
In Po Eun Hyung we do two full side kicks, one low, one high. When practicing double side kick in drills it is most commonly does as a low feint (with minimal chamber) followed by a re-clambering (full chamber) for the higher kick. It can also be done as a block and then a higher kick.
In one of the training videos released by the Kukkiwon, the applications section shows the first kick being used to jam a kick from your opponent.
Certainly not the only viable application for the combo, but shows why a full chamber wouldn't be necessary.
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chrispillertkd
Senior Master
Do you have a video of this? I've never seen a version of Po-Eun with double side kicks in it and am interested in seeing what it looks like. Is the high kick added right after the pressing kick (low side kick) in movement #3?
Pax,
Chris
Sorry I meant to say Kwan Gye Hyung. I was half asleep.
chrispillertkd
Senior Master
Do you actually do the first kick as a side kick? The ITF has it as a side pressing kick, which is different from the "normal" side piercing kick.
Pax,
Chris
