Taebek

[Manny]

Last thursday I had troubles with Taebek poomsae, sambonim showed me the first part of it and I tried to memoriced this, howevere I am having serius problems trying to do the side kick on the first half of the poomsae. My stances,defenses and pucnhes are very good but the da..... side kicks are not high enough and I loose my balance.

I know I will need thousands of reps of this poomsae to become proficient with the side kick but as times passes by my kicks suffer from aging, my hips are not as good as years ago, to do the rottation and the the trust from haktary sogui.

Manny

 

[taekwondodo]

Side kicks are very hard to do if the legs are not strong and the muscles are not flexible. Right now your legs and muscles are very tight.

If I may recommend few things:
1. stretch your calves, your quads, and your hamstrings, and also your hip flexers. Take a yoga class
2. developed your quad muscles by doing squats, lunges, leg press, leg extend. First slowly and then faster. Slowly is for building the muscles. Fast is for power. Take a yoga class
3. stretch and developed your inner and outer thighs and take a yoga class
4. take yoga class.

If you can do all of those, then you will developed very good side kicks. Did I mention to take a yoga class?

Good luck.

 

[terryl965]

Or monny you an do what almost all of the Great G.M.'s did years ago, that would be practice the sidekick more times than you can count and continue to practice the sidekick until you have nothing left and then go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again.

 

[Miles]

The side kicks in TB are difficult because you are doing them statically (unlike say, in Taeguek 4). That is wholly a matter of strength and flexibility (you can't have flexibility without a certain amount of strength).

I suggest you do side kicks slowly, starting in a 4 count motion while holding a chair or a wall. Hold the leg out as high as you can for as long as you can.

Good luck!

 

[dortiz]

Manny,
in general but especially for this situation where you are static, I find focusing on the planted foot and turning it, the most helpful. Try to find the power in that pivot of the planted foot. The sidekick tends to fix it self if you do.

 

[Gnarlie]

Hello, I'm new here. I reaslise this is an old thread, but as it's something that plagued me for ages, I thought I would comment.

I have had similar problems with side kicks for years, particularly those that come off of hakdari seogi (You'll be pleased to know there are more of the blighters in Pyong Won).

What I find helpful is as dortiz says, turning the standing foot, but at the same time as you turn, moving the chambered knee higher, with the foot away from the standing leg, prior to initiation of the kick. The higher you can chamber the foot with it directed at the kick destination, the easier it is to maintain height through the kick.

G

 

[granfire]

Something I learned from a ballet teacher:
Imagine having a string come out of the top of your head that holds you up. It helps me to stand tall and more balanced.

 

[lifespantkd]

Welcome, Gnarlie!

Wow! This is an old thread! But, it's a great topic. I can relate to certain techniques requiring different training with an older body. I have found that I am able to improve side kicks by thinking about their individual aspects and working toward improving them (e.g., balance, hip flexibility, strength needed for the position of the kick). There are lots of ways of doing that. A quick search of youtube turned up this video focusing just on improving side kicks:

Of course, the students are young and very flexible, but the video gives an idea of the kind of training one can do besides just attempting a particular kick while doing a particular poomsae repeatedly.

Cynthia

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

At 1:59 on the youtube video, he refers to "hiking". I've never heard that term - have you??

 

[lifespantkd]

No, I've never heard the term "hiking" in that context.

Cynthia

 

[lifespantkd]

I've just had a side conversation with someone much more experienced than I about the video clip I posted in this thread, Grandmaster Al Cole. While the drill above demonstrates strength and flexibility, it also demonstrates incorrect technique. To see the incorrect technique, compare it to the side kicks in this video of Taebek:

Note that the side kick appears identical to a back kick at its completion. That's what we're shooting for, even if we're trying to do a focused drill on some aspect of the overall execution of the kick.

Thank you, Al!

