This two-part exercise will put stretch in your back kick, power in the muscles and build buns of steel. Yesss!
For flexibility Let’s begin with the stretch. Grab hold of a support and swing your right leg up behind you as high as you are able. Keep your leg stiff, lead with your heel and lean your upper body forward no more than 45 degrees.
1 set, 20 reps -- each leg
After you have completed one stretching set with each leg, move to the power-building portion of the exercise.
For power Hold onto your support as before and lift your leg up behind you, leading with your heel. This time, lift your leg slowly so that it’s muscle lifting your leg, not momentum. You won’t be able to go as high as you did with the flexibility phase, and that is okay. When you have reached your highest point, hold your leg in that position for 10 to 15 seconds without bending your upper body more than 45 degrees. If you get a knot in your butt, lower your leg, shake it out and continue with the next rep.
1 set, 10-15 reps — each leg
There are at least two methods to side kick that are considered basic: the snap version and the thrust. The snap kick uses the knee joint as a hinge to flip out the lower leg. I think snapping takes its toll on the knee joint, so much so that it might shorten the training careers of some fighters who have vulnerable knees to begin with. The problem is that they don’t always know they have vulnerable knees until they begin having problems. In some cases, that may be too late.
There are fighters who can do beautiful, high snap kicks, even over their opponents’ heads. But hey can’t hit the heavy bag hard with it. If your high snap kick is only for kata or demonstrations, you have to decide whether you want to pound the bag with it. But if you consider it a weapon for self-defense, you absolutely need to work with it on the heavy bag to know that you can deliver it with sufficient power to hurt or at least stop an assailant.
I only do snap side kicks to the shin and knee because my knees and hips complain bitterly when I try to snap higher. I use thrust side kicks for all targets higher than my opponent’s shins. A thrust might take a hair of a second longer to get to the target, but it’s much easier on the knees and causes much more damage to the target.
A police war story: I had a workout partner many years ago who was a cop and a black belt. He was a powerful guy, though slender, with a thrust side kick that could send a rhino rolling. One night a big drunk discovered this for himself when he burst out the back of the paddy wagon and rushed my friend. That thrust side kick of his nailed the drunk right under the armpit and literally lifted him in the air, just like those fake photos on the cover of karate magazines. But the drunk was flying for real, about two feet off the pavement and backwards until he slammed painfully into the side of the paddy wagon. He sort of stuck there for a second and then began to crumple, like the Roadrunner in the cartoon does after he hits the side of a mountain. The big drunk slid down the side of the wagon and onto his butt, where he sat for several minutes listening to little chirping birds all about his fuzzy head.
Two Basic Methods of Chambering and Kicking
Some people launch their side kicks by first bringing their kicking knees straight up in front of their bodies, as if they were chambering a front kick. When their knees have reached the desired height, they snap their hips around and launch their side kicks. Although it’s a variation used by several champions, I have had many students complain that it hurts their knee joints after a few repetitions.
Perhaps the most common method to side kick is for the kicker to position the side of his body toward the target, chamber his leg as high as he can and then thrust. This is a powerful version, though not as fast as snapping it out. The weakness with it is that you have to turn your body to the side, which takes time and can telegraph your intent if you don’t camouflage your movements.
Since this is the most common way to side kick, let’s see how you can hide your intention to kick.
Shuffle to Camouflage your Setup
If you are like most fighters, you probably fight with your body angled a quarter turn away from your opponent. This means you have to deliberately turn your body one extra quarter turn to the side to launch the side kick, a movement that takes time and announces your intent. Here is a way to camouflage your setup.
When sparring, keep your body in motion by twisting your lead foot, as if positioning it for a side kick, and making short, snapping movements with your upper body toward the side stance. Repeating these actions two or three times without actually kicking conditions your opponent to seeing them but not to expect anything further. Then when you really do follow through with a side kick, it takes him a second or two to realize that you are doing more than just that weird twisting thing. A second is all the time you need to nail him with the kick.
Practice camouflaging your set up in front of a mirror.
3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
Side-to-side shuffle This variation of shuffling to camouflage your side kick looks a little strange, but it works. Assume your left-leg-forward fighting stance. As you move about stalking your imaginary opponent, hide your intention to side kick by moving your left foot over to your right about two feet, as if you were going to hook kick from the floor, and then swing your foot back to your left about two feet, all the while maintaining contact with the floor. Repeat this three or four times to confuse your opponent so that he doesn’t know if you are preparing to throw a hook kick or a roundhouse. Ha! It’s neither. Right in the middle of that shuffle, when he is at his most confused, thrust your side kick into his ribs.
3 sets, 10 reps – both sides
Side Kick Check
This variation of the side kick is not meant to hurt the assailant (but that is okay if it does), but is used more to keep him and his buddies away from you, similar to the way a boxer uses his jab. Since you are not delivering a full-power strike, you need only a minimum chamber before you snap out your kick to his shin or knee, and then snap it back. Always hit with the heel half of your foot since it’s the strongest and is supported by your lower leg.
Consider using the side kick check when facing two or more assailants, especially the types who don’t charge straight in but hop in and out of range as they punch and kick at you. Right after you punch that one on the right, snap a fast side kick check to the shin of that guy coming at you from the left. The kick will either cause him to jump back, or at least distract him briefly, giving you time to follow up.
To practice this, set a heavy bag on the floor in the corner of your room and begin shadow sparring around it. Imagine an assailant stepping toward you and you stop him with a quick side kick check to his shin (the bag). Afterwards, move quickly away or follow up with a couple of fast hand blows to the air over the bag. You can also practice by standing sideways to an imaginary assailant (the bag) in a neutral stance, as if waiting for a bus. Imagine that he suddenly steps threateningly into your space. Side kick check the bag at knee level and then step quickly away as if to flee, or turn and face the bag and execute follow up blows over the top of it.
Shadow spar: 10 minutes – execute an equal number of side kick checks with each leg
From neutral stance: 2 sets, 15 reps – both sides
Bent over Side Kick
When you are bent over at the waist, it’s impossible to front kick and a roundhouse kick, though possible, is weak. You can, however, launch a strong side