tkd drills

[matt.m]

You know being out for the time period of post surgery is really got me thinking.......what are my favorite drills?

Well for starters, for kicking I pick a kick lets say snap kick front leg......I get in a back stance with right leg forward and go north, west, south, and east. Do this rotation 5 times and then switch legs. Pick 10 kicks and have a ball.

Of course another favorite of mine is just doing time under tension, snap and pop poomsae. Do this for muscle toning and you will be happy I promise.

So, I have others but I am curious......what are other people's must do and favorite drills?

 

[Drusilla]

By "drills" I take it you mean, like, warm-up and stretching exercises? Well that's what I'm going to take it to mean anyway.
A favourite of mine is where we walk around the edge of the hall in a big circle doing every third step with a rising kick. After a few of these we move up to front snap kicks and then up to turning kicks. I've found this really useful for gaining balance (especially in turning kicks) and also for stretching out my legs.

 

[The Kidd]

If your talking about warm-up then it would have to be wall burns ( round kick stance extend leg and hold it for several minutes) or round kicks for so many minutes. If your talking about in class then I love to split the class in two have them face each other and then do their form, they get used to doing it in the same direction and this teaches them to focus on their movements and not watch others.

 

[exile]

--20 rear-leg stretch front kicks, each leg, followed by
--20 stretch side kicks, each leg.

Then:

--70 rear-leg side kicks, each leg, both fast and slow followed by
--75 front-leg side kicks, each leg, followed by
--3 or 4 `freezing' exercises, rear-leg side kicks, where I attach two eight-lb. leg weights to the kicking leg, perform a slow mid-height kick and freeze in maximally extended position for as long as possible, followed by
--70 turning kicks, each leg, both fast and slow.

These are balance drills. For power,

--70 rear leg side kicks, high mid-range, into a heavy hanging bag, both legs, followed by
--70 turning kicks, all heights, into the bag.

Kicks too far off the `sweet spot' don't count.

 

[jim777]

--20 rear-leg stretch front kicks, each leg, followed by
--20 stretch side kicks, each leg.

Then:

--70 rear-leg side kicks, each leg, both fast and slow followed by
--75 front-leg side kicks, each leg, followed by
--3 or 4 `freezing' exercises, rear-leg side kicks, where I attach two eight-lb. leg weights to the kicking leg, perform a slow mid-height kick and freeze in maximally extended position for as long as possible, followed by
--70 turning kicks, each leg, both fast and slow.

These are balance drills. For power,

--70 rear leg side kicks, high mid-range, into a heavy hanging bag, both legs, followed by
--70 turning kicks, all heights, into the bag.

Kicks too far off the `sweet spot' don't count.

This seems pretty excessive for a warm up routine to me. Do you really have your classes do all that, or is it a personal thing you do yourself once in a while?

 

[exile]

This seems pretty excessive for a warm up routine to me. Do you really have your classes do all that, or is it a personal thing you do yourself once in a while?

I do that routine, myself, every day (not the bag exercises; those I do two times a week, three if I can manage). The balance exercises take around 40 minutes. They also serve as my main cardio workout when I can't get to the track at my gym.

My students are young, very junior belts. Workouts in my classes with them are the usual: a bit of static stretching, a bit of dynamic stretching, then a few reps each of basic kicks. But the routine I described in my first post is my own personal, daily workout; usually I work on hyung performance as well, sometime later on in the day.

 

[jim777]

I wish I had the time To be honest though, if I had the time I'd likely spend half of it on the guitar!

One question though, when you say:
--70 rear-leg side kicks, each leg, both fast and slow followed by

Are you talking about 280 kicks in total here? Also (because I'm a very low belt myself) are these 'pivot side' kicks, where you pivot on the front foot, chamber, and throw the side kick out front?

 

[exile]

I wish I had the time To be honest though, if I had the time I'd likely spend half of it on the guitar!

It's only a little more than half an hour out of my day. I figure it's an investment not just my MA training but in health and longevity. At almost 60 years old, I have to think about that sort of thing. I teach university, a notoriously sendentary kind of job, and it's way too easy to slip into a patten of sitting for hours doing work.

IOne question though, when you say:
--70 rear-leg side kicks, each leg, both fast and slow followed by

Are you talking about 280 kicks in total here?

No, just 140—I mix up the fast and slow on each set of rear-leg side kicks. In my usual training, I do 140 rls kicks, 140 rh kicks, and 150 fls kicks in each session (except that if I don't like the way I performed a kick, I won't count it).

IAlso (because I'm a very low belt myself) are these 'pivot side' kicks, where you pivot on the front foot, chamber, and throw the side kick out front?

Yes. They require a 180º pivot on the balance leg (the front leg), as high a chamber as I can manage (which I carry out during the pivot; the rotation of the chamber helps power the pivot) and the side kick is thrust out so that my pivoted balancing foot (heel-first), my kicking-side hip and shoulder, and my kicking leg, are all in the same line toward the imaginary target.

Until I started doing this routine about two years ago, my turning kicks were hopelessly awkward and I had serious balance problems with all of my kicks. Doing this workout daily has really improved my balance skills, to the point where now I can throw two or even three kicks in good form on a single pivoting movement. Balance was never my strong point, so I need to work extra hard on that...

 

[jim777]

That's fantastic! I've just passed 45 myself, and I think I'm going to try and find the time for this even if it's just 4 times a week for the moment. My lovely bride bought me a Wavemaster for Christmas, and it could use the additional work. Thanks!

jim

 

[exile]

That's fantastic! I've just passed 45 myself, and I think I'm going to try and find the time for this even if it's just 4 times a week for the moment. My lovely bride bought me a Wavemaster for Christmas, and it could use the additional work. Thanks!

jim

Sure, Jim, anytime—hope it works for you as well as for me. You're a lucky guy to have a spouse who'e let you have a serious bag in the house; I get a little less sympathy on that front, alas...

