Long Legs

[searcher]

There has been some great advice given in previous posts, so take it all in. I am also in the 6'3"-6'4" range and I also have long legs. I have not been training in TKD for very long but I have been training in the MA's for quite a few years. I have always had a great deal of static flexibility and have always been able to kick over head high (since day 1 of training). I also wanted to get my kicks higher and faster, but until I started working on personal training I was going right past the thing that would help with speed. The obvious things that have already been mentioned are stretching and doing alot of repetition of each kick. The part that has been left out is the need for strength training. Speed and explosion are closely connected to strength. For years many martial artists have stayed away from it because, "it slows you down and makes you stiff." That is a load of bull. Doing low reps with a heavy load will increase strength and speed of the technique. Doing plyos as has been mentioned is very good for teaching your body how to explode, but you also need to strength train. Perform squats, leg press, leg extensions and the like mixed with the Olympic lifts. This will give you gains in your speed of the technique.

The other part of the equation is your reaction time. Do reaction drills to get this up to par. You can play games to help with this. It may sound funny, but playing those hand slapping games that kids play are great for it.

As for your question about long legs and being good kickers, I have always been partial to Andy Hug. He was around 6' and 210 lbs, but he was super fast. I also see all kinds of long leg fighters on the open martial arts circuits and some of them ar extremely fast.

Keep on kicking and it will come.