Sports Realm

[I:http://sportsrealm.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/AlCase34.jpg] Yes, you can knock an elephant on his butt with Martial Arts kicks. Doesn’t matter if they are Karate kicks, Hapkido kicks, or whatever, with the proper knowledge and some diehard practice, elephants will walk softly around you! And, if you can knock over a pachyderm or two with a foot, that gangster isn’t going to any kind of problem.

Now, to head for the heart of the matter, it’s okay to practice the high and fancy kicks, they will give you flexibility, and that increase your power. However, when it comes to real protection on the street, you want to stay with the basic kicks that are too low and fast to grab. You want focus your practice on with the front snap kick, the side thrust, the wheel (a snap on the side), and a spinning (hopping/popping) side to the rear.

Take a real look at your kick, make sure that your skeletal structure is aligned. Stand on the part of the foot that you are kicking with to make sure it can absorb the shock of the potential impact. You can stand on the ball of the foot, so that front snap kick can hold up under a kick, but you can’t stand on a side of the foot comfortably, so you better kick with the heel.

When you execute a kick, make sure you raise the knee high and tilt the hips into the kick slightly. Raising the knee high helps you to drive the leg straight in on the target, if you don’t have a high knee the foot may slide up against the side of the target. Tilting the hips, a specialty of shotokan karate kicks, puts more body weight into the kick.

Practice kicking over a chair, and make sure that you aren’t twisting any body parts at the last second to fit the kick. Also, keep the tan tien over the standing foot, this will help you keep your balance immensely. Also, especially when doing Taekwondo kicks, don’t straighten up the support leg, rather bend it, as this will connect you better to the ground.

Now, you can use karate shoes to do your kicks, but don’t neglect bare foot kicking. If you’re in the woods, and your feet need protection, or perhaps you want to be prepared for a situation where you can’t take off your shoes, then use shoes. But the feeling of barefoot kicking gives you mental feedback as to the exact perfect way to position your leg and foot.

Now, most important of all, practice. Most people think that they can go to class, do ten or twenty kicks per foot, and they will be kick masters. You need to do hundreds of kicks, for each kick, for each foot, and for hundreds of days, if you want to be good.

The leg is a great weapon. It can keep people out of range, set up secondary moves, and, if you have Bruce Lee kicks, end a fight before it even gets started. I promise, you do what I have written here, and your good martial arts kicks will be making elephant burgers out of those pesky pachyderms!

The Power Kicks course is included FREE with Matrix Karate at Monster Martial Arts. You can also get a FREE ebook at Monster Martial Arts. 2