One of the most misunderstood kicks I analyze is the roundhouse kick.
We will define the roundhouse kick for the purposes of this martial arts article as a kick executed from a cocked knee position whose arc travels approximately parellel with the ground as the knee snaps straight 80 degrees to 90 degrees and travels across your centerline striking with the shin down to the top of the foot.
Most martial artists I’ve met think this is one of their weakest kicks when it could actually be one of their most powerful weapons in their arsenal of kicks, punches, and other strikes.
If you’re the average martial artist, you throw your rear-leg roundhouse kick from a front stance snapping your leg across your body depending on the weight of your leg and the snap of your knee for power.
The more mass, or the more of your body you put into your kick, and the greater the speed of your kick the more powerful your kick will be.
Breath, held in the lungs, can get in the way of proper movement So what we now see is that during the roundhouse kick, or any other martial arts strike for that matter, is we want to stay as relaxed as possible, use as many of our muscle groups as possible in the correct timing, and breath out as we strike.
If you can get the muscles of the upper torso involved in the strike, there will be a greater mass and greater intertia —————————————- The Biggest Mistake I See Almost All Martial Artists Make When Executing the Roundhouse Kick is… —————————————- not getting a good upper torso rotation into the roundhouse kick.
Almost every martial artist I have seen execute a roundhouse kick whips his arm backwards in the oppostie direction of the kick.
Well you couldn’t keep your balance the first time you learned to do the kick could you? I see full contact fighters executing the roundhouse kick that way? I’ve seen them get knocked out too.
Not in the beginning because you will have more power and intertia in your roundhouse kick than you are accustom too.
Be sure to pivot your supporting foot as you execute your roundhouse kick.
Increasing The Power of Your Roundhouse Kick Pivoting Drill —————————————- I received a lot of emails with questions about the martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick, so before once again directing the serious martial artists to my printable ebook Step by Step Learn Internal Energy Strikes with the bonus section Taking Strikes and Coming Back for More I would like to discuss a very simple drill with you to increase your power of your roundhouse kick with a very simple pivoting drill.
Now, if you haven’t read the first martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick you’d better go read that first Pivoting and Power in Your Roundhouse Kick Remember the statements I made in the previous martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick? The closest moveable joint to your center of gravity is your hips.
The hip motion must follow the arc of the roundhouse kick so the hips must also rotate in a circular motion.
We can basically say, the greater the pivot of your support foot the greater potential for power in your roundhouse kick.
Learning to Pivot Your Foot More for Your Roundhouse Kick Okay so you now understand about power in your roundhouse kick and how to acquire power in your roundhouse kick, but the only way to to actually get power in your roundhouse kick is repetition of proper motion.
Now execute a a roundhouse knee strike with the same arc as your roundhouse kick, again sensing the pivot in your support foot.
After executing several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike you will now execute several repetitions of the roundhouse kick.
While you are executing the roundhouse kick try to sense the same amount of pivot in your roundhouse kick as you did in your roundhouse knee strike.
While you are executing the roundhouse kick try to sense the same amount of pivot in your roundhouse kick as you did in your roundhouse knee strike and the whip-like action you are getting from your stretched muscles.
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