I'm inclined to think that age is no big deal, up to a certain point—and I want to keep that point at bay as long as possible... the drills I mentioned are very good for balance training, I've found, and that increases the fluency of your movements. So there's a net benefit to most aspects of your training. I've gotten to the point where I feel a little anxious until I get my workout in, because until I do I tend to worry about whether or not I'll be able to fit it in... probably best not to be too obsessive about it, but as a friend of my one said, nothing was ever accomplished without a little bit of neurosis behind it! :wink1:

Good luck with it and keep us posted on how you're doing with your training.

 

[matt.m]

I was meaning more on the strength and conditioning drills, however warmups are always good to hear about to.

 

[zDom]

Up until about green belt, on my "off" days (no scheduled formal class scheduled) I would do my "Five level 400 kicks" drill (learned from Master Jeff Forby via my instructor, Steve Dunn).

5 heights: ankle, knee, belt, solar plexus, head

Four kicks: front, side, round, hook

10 each level, each leg, each height.

i.e.,

front kick, ankle high, first right leg, then left.

then

side kick, ankle high, first right leg, then left.

then

round kick,

etc.

Then knee high...etc.

The low kicks warm you up so by the time you get up to head high you've got a good sweat going and are limber enough for them.

I think that investing that kind of repetition for the first couple of years of my training had a significant positive effect on my kicking ability: I highly recommend this drill.

 

[Yeti]

Up until about green belt, on my "off" days (no scheduled formal class scheduled) I would do my "Five level 400 kicks" drill (learned from Master Jeff Forby via my instructor, Steve Dunn).

5 heights: ankle, knee, belt, solar plexus, head

Four kicks: front, side, round, hook

10 each level, each leg, each height.

i.e.,

front kick, ankle high, first right leg, then left.

then

side kick, ankle high, first right leg, then left.

then

round kick,

etc.

Then knee high...etc.

The low kicks warm you up so by the time you get up to head high you've got a good sweat going and are limber enough for them.

I think that investing that kind of repetition for the first couple of years of my training had a significant positive effect on my kicking ability: I highly recommend this drill.

That is brilliant! I've never come across this before and at a time when I'm not formally training and looking for some different drills, this is great. Thanks!

 

[zDom]

GM Forby was/is a great instructor, an awesome kicker — helluva forms man, too.

Glad you like the drill! Enjoy!

 

[wade]

Uh, a question so ignore it if you want. Why do you kick just to kick? I run my schools on a 4 part series on their training. #1 is Defensive hands and kick follow ups. #2 is offensive line drill. # 3 is lead leg static kick combinations for close in fighting and # 4 is counter kicking drill. I follow this and so do all my schools. To me just kicking for the sake of kicking means nothing. If you want to train to fight, then train to fight. Everything should have a reason and a meaning or you are just dead in the water. Remember, this is just my opinion and if you don't like it, well PDTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT...................................:ultracool

 

[exile]

Uh, a question so ignore it if you want. Why do you kick just to kick?

I expect to be able to use a kick as a finishing strike, aimed low, after forcing an assailant's upper body into a lowered position. I want to be able to do damage to the attacker's lower body joints, or strike his head once I've forced it down via a lock. But I want the kick to do maximum damage, which means I need to be in perfect balance when I deliver it. So I train kicking for balance, power and accuracy, and my balance kicking drills are designed to test out my balance at different stages of the kick, from the chamber to the maximum extension. My goal is to be able to freeze in place at any arbitrary place in the kick and hold that position as long as I feel like.

If I have that kind of balance, then generating power is going to be way easier, since I can throw all the torque and thrust I want into the kick without having to worry about falling over. Same with accuracy: if I'm even a bit uncertain in balance I won't be able to aim precisely. I train mid or high kicks because they test my balance and power more severely than just practicing low kicks, even though I'm not planning to use any kicks above the waist in a fight. Like the runner who trains for a run carrying 20lbs of added weight on his ankles, I figure that anything I can do under the more extreme circumstances will be a piece of cake in the actual event...

It's true (for me anyway) that in a combat situation I'm going to looking for an early end to the fight through hand/elbow techniques. But since knee/foot techniques are both very effective as the payoff, and also far less physically intuitive than hand techs—until you get used to it, fighting on one leg even for a very brief time feels quite strange; when I first started, I couldn't imagine how anyone could do it!—it pays to devote a lot of training time to kicking techs so that, in the end, they feel as natural as hand techs do from the get-go. After four years, I'm still not quite there yet...

 

[Dave Leverich]

I think I might have just said 'for conditioning'

 

[exile]

I think I might have just said 'for conditioning'

Well, from the way the question was posed, I got the sense that Wade was looking for something a little more... specific. But maybe not??

 

[wade]

Both answers work just fine, thank you. I actually was just curious. My instructors were always all about having a reason for every thing you do, so like I said, both answers work just fine.

 

[zDom]

Here's another take on it: to hone the weapon.


You can spend all day long training to use your sword, but if your sword is in crappy condition, it might fail when you need it.

In TKD (and HKD for that matter) the kick (or punch, or throw, or wristlock, or block, etc.) IS the weapon.

So time is devoted to both training the use of the weapon and in keeping the weapon in the best condition possible.

Then again, as mentioned: that drill was something I did a lot while coming up the ranks, but not so much nowadays — so in a sense, I was forging the weapon then, nowadays I do things to maintain the weapon.