Side Kick

One time I too asked the same question about a technique to my Sensei and his answer was, "did you practice the kick five hundred times yet"? If you did I'm sure you will work out all the bugs.

i worked 8 montes on this baby 2 times a week an hour ir mor for comp team practice,maser kim barely accepted perfect. first make sure to bring your leg up to your chest and turn you;r entire body sideways nbti just your elg. next shoot the leg out with a thrust of power...from hte hips not from the leg muscles and when you pull it back in..bring it back to the position you started in..do bnto brong you;re heel back to you're butt. Side kick is one of thoise things it just takes time to work on..just have fun woith it and do you;re best. good luck.

i can realte to you too..although i am a black belt...i am still younger them most people on the forum. girl..age 16

I've always said those auto-spellchecks are the bane of todays youth.....English teachers must be committing suicide at an incredible rate.

I'd rather them use spell check than slop out this drivel, I can barely understand it.

I'm an English teacher. I've been talked off of many a ledge as a result of my students' grammar, spelling, and puncutation. That and my sidekick isn't so hot either.

When you guys say kick with your hip, Does that mean rotate it when you kick? When I try and do this My leg spins inward, dropping my knee, and rasing my heel. Is that how Im supposed to do it? Also, my stomach faces twords the floor when I do it this way.

That's something I'm trying to figure out too... I've been experimenting to try and figure out what it means... and so far I've found that if I kind of thrust my hips forward, as I extend my leg, I get a little more power. I'm not sure if that's how I'm supposed to be doing it though.

No offense, but have you asked your instructor?

Not directly. About a week or two ago he told me not to worry about the power too much yet and just focus on the technique. He said after I get the technique down then I can worry about putting my hips into it.

and no offense taken.

I can't really help you with the mechanics of the side kick, I'm sure others here can. But every style/school/teacher does it just a little bit different, the best way to learn would be to get one-on-one from your teacher, whether it be during your class, after, or during private study.

Only my opinion. Best of luck.

WahTah,

You are lacking in correct flex and muscle strength to throw the kick properly. Alignment for a TKD side kick is heel of supporting foot facing toward target, lined up with the hip, and these two (supporting heel and hip) lined up with the knife edge or heel of the striking foot.

When your knee drops down on your kicking leg and your torso/belly bends forward to accomodate the kick, basically you have not developed the right flexible musculature to support the kick. So your body does this form to allow some feasible presentation of the side kick, but without the sound structure you have incorrect posture and thus no power and hip thrust in the kick.

Practice and time will cure these ills. Also, when you are told the hip is not in the kick, this means you have already pushed your hip outward....usually at a slight angle...so that you have not reserved any of the "thrusting/ follow through" capacity of the kick in the hip placement. Sort of like punching but using an already extended arm and trying to hit with it. The capacity to generate power from the chamber is not there since the extension has already taken this away.

-B