Hi everyone. In this week’s technique review we will focus on tactics and techniques of kicks. Improving, understanding some concepts, clearing mistakes, understand how can we kick the fastest, the best impact. How do we improve also the technical aspects of hitting as early as possible. Not only as strong as possible, but also as early as possible. We’ll demonstrate a few kicks, and then talk a little bit more. Please.

Regular kicks, from passive. Simple combinations, also from regular stance, regular outlet stance.

Practically, I was not kicking so strong and not so deep. The idea is to be able to surprise the attacker. Generate as much force as possible, whether you start from passive stance and then kick, or from the regular outlet stance, the fighting stance, and you kick. Kicking with front leg after advancing. Different types of advance. These are all regular kicks. Could you hold the apparel for a moment? Side kicks, for example. Side kicks with different types of advancing, like the crossing advance. Like the sliding advances. Thank you.

Okay. So, let’s talk a little bit first on the element of surprise. So, if we are in this passive stance starting a regular kick, we need to gain good balance before we kick. Sorry. So it is important for us to understand what is natural behaving. This is natural behaving. We would like to minimize this, and kick the regular kick while stomping first with a base leg. So base leg will take the weight. And the heel goes to center. Usually the center be to the front, that is the regular kick. Later, we can work on kicking without starting with a step. But step is so natural, definitely we start like that. Later start as I say from here without this initial step. When you are doing the step, it generates some sort of vibration, some sort of force, as a reaction to the stomp from the ground towards the body. You are using this to generate more hip power.

Regarding the start from an outlet stance. Look at what I’m doing. If I start from this position to kick, and if I will commence with a step, it’s showing my intentions. So the basic here, is a bit of a hiding of intention technique. You start with the back leg. We start with a back leg. Here, in order to generate maximum speed, we should push with the calf muscles. Many times people make a mistake and they think it’s mainly raising the leg with the hip flexor area. So the idea is not only the hip flexor, also the calf muscles. The calf shoots the leg forward. The difference between knee up, if I want to kick high, or kick to the groin. If I do it like this, kick to the groin, it’s showing intentions and the idea is, takes too long time. The knee should go forward. When the knee goes forward, only after that the body turns.

So it’s a late turn of body, so intentions are not being seen so easily. And kicking is more surprising. Again, it’s like punching from here, or punching from here. Here you can gain more momentum, so if you make a step, kick will have more momentum. But if you want to surprise, and the power of the kick is not so important, it doesn’t matter if you kick to the groin … If you kick the balls for 500 Kilos or 600 Kilos much difference it is not. Starting the kick with pushing with the back leg. If we … Back, please. If we wish to kick stronger, we would like to put maximum power in the kick. So then … Give me your hand, and I’ll put my leg on your … Switch legs. So now I’m putting my leg on him, and I’m practically training on pressing. I press him, I pull with the hand, I press with the leg.

If I’m in this position, just pressing, I fall back. If I put my base leg a little bit more backwards, so I’m not really balanced, I’m a little bit leaning on him, now I can push two legs to different directions. One leg is pushing forward and up and the other leg is pushing towards the ground. Like this, this type of action. My leg is stronger with impact, and I can stop a person who is coming towards me. So, this is the stance. A little bit the base leg is backwards, and now I’m pressing him. So I’m learning how to work with my leg. Glutes very important, contract it while you are kicking forward. Back is pressing the pelvis forward. And of course, all the muscles of the leg pressing the leg forward and upwards.

This is the basic exercise that after working like this you will feel that your kick is stronger. And it will be stronger. So coach yourself, coach your students, with this drill of power. If we do a side-kick it’s practically the same. So that’s the idea, and now I’m pressing my partner’s and pulling him, so I press … push and pull. I pull with my hand, I push with my leg, and look at my base leg. Base leg is as such that it can press the person. If I’m only balanced, so nicely, I push practically I push myself. I don’t want to push myself, I want to push the target. So again, in relation the base leg is more away, center of gravity is more forward, and the kicking leg is on the target. That’s the idea.

And now from here practically I’m leaning on him, yes. And from here, without over committing, I’m pressing, pushing, exercising my muscles. At which time is the time, the moment of impact. Until the impact I just need to be fast. During impact I have to be with explosive power, with a lot of force. So this one I have to work on my muscles, that in the time of impact they will know how to contract. All the fibers, all the motor units will contract at one moment to generate explosiveness. So these are elements in the kicks. Thank you.

When we are kicking and we are not at the correct range, we have to advance. One type of advance which is surprising, the sliding advance. The sliding advance, you can slide a lot. Two feet, half a meter, 60 centimeters, is quite much for this one for us regular people. We are not Olympic champions, yes? So in this case, kicking while sliding a little bit forward is definitely surprising the person. So whenever you want to surprise the enemy with a kick and he, enemy, feels that you cannot reach him. Brock please. Step a bit away from me. So, in this case he doesn’t feel that I can reach him. But at the last moment, I slide.

This is the same. Look at this situation. A person in this position will not feel that I can reach him, so he’s more confident in himself. During that one, I did reach him. Why? Because I managed, while raising the leg, that was the first thing that I was doing, I didn’t advance first. I lifted the leg first and then I continued with the slide. That’s the idea. If I will advance first, he will see a large body moving, so he’ll be alerted and responsive at the very early stage. So if I do something like this, he feels that he can do. This one, he has less chances of responding, and definitely counterattacking.

So these are elements in the kicks, some tactical thinking, some power drills and better coaching so we’ll be able to kick stronger and faster. And also remember, we always think about how we send the kick, the leg, as early as possible, not only as strong as possible. Thank you so much. Cheers.