For endurance and explosiveness: 1-3 sets, 60 seconds each —alternating each leg.
Hold both of your arms in an on-guard position and drive yourself up as fast as you can and execute a front kick.
Movement Continued
Kneeling Front Kick
This is similar to the last exercise, though most people find it more of a challenge. Eat the pain and you will develop incredible leg power.
Kneel on the floor with your knees in front of you as you sit back on your heels. If you can’t sit all the way back, go as far as you can. If it hurts one or both knees, you may not want to do the exercise at all because it only gets worse from this point on. Thrust your right leg forward and throw a left reverse punch. As you retract your punch, throw a left-leg front kick as high as you can (it probably won’t be too high), while coming up off your right knee only enough to allow your kicking foot to clear the floor. Retract your kick until your knee is again on the floor, and then drop your right knee and sit back on your heels. That is one rep. You got lots more to do.
The punch is an extra added element in case you need to get in some punching during your workout. I like to include it because it gets me thinking about my energy moving forward, and it feels more like I’m doing a self-defense drill rather than an exercise. If it confuses you at first, take it out of the exercise and do only the kicks. Add it later when you feel you are ready to do more.
2 sets, 10 reps — each side
Begin in a kneeling position. Thrust your right leg forward and execute a left reverse punch.
Movement Continued
As you retract your punch, throw a left-legged front kick and then drop back to the one-leg-up kneeling position and then all the way back to the both-knees-down starting position.
Movement Continued
The back kick is arguably the strongest kick in the martial arts, its power driven by the large gluteus maximus (butt) muscles. I can tell you from experience, it’s the best kick for smashing in doors on drug houses, even those that have been reinforced on the inside.
There are two versions of the standing back kick: lead-leg and turning. When you have your left leg forward, execute a lead-leg back kick by turning your upper body to the right and then thrusting your left foot straight into the target. To execute a turning back kick, turn your upper body to the right and thrust your right foot into the target. Always look over the shoulder of the side that is kicking. Most styles execute the kick the same way, although some traditionalist chamber the knee in front while others simply launch the kicking foot straight from the floor. My preference is to kick from the floor because it saves time. Any loss of power by not chambering is negligible.
No matter how you launch the two versions, here are a few important points to watch out for when practicing alone:
Hit with the heel. Making contact with the toes or the ball of the foot is a sure way to get an injury.
Don’t look over your opposite shoulder when kicking as the severe twist may injure your spine.
Don’t “unwind” your body (returning to your original position) after you have executed a turning back kick. Instead, kick and drop your foot to the floor in front of you.
Make sure the trajectory is straight out from your rear, as opposed to turning too far and making the kick a turning side kick.
Don’t hook your leg on the return, as you do when roundhouse kicking.
Don’t lean too far away from the target. The impact will be reduced and it will knock you off balance.
Here are a few ways to practice the two basic back kicks by yourself to help improve your accuracy.
Kick at a spot on the wall (as shown in Fighter’s Fact Book)
Kick at your image in a mirror
Kick at a mark on a heavy bag
Kick at an object hanging from the ceiling: ball, wad of paper, rolled sock, hacky-sack, etc
Here are some fun and practical variations on the back kick. As with any new technique, especially those that are sensitive to balance, they might require a little extra work so that you don’t fall into a heap.
Touch Back Kick
This is an interesting back kick that is easier to do than it looks. Even if you are not flexible, you can kick chest high, even head high because of the way in which your body is aligned. Unless you are especially fast with it, you shouldn’t use it as a lead attack since you have to turn your back on your opponent and drop down into a relative precarious position to kick. It works especially well, however, when in the course of a fight your back is to the opponent and you are falling. It’s also effective when you are on the ground and your opponent rushes you.
Here are a few variations of the touch back kick. Be careful of the standing ones because even though the kick doesn’t require a great deal of flexibility, you can still strain your support leg. As an added caution, be careful the first few times you do the standing touch-back kick against a live opponent. Both of you will be surprise when your foot shoots up higher than you intended and your heel crunches your partner’s chin.
Lead-leg, Touch Back Kick
Stand before a mirror and square off against your image with your left foot forward. Snap your body hard to the right while angling it downward, touch the floor with your right hand and kick back with your left leg. Look along your left side to see the target.
From your left-leg-forward, on-guard position, turn to your right, lean down and touch the floor with your right hand and kick upward with your left leg.
Turning Touch Back Kick
Square off against your image in the mirror with your left leg forward. Although you should be looking in the area of your opponent’s chin, for the sake of developing accuracy, look at and aim for the center of your chest in the mirror. Turn the same way you do when executing a turning back kick, but as you turn, angle your upper body to the floor and touch it with one or both hands.
3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
On One Knee
Say you are on the ground, right knee down and left knee up, when the assailant advances on you from your front. Pivot hard away from him to your right as you pivot around on your right knee (your lower right leg will turn to the right, too). Touch the floor with both hands and kick upward with your left leg. Don’t expect to kick as high as you do when standing. Look along your left side to see the target, such as a mark on the wall.
3 sets of 10 reps — each side