Kicking Power

For those of you who have seen me kick you know I have learned to generate a lot of power in a fairly short distance and the one question I get asked all of the time is “how?”
If you have done a fair amount of kicking this should make some sense to you; if not, maybe not so much.

Power is generated at four different points during a kick. As the power moves up the kinetic chain to your foot, it builds through each step.

The first phase is generated by straightening the stability leg. This is can be completed because your legs should be slightly bent all of the time while fighting. You can utilize the power and strength of your legs if you simply straighten your stability leg when you launch the kick.

The second place to produce power is by pivoting the hips in the direction you are trying to generate power. So if you are doing a right leg round house kick, you pivot your hips to the left (you’re generating power from right to left). This is easily accomplished by turning your right heel toward your target as you execute the kick.

The third place is to tilt your hip toward your target. If I am completing a right leg roundhouse kick, I should basically be facing to the left. I tilt the right side of my hips toward by opponent as the leg is extending. (This is the hardest one to picture unless you have seen it properly executed).

The last place to build power is by using your quad muscles and completing a leg extension to extend your leg toward your opponent for the final phase of the strike.

Keep in mind each part or phase only takes about a millisecond, as the kick itself only takes a fraction of a second to execute.

I know some of this can be hard to comprehend if you are not familiar with any of the reference points…so go out and find a good instructor and ask!!