Breaking boards is one way to show that you have a powerful and accurate kick, but it’s not the way to develop power in your kick.
Kicking a heavy bag will give you a good indication of your power, and will help you learn to keep your balance after the impact.
It’s much more realistic than kicking boards.
Originally posted by Judge Pen
[B]
Breaking boards is one way to show that you have a powerful and accurate kick, but it’s not the way to develop power in your kick. [/B]
Word.
Breaking boards is one form of feedback. And, to my mind, it’s more a gauge of skill than a training tool in and of itself.
A heavy bag will give you plenty of feedback on your power. As will an airshield (and the poor sod holding it). Or thai pads. Or any of a number of other pieces of equipment.
As for combinations being useless until you develop power, that’s kinda disingenuous. Yes, there’s no point in landing a kick (or even multiple kicks) if it’s got no stank on it. But it’s equally pointless having a strong kick you can’t land. And the fact is that accuracy in kicking isn’t enough. Hang a racquetball from a piece of string and kick it. Easy enough for most experienced kickers. Make that racquetball dance and I can guarantee that most experienced kickers are still going to need more than one kick to get the job done.
Power, accuracy, and flow in combinations all develop concurrently. And breaking boards is not, in my opinion, a necessary step in that process.
Stuart B.
i’ve been sitting her trying to figure out if TM was trolling with that statement or not.
My point was that if you present me with a kick incapable of breaking bones and its high enough I’m gonna grab it . I fing people have a tendency to hold back a little on the heavy bag because they don’t want to break the chain.
so, just because someone doesn’t land a kick means it’s automatically caught?
what about a kick aimed at a soft target? You don’t need board/bone breaking strength to land well on the solar plexus, side of neck, throat, kidneys or bladder.
get a bigger chain and use springs to protect the mount.
People hold back on heavy bags because they’re worried about breaking the chain?
How many people on how many different heavy bags are we talking? If it’s one particular bag, I’d recommend somebody fix the bloody thing. Otherwise, that concern seems kinda absurd to me.
Do you think that kicks thrown in combination are more likely to get caught than kicks thrown individually?
My point was that if you present me with a kick incapable of breaking bones and its high enough I’m gonna grab it.
If the kicker is quick or throws in combinations, I wouldn’t bank on that.
Stuart B.
I prefer to puch also. If someone figts in my punching range then my kicks are low enough where they are not usually in danger of being caught and they are set up by hand combinations. If someone engages me outside of my punching range I use kick combos to close the distance. The punch can set up the kick or the kicks can set up the punch, but both should be used to compliment one another. I guess I’m not good enough to end a fight with a single powerful kick. 
I guess I’m not good enough to end a fight with a single powerful kick.
I’ve never seen a fight won with a single powerful kick.
i’ve ended a few fights with a single powerful kick. also seen a few fights ended in such manner.
all it takes is one good anything and it could be over for any of us.
if your meaning was winning a fight with only one tech. that being a single powerful kick, then no to that me neither, otherwise yes.
As for the comment about the concern over the heavy bag
Get somebody to hold the bag so it doesn’t swing as much when you kick it.
Or yeah..fix it.
What I’m saying is that I’ve never seen a fight won with a kick alone. No set up. No feints. No combination. Just a single powerful kick.
I’ve seen fights where the fight ender was a kick. Pete Williams knocking out Mark Coleman, for example. Or Maurice Smith knocking out… Conan Silveira, I think.
I’ve seen even more instances where a kick turned the tide. Pat Smith landing a skipping front kick right out of the gate. Igor Zinoviev landing a skipping sidekick in the first Extreme Fighting (I think). Etc.
But in all those cases, it was either set up or followed up.
Stuart B.
Originally posted by apoweyn
What I’m saying is that I’ve never seen a fight won with a kick alone. No set up. No feints. No combination. Just a single powerful kick.
Exactly.
Re: Heavy Bag. If you can get someone to hold the board that you are breaking, then they can hold the bag for you as well. Or just get a heavier bag with bigger chains. I like the bags that are 6’ to 8’ tall. Not going to be lifting that bag too far off the floor with a kick.
Originally posted by apoweyn
What I’m saying is that I’ve never seen a fight won with a kick alone. No set up. No feints. No combination. Just a single powerful kick.
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/matchvids.cfm?matchid=414
That said, I agree with your main point… with the caveat that really, nothing works unless you set it up correctly. Everything needs to be delivered with proper entry and footwork.
The best part of the video is the hollow “thunk” sound.
Great googly moogly!
I stand somewhat corrected.
I prefer to puch also. If someone figts in my punching range then my kicks are low enough where they are not usually in danger of being caught and they are set up by hand combinations. If someone engages me outside of my punching range I use kick combos to close the distance. The punch can set up the kick or the kicks can set up the punch, but both should be used to compliment one another. I guess I’m not good enough to end a fight with a single powerful kick.
{takes notes}
next question: Do you guys feel like you are throwing less kicks as you (cough, cough) get older? I sure do. I used to be an ok kicker but for reasons I’m still trying to analyze, I’m trending more towards just hands and very little kicking.
Oso,
Absolutely. Partially, that’s because I started as a taekwondoka. And my later styles deemphasized kicking.
But it also has a lot to do with aging. In college, I could do a couple of hip rotations and be good to go. Now, I need much more prep time. Kicking takes a lot more energy too. And I have less of that available right now. (Obviously, that can be rectified though.)
Those two factors combined, I punch much more than I used to. And, generally, more than I kick.
Besides, I’m simply aware of more (and often, better) tactics now. I remember sparring in a taekwondo class a while back (after studying eskrima). I was nose to nose with a dude, and my teacher was screaming “ax kick!”
I’m thinking, ‘are you out of your mind?!’
Stuart B.
Oso
I don’t think I’m giving away any super secret strategies. What worries me is your grappling training. I know just enough to get hurt.
As far as kicking my emphasis has shifted more to punching. I’m not sure if its my advancing age or not. When I first sarted training I was certainly a young flexible buck and looked to kick first and punch second. When I took some time of from formal training, I spent a lot of time working a heavy bag and my hand speed and techniques increased dramatically. I also lost some flexibility because I got lazy with my stretching and forms work. I’m trying to work my kicks more now, but its still more comfortable to punch.
Another reason may be that when I started sparring again, my conditioning wasn’t up to snuff, and it was more energy efficient to punch rather than kick.
What’s your schedule like the end of this month?
Originally posted by FatherDog
[B]
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/matchvids.cfm?matchid=414
[/B]
:eek: Like I said, I’m not that good.
JP, just kidding wit ya, and hurting is not on the agenda, bro. just fun.
I’ve got that tourny the first weekend of Oct (5,6,7)
sorta in a zone right now, or trying to be anyway. the ruleset is kinda freaky and I’m trying to make sure I have it down so I don’t lose by forgetting that I can’t strike straight to the face.
so, after that I’m wide open for driving across the mountains one weekend.
my girl wants to come too, she’s getting her sparring groove back on a bit now.
we had a horrific experience the other day…drove through BOTH Cherokee and Gatlinburg on Labor Day Sunday…holy crap!!
lol, at the videoclip
I always liked to test my kicks against the airshield. I would try to knock my partner back. It’s a good parallel, because you are dealing with the weight and active resistance of a real person.