Six Tips to Increase Kicking Power

Kicks are a centerpiece of many martial arts. One who is well-versed in various kicking techniques can be truly devastating in hand-to-hand combat. The following are some techniques that you can use to add extra power to your kicks: all the better to devastate your adversaries.

Practice plyometrics. Work the legs with plyometric exercises, including depth jumps, jumping squats, and sprints.

To perform depth jumps, set up something that you can jump off of (a bench is certainly preferable); as you come down to the ground, let your body compress, your butt touching your knees, your knees together, performing a bodyweight or Hindu squat, essentially, and then propelling yourself back up into the air with the energy of the "spring". In this way you teach your body to store energy and to be able to change the direction of the force being produced more rapidly. These things are key in generating a lot of kicking power.

Include sprints, also. 100 meter sprints, 200 meter sprints, and 400 meter sprints are particularly effective. They each train your anaerobic capacity and the muscles in your legs to different qualities. They force you to become more explosive the movements of your legs; the faster you are able to spring up off the starting line from the starting position, of course, the more explosive your legs are. Be sure to have full, strong strides during your sprints, and to really explode. The explosion is what you're after. Do not let yourself give up during a sprint; a sprint is about power, and explosion: power and explosion that will translate into increased kicking power!

Practice kicking various sorts of bags. In Thailand, Muay Thai practitioners practice kicking banana trees down. Do not attempt to kick down whatever sorts of trees grow in your back yard. Banana trees are springy and spongy and will not bruise or break the bones of one who kicks them in the same way as the thick and hard trees that typically can be found in the average American's back yard will. It is advisable to use a very heavy bag, one that you would not normally use for bagwork, such as a 150 pound Everlast bag, a heavy bag, which you might normally use for bagwork, such as a 100 pound Everlast bag, and finally a lighter bag, such as a 70 or 80 pound Everlast bag, which you will be able to work various combinations on. The heavier bags are for hard, powerful kicks; the lighter bag is for practicing placement on a moving target, footwork, timing, accuracy, and speed. By incorporating these different kinds of bags into your training regimen, you can be sure that you will increase your kicking power manyfold.

Build up your core. The core is the origin of the kicking movement; a weak core will not bode well with trying to kick hard and with great force. Incorporate a lot of exercises that involve the hip drive, the posterior chain, the hip flexors, hip extensors, abductors and adductors, and the obliques (torso flexion). Good exercises to include are the rollout (or "evil wheel"), the full contact twist, hanging leg raises, twisting weighted situps, barbell back squats, and deadlifts. You cannot have a truly powerful kick if your core is weak.

Of course, practice is important. Practice, practice, practice. Practice every day. You will want to work both legs a lot, though not necessarily evenly. Work from various positions, including close range, long range, and mid-range. Become comfortable using the ball of the foot, the instep, the heel, and the shin to make contact. You will want to build up the shin of the foot if you are using Muay Thai style kicks. You are less likely to have the will to kick as hard as you can or need to if you know that you cannot take the pain or you feel you might hurt yourself.

Remember that with time, diligence, patience, and practice, you can have devastatingly powerful kicks and become a feared adversary in your respective arena.