trouble with wushu kicks and falls

Posted by: shaolinmonkuk

trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/11/06 12:34 AM

Hi there. I'm having major problems and sometimes frustrating trying to do: wushu butterfly kick, scissor kick up in the air, a no-handed somersault, a forward flip and backward flip. Im a bit cautious doing any flips cuz perhaps it's the fear of getting a bad back, paralysition. does anyone have any good advise on where I should start, what would be the steps? Would I need to build up some sort of arm muscles? Thank you all.
Posted by: Fisherman

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/11/06 07:03 AM

Do you have someone that is training you for wushu competitions? Maybe they can help you.
Posted by: shaolinmonkuk

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/11/06 01:17 PM

Yes I am actually training but still having problems. I was thinking of doing some sort of exercises that can help me at home? It's just frustrating . Thank you.
Posted by: tailiugug

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/11/06 07:41 PM

greetings

just some thoughts, first always do a good warm up before such activitys. pay close attention to your joints warm and stretch/ strengthen them, this might help with feer of injury "confedence is key". as for your butterfly kick using a chair, stole or tree stump ect.. for your spotter can help with the timing of twisting of your upper body with the push and release of the floor. sence this tech requires the body to be horizotal to the floor while kicking, you have to learn to jump while your upper body is twisting and leaning forward at a 45 % angle. to do this get into a medium horse stance and look over your left shoulder and place the chair about a horse stance lenght away 45% behind and to your left. then get back into your horse stance raise your hands about chest high palms facing you about 16 10 18" from you chest(holding ball posture)while your lower body remains rooted twist your upper body so your palms are flat on the chair and your chest and head (chin up) are horizantal to the floor. do this to loosen and stretch. when this becomes easy and relaxed then move on to the next step now alowe the momentem of the motion to lift your rt foot then kick your rt foot staight up while maintaining your posture with the chair, do this until your rt leg can be confortable raised above the plain of your head while in the twisted chair posture and the power of your rtleg lifting is raising up onto the ball of your lt foot, at this stage your ready for spring, release, kick and land. go back to your horse stance this time when your being lifted by your rt leg push & kick with your lt leg at the same time unwind your upperbody. anyway play with that and I will try to talk you thru any difficulties
Posted by: shaolinmonkuk

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/11/06 10:36 PM

Brilliant advise. Let me try what you suggested and I'll let you know how I got on. I'm wondering how do people jump so high when doing these kicks...how do they exercise to allow themselves to lift of the ground that much...as I was using leg weights to do my kicks,frog jumps,etc., but people advised not to use leg weights.
Posted by: tailiugug

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/20/06 11:50 PM

just checking in on your progress. and also remind you that what ever you train on one side to always train on the other.

as for leg strenght the best advice i can give is to do standing postures. start with the basics ( horse stance, lt and rt bow) start with 5 min each thats 15 min a day work up to 10,15 20 until you can hold each posture for 30 min each. this will build great strenght. a couple things to note about this try relaxing every muscle one by one from your head down and identify exactly what muscles are needed for each posture. with any tech if you use only the muscles that are needed and relaxe the rest your body wont be fighting its self so your speed, strenght and power will increase

ps standing still is harder then it sound but the benifits are quite profound
Posted by: shaolinmonkuk

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/21/06 12:09 PM

Hi there. Thank you.
I've been practising the technique. I think I'm getting comfortable using the chair, putting my palms on it while twisting my body and pushing up my right leg..then my left leg...I cannot do it high but hopefully through practise I could I'll try my best to try to explain one difficulty I have: when i twist my body placing palms on the chair, when i kick out with my right leg it 1)doesn't get that high in the first place...and also 2)are my toes pointing (from my right foot) upwards or downwards to the floor while i kick out?

I've been doing lots of squats as well. I will try getting into various horse stances and stay there idle (well until I cry in pain ahah). Would you recommend putting some weights on your shoulder so it will really work your legs more while you are in a horse stance?

Cheers.
Posted by: shaolinmonkuk

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/21/06 12:12 PM

When you mentioned relaxation...you mean just relax all muscles from head to toe while doing the stances? when I'm in a horse stance idle...my mind actually concentrates on my leg muscles & I can feel my legs really sore then I have to go back to normal position, take a rest then go back into horse again.
Posted by: Fisherman

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/21/06 12:19 PM

When standing, the object is to relax and find the correct anatomical strcture so that the muscle use is minimized and te use of the bones to hold one upright is maximised.
Posted by: tailiugug

Re: trouble with wushu kicks and falls - 12/22/06 09:31 AM

fishermen is correct.
but a big part of this being sucessfull is you building a mind body connection with each body part( muscle group) to be able to put your mind to any part of your body and relax or tence it.
there is no need to add weights to this drill
also your body will tell you I have to quit when this happens take a deep breath and say to your self i can do more, your body will then get a (2nd wind) then a little while latter your body will tell you you must stop i cant take it again use your mind and say yes I can. once more your body will give in and get a 3rd wind. NOW on the third time listen and stop. this is called using (strong will) to build your indurence.
now as for your foot position this has to do with application For me this is a double kick i would if going to lt use the my rt leg as a clearing tech foot position roundhouse and lt leg main strike, foot position heal hook

dont worry about how high your leg is getting up there the more important part of this is the streching of your ribs,waist & spine. work on your leg stretches seperatly