Cynthia

 

[msmitht]

I've just had a side conversation with someone much more experienced than I about the video clip I posted in this thread, Grandmaster Al Cole. While the drill above demonstrates strength and flexibility, it also demonstrates incorrect technique. To see the incorrect technique, compare it to the side kicks in this video of Taebek:

Note that the side kick appears identical to a back kick at its completion. That's what we're shooting for, even if we're trying to do a focused drill on some aspect of the overall execution of the kick.

Thank you, Al!

Cynthia

the technique was incorrect in the first video. Both posture and pivot neede work but I think that the drill was about extention. I disagree with comment "looks like a back kick on completion". It looked exactly like a side kick should. A back kick, done correctly(not a back spin side either), should have the knee pointing down and the lower back facing the target on full extention.

 

[oftheherd1]

At 1:59 on the youtube video, he refers to "hiking". I've never heard that term - have you??

We used to use that expression when I was younger. It could be used of people or animals. For example, the dog hiked up his rear leg and wet on the fire plug.

 

[mastercole]

Back kick, whether executed with the rear leg, or lead leg has same basic (rudimentary) ending shape as side kick, executed with either the rear or lead leg, according to the people I learned it from.

Here are some comparisons of the ending shapes of both side kick (done with both a forward and backward turn) and back kick. GM Shin also comments that side kick and back kick are generally considered in the back kick group. http://www.flickr.com/groups/1856955@N21/

There are endless variations, large and small, of side kick and back kick like any technique, depending on situation, or, depending on who you ask. However, there is not a lot of variation in technique the closer you get to the source (KTA/Kukkiwon/WTF)

 

[msmitht]

Back kick, whether executed with the rear leg, or lead leg has same basic (rudimentary) ending shape as side kick, executed with either the rear or lead leg, according to the people I learned it from.

Here are some comparisons of the ending shapes of both side kick (done with both a forward and backward turn) and back kick. GM Shin also comments that side kick and back kick are generally considered in the back kick group. http://www.flickr.com/groups/1856955@N21/

There are endless variations, large and small, of side kick and back kick like any technique, depending on situation, or, depending on who you ask. However, there is not a lot of variation in technique the closer you get to the source (KTA/Kukkiwon/WTF)

My late gm used to say the difference was in the chamber and the hip position. Knee down for back, up for side.

 

[mastercole]

I learned the kick has three shapes.

-The first shape, is like all other kicks, the ankle of the kicking leg is brought next to the supporting leg's knee to create the initial chamber. This is a short motion.

-The second shape is the shape of movement the kick makes as it travels from the initial chamber to the point of impact. Generally a longer motion, depending on circumstance.

-The third is the end shape of the technique as it penetrates into the target. Usually a very short motion.

Of course their is the recovery phase after the strike but that would be more the beginning of creating a new stance.

I was focused on the 3rd part, the final ending shape, when the penetration cycle is occurring.

The second part, or shape of movement is a more complicated issue involving various factors I was not commenting on that part so much, but again, stripped down to the most basic shape, even the second movement, when you slow down the video of elite kickers the second movement seems near identical in back kick and side kick comparisons. But in that same video, you can sometimes find instruction that contradicts the actual action of motion you see in the video.

I have found that over the years, I have suddenly realized that something I break down into steps might not match how it is actually performed. So, I alter what I teach to match application the best I can.

 

[Indie12]

Yeah, but when you finally do get your side kicks worked out, you'll find (or should find) that they are one of the most powerful kicks in your arsenal!

 

[oftheherd1]

Manny,

When I was stretching and kicking before health slowed me down (I am getting back into some kind of shape now too), we used to hold the wall for balance, and raise our straight leg outward. That is the way you would camber your hip. Go as high as you can always, and always try for a little more height. As you get better with balance, don't hold the wall, just stay balanced, but still kick upward with a straight leg. Keeping the leg straight helps get more extension. Don't try too hard at first and injure yourself though.

You can also do the lean/hold the wall and let someone slowly raise your leg.

Good luck.