Hey guys. Had a fair few more sessions now (last session was my eighth) and feel like it's really starting to click.
We've been practicing kicks and the first poomse (four directional punching). I feel like my side (sword edge) kick is my best and my front kick is probably my weakest. I'm really enjoying it though and wish we had more than two sessions a week.
Is there anything I can be practicing specifically outside of the dojang to get better at everything?
There's
lots you can do. For starters, try the following:
(i) take three or four basic kicks---front snap kick, rear leg side kick, some front leg side kick (slide or stationary), turning kick, maybe back kick---nothing really elaborate---and for each one of them, throw fifty of each of on the left leg, then then on the right leg. This takes very little space, and repetition (in good form) is the mother of all progress. You'll notice a big difference in your skill level (though not right away... it's cumulative).
(ii) Take each of those kicks, and on the leg where you do the kick with most assurance, do ten
very slow reps---as slow as you can and still be in balance. As time goes on, try slowing the kick down even further, maintaining good form and as close to perfect balance as you can. When you can freeze the kick in an arbitrary position---anywhere along the trajectory of the kick---try doing it with ankle weights. When you get that down, so you know what it feels like to do it right, try doing it on your weaker leg. Nailing the kinaesthetic sense of doing it on the strong leg makes it easier, I've found, to then do it on the weaker leg, because you now know what the sensation of doing it right is.
(iii) Put an erasable chalk mark or some colored tape on a wall and kick to that mark. When you can nail the contact with complete accuracy, change the height of the mark.
Many thanks for all the advice - I know it's important to learn the basics first and move on from there, I just like being challenged all the time and doing lots of running races (while good for conditioning) does get a little boring after a while.
I also feel like my technique goes out the window when we're told to practice a technique quickly, is there any way to combat that?
Yup---do it slowly, as per (ii), on your own!
A very good book, full of ideas for practice and refinement of technique outside the doj., is Loren Christensen's
Solo Training. Very, very good, demanding exercises---way more than you'll have a chance to do in any given week, so you've got a lot of variety there and won't ever get bored.
Good luck with your training!
