Heyy I love kicking in tkd, but I have problems with kicks where I need to turn (like spinning kicks or jumping).. Any advice? I just never stop turning where I have to so the kick goes straight forward and I'm so frustrated it's embarrasing hah
Kicking is definitely an aspect of TKD that you just have to keep practicing. Breaking down the steps of a kick is extremely helpful and a great way to start on improving your kicks. Remember: ALWAYS STRETCH PRIOR TO PRACTICING!!! (:
For all kicks that require spinning, turning, jumping, or pivoting, I always start my students with a “clock exercise”. What is the “clock exercise?” Imagine a clock and focus on starting in the middle of the clock facing the 12. 3 o’clock is your 1/4 turn, 6 o’clock is your 1/2 turn, 9 o’clock is your 3/4 turn, and 12 o’clock is back at your starting position for a full 360 degree rotation. *If this part is unclear to you, feel free to message me and I could draw out a diagram to help you understand this visually. (:
As for the spinning part, I tell my students to choose a leg that they want to practice their kick on. For example, if a student wanted to do a right foot kick, most of the spinning, turning, etc is done on the left leg since the right foot is doing the kicking. Practice spinning, turning, jumping, etc WITHOUT throwing the actual kick! The trick is to get in the habit of spinning in the different directions based on the “clock exercise.” This means practice at each of the main points I mentioned above! (3, 6, 9, 12 o’clock).
It will take some time, but with practice, it gets a lot easier. Once you feel comfortable and ready to do the actual kick, go for it! Don’t just do it once or twice, try it 5 or more times for each leg and in each direction. The more you practice, the easier it’ll get. From there, you can make adjustments on your foot positioning and execution! The same routine can be applied to kicks that are in the air such as jumping kicks or jump-spinning kicks. You can definitely do this in your own home!
I do have an exercise/routine that I used to do while training as a colored belt to increase my jumping ability and it’s something that I’ve passed onto my students to help them improve as well. I know that A LOT of people have also tried this at their TKD schools, but if you haven’t, maybe this’ll help you. Ever since I was a white belt, there would be 1 class a week dedicated to either endurance, flexibility, power, jumping, etc for an hour. My personal favorite was a game that included jumping over air shields aka kicking bags. One bag would be placed in the middle of the floor and everyone would have a chance to jump over the bag without touching it. A running start was allowed too. If anyone touched it with their body or even with the tip of their big toe, they were out of the game. Once everyone cleared the first bag, another bag was added on top of that to make 2 bags stacked on top of one another. The process would be repeated until one person was left in the game and we’d count how many bags were stacked along the way. It was cool to see how high people could jump. I personally learned that over time and with practice, my jumping ability GREATLY improved. Also, as I got older, I grew taller so that helped!
As an instructor, I’ve passed this game on as a tradition and made this as a Friday game night. Not only did we play the game where the bags would be stacked up, I also placed the bags side by side on the floor to help with jumping a far distance.
Phew, this was a very long response. I hope this helped you or anyone else out! Let me know if this makes sense or if anyone needs any clarification. And as always, feel free to submit more questions! (:
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