Kicking Blues

[terryl965]

How many have you gone though the kicking blues, right now I'm having a hard time getting my legs to coroperate with the rest of my body. the right leg is about ready for some great workouts but the left leg is keeping it back, it has been week and no power not even with the back and or sidekick. I have had this problem once before but it was so long ago I forgot how to work it out. Any and all help is appreciated.

 

[Xue Sheng]

My left has not been the same since the tree hit me (seriously) and now that I am suppose to be throwing a WHOLE lot of kicks every day all I do is give the left a break early on so it can catch up to the right in height and speed. I do not expect as much from my left in the beginning but I do expect the same at the end as I do for the right

 

[terryl965]

So anything that can help me with this very piss me off problem?

 

[Xue Sheng]

I have noticed the left is taking less time to catch up as I go on with this if that helps

 

[terryl965]

I have noticed the left is taking less time to catch up as I go on with this if that helps

Thanks I will give it a try.

 

[thardey]

How many have you gone though the kicking blues, right now I'm having a hard time getting my legs to coroperate with the rest of my body. the right leg is about ready for some great workouts but the left leg is keeping it back, it has been week and no power not even with the back and or sidekick. I have had this problem once before but it was so long ago I forgot how to work it out. Any and all help is appreciated.

I just fought through this, myself. I finally figured out what I was doing. It may help, it may not.

My timing was off on one side (my left, as well). Particularly round kicks and "hook kicks" or heel kicks. It felt like either my hip was going to come out of joint, or I was way off balance.

Just for some reason one day I re-arranged the natural timing on that side. For me, I was turning my hip over a split-second too soon, so I wasn't using the best muscles to lift my leg.

I had to lower the kick on my left side, and do it slow, until it felt natural and balanced. Then raise the kick up a little, and do it slow again. Keep raising it until it feels wrong. Then try doing things in different order. Try turning your hips over at different times during the kick, twist your foot at different times, watch your hands to see if you are throwing them around to keep your balance. Make sure your head is upright and that you are not looking down. Stuff like that. Experiment with your kick, and don't "force" an awkward movement.

After that, when you're warm, stretch! See if you can get a partner to help you -- stretch all kicking postitions, having someone lift your leg. It could very well be a tight muscle, and that's it!

Good luck with all that!

 

[granfire]

Right handed?


The left is my weak side, period!

I just plug along, try to do the kicks with the left before I get tired, or when we do 'focus kicks' medium speed while grabbing onto the wall or door frame I try to sneak in a couple extras on the left.

 

[bluekey88]

I've been working on a similar problem. After a prolonged (6 week) break from all activity after herniating a disc in my back...I now find my left side balance (and thus speed and power) are exactly jack and defecatory refuse. I've been doing a combination of over-training the left side combined with sensitivity training to ferret out technical issues. (Basically, the two things that have already been suggested above )

I don't do these things at the same time though. I do one or the other. Either slow to moderate kicking focusing on balance and body mechanics. OR I work on speed power and flow doing more work with my left than my right.

It's starting to come back together.

Peace,
Erik

 

[Xue Sheng]

And another thing

Slow down the kicks... taiji speed... don't depend on momentum. This has helped me in the past.

I have no idea what kicks you are doing but this is what I was doing

Slow from heal kick followed by a slow back kick
Variations let your foot go to the floor between kicks and don't let your foot go to the floor between kicks

Also so a from heal kick and then with your leg still up move your leg to the side to a side kick and keeping your leg up move it around to a rear heal kick then bring the leg down DO NOT touch the floor, go back to a front heal kick and then reverse.

Do both legs in all drills

In my first post I was talking specifically of what would be similar to what you probably call a front snap kick

 

[Miles]

Good luck Terry! Just got thru physical therapy on my left knee and the extra weight-lifting and resistance band training really helped. Maybe if you did the same it might help.

Miles

 

[terryl965]

Good luck Terry! Just got thru physical therapy on my left knee and the extra weight-lifting and resistance band training really helped. Maybe if you did the same it might help.

Miles

Thanks Miles, it is just so ackward not to be able to kick like before. After almost a year I guess it just takes time.

 

[blackxpress]

Are you sure your problem is technical and not physical? Is your left leg really weaker than it was before or does it just seem that way? The reason I ask is that (according to my Chiropractor, at least) spinal alignment problems can cause weakness in the limbs. Don't know if you believe in Chiropractic or not but was wondering if you had sustained any kind of injury recently. I'm not a doctor or a chiropractor but thought I'd throw that out there for your consideration.

 

[terryl965]

Are you sure your problem is technical and not physical? Is your left leg really weaker than it was before or does it just seem that way? The reason I ask is that (according to my Chiropractor, at least) spinal alignment problems can cause weakness in the limbs. Don't know if you believe in Chiropractic or not but was wondering if you had sustained any kind of injury recently. I'm not a doctor or a chiropractor but thought I'd throw that out there for your consideration.

I see the Chiropractor once a month, my problem is due to health reason I did not really do any hard kicking in a year. When I was clear to start training again my right had power and the left just seems weeker also the peole I kick concur the left side is weeker. I believe it is simple mechanics not turning and rotating the hips like I do with the right. Thank you for the input.

 

[Decker]

After getting my heavy bag, the flaws in my left roundhouse's technique really shine so much, they hurt. Somehow, my hips and right foot just refuse to move in harmony to create the pivot and hip power present in my right roundhouse...

Still working on refining technique of my front, side and roundhouse kicks. Hitting a bag really does more for training than just kicking air.

 

[terryl965]

After getting my heavy bag, the flaws in my left roundhouse's technique really shine so much, they hurt. Somehow, my hips and right foot just refuse to move in harmony to create the pivot and hip power present in my right roundhouse...

Still working on refining technique of my front, side and roundhouse kicks. Hitting a bag really does more for training than just kicking air.

Yes it does bag training is the greatest.

 

[K31]

Practice balance drills.

My right foot was one of the first places I got arthritis and so it is one of the most effected. I find that I can kick much better with my right for the simple matter than I am balancing on my "good" (left) foot when I'm using my right.

 

[Decker]

Yeah, you're very right. I find when I can perform a technique (often a kick) in slow motion throughout the whole range of movement with perfect balance, I have a much easier time adding speed, accuracy and power.

Having just refined my left roundhouse by a very satisfactory degree using abovementioned method, as well as testing it out on my heavy bag, I feel very, very good now. ^_^