you began the drill kicking to three targets and progressed as described to six targets on the fourth set, you throw a total of 180 kicks with each leg. If you want a harder workout, use smaller increments as you climb his tree. If you are really full of energy, throw two kicks at each target.
You can make this drill as hard or as easy as you want. The end result is that your kick grows stronger because the exercise requires that your leg and hip muscles do all the work as opposed to momentum carrying the kick to the targets. Try the exercise using all of your kicks.
5. STICKY FOOT
This exercise would be fun if it didn’t hurt so much. Its purpose is to strengthen the leg muscles at the point your kick is at full extension, the so-called focus point where the muscles contract.
You can do sticky foot any number of ways: in the air, on a bag, on a tree, on an opponent. It doesn’t matter what you kick at because you are not making hard contact. In my school, we do it mostly with a partner, taking turns kicking back and forth at various targets. Here is how it’s done using a front kick.
Face your partner and launch a front kick toward his abdomen. When your leg is extended and your foot is touching his body, hold it there for one second, counting “one thousand one” before you retract your leg. You don’t need to purposefully contract your muscles, because they are going to do it all on their own - trust me on this.
First, you do the kick and then your partner does it, continuing back and forth until you have done 10 reps with each leg.
You can kick at any height you choose; obviously the higher the kick the greater stress on the muscles. You can kick slowly, medium speed or fast, it doesn’t matter. It’s that one-second stick at full extension that you are after.
Do the exercise no more than twice a week using the roundhouse, side, back, hook and crescent kick, and concentrate on using good form.
There is a high potential for muscle cramp with this, so be careful.
A Variation
I was going to call this “A painful variation,” but I want to be positive here. This works best if you grab hold of something for support, such as the back of a chair, a wall, or your training partner’s shoulder.
Let’s use the sidekick to illustrate and let’s do it oh so s-l-o-w-l-y. Slowly chamber the kick, slowly extend it, and then stick it at full extension for one second, just as you did with the front kick in the first exercise. Don’t cheat and lean too much because you want your legs and hips to do all the work. When the second is up, don’t retract your leg; you haven’t done the fun part yet. With your leg still fully extended, slowly raise it as high as you can. Yipes! Can you say muscle cramp? If you get one, shake it out and continue with the reps.
Do one set of 10 reps to begin, and progress to another set of 10. As is the case with most exercises, there is no hurry to progress; add a rep whenever you can easily do the last one. Remember, you are trying to build muscle, not shred it.
Do this variation with the front, back and sidekick, and you will attack all the muscles involved in most of the other types of kicks. This is a result-producing exercise and, before you know it, you will notice a new crispness to your kicks and greater impact on the bag.
6. 1000-REP DRILL
This will make or break you; the answer lies within you. It’s a killer leg workout that will tap your energy, trash your legs and trash just about everything else. But in the end, your kicks will be faster and stronger and your discipline will be ironclad.
Your objective is to do one thousand kicks within about 30 minutes, about one every two seconds. Which kicks you choose is up to you, though you should choose ones that you want to improve. All of the kicks, all one thousand repetitions, must be executed at maximum power and speed. If you cheat and do a few easy kicks, you are cheating yourself and you shouldn’t feel pride when completing the giant set.
Here is one version that I have used. Use it or modify it however you want.
1000-Rep Kicking Drill
Single Kicks (Total Reps with both legs: 180)
Technique
Reps
Total Kicks
Front Kick
15
30
Roundhouse Kick
15
30
Hook Kick
15
30
Side Kick
15
30
Crescent Kick
15
30
Back Kick
15
30
Double Kicks Same Leg (Total Reps with both legs: 300)
Technique
Reps
Total Kicks
Front Kick, Front Kick
15
60
Roundhouse, Side Kick
15
60
Side Kick, Back Kick
15
60
Front Hook, Spinning Back
15
60
Crescent Kick, Front Kick
15
60
Supported Roundhouse Kicks (Total Reps: 100)
Hold on to a chair or brace your hand against a wall. If you are doing these with a partner, you can hold hands and kick back and forth. By supporting yourself, you can chamber your kick higher than you can when you are not supported. Do 50 reps on each side.
Unsupported Roundhouse Kicks (Total Reps: 100)
Now throw your roundhouse kicks without support. This way you are using, and improving, your hip strength to get your chamber as high as you can. Do 50 reps with each leg.
Triple Kicks with same leg (Total Reps: 270)
Technique
Reps
