Posted by: dongdwaeji
Can kicking with poor form lead to injury? - 12/18/09 02:08 AM
I have been doing hkd for a few months.
Most of the focus in our classes is on the grab / strike defenses and throws, jointlocks, breakfalls, tumbling etc and thus we get very extensive and meticulous instruction, correction and guidence in these areas.
However after warm up (calisthinics, stretching) we do kicking drills, there are around 8 kicks and some knees which we do 3 times on each leg.
I was only show twice how to do each kick, by standing next to the instructor in front of a mirror and copying what he did and was given no advice as to why I was doing certain things and no advice to not overextend, how to pivot properly and how to move / raise the legs etc.
3 months later I have a lot of pain in my knee and hip joint and am pretty sure it happened after kicking. I did some internet research, watching instruction videos and learned about pivoting, chambering etc and realised I had been shown none of this (though that may be as my instructors belive us beginnners don't need to know these things yet.)
My question is this - is it possible to injure yourself by kicking incorrectly or without any technique, even if it's just into the air drill style and not against a bag?
Some of the kicks we do - crescent kicks, side kicks, axe kicks, low sweep kicks and a very vigorous kick where you punch forward and kick backwards at the same time.
Can one injure oneself if one does not know EXACTLY how to perform them? Ie if one overextends, locks the knee, doesn't abduct or extend properly, pivots wrong or doesn't pivot at all etc...
I am told this is not the case and that it is just my body getting used to being used in a way it's not used to. I'm inclined to think it's at least as likely to be because I have no clue as to what I'm doing. Eg on the low sweep kick I didn't know you had to pivot the standing leg, thus the hips are rotating but my knee wasn't, stuff like that.
I would appreciate replies from people with a LOT OF EXPERIENCE and perhaps instructor experience.
Thank you
Most of the focus in our classes is on the grab / strike defenses and throws, jointlocks, breakfalls, tumbling etc and thus we get very extensive and meticulous instruction, correction and guidence in these areas.
However after warm up (calisthinics, stretching) we do kicking drills, there are around 8 kicks and some knees which we do 3 times on each leg.
I was only show twice how to do each kick, by standing next to the instructor in front of a mirror and copying what he did and was given no advice as to why I was doing certain things and no advice to not overextend, how to pivot properly and how to move / raise the legs etc.
3 months later I have a lot of pain in my knee and hip joint and am pretty sure it happened after kicking. I did some internet research, watching instruction videos and learned about pivoting, chambering etc and realised I had been shown none of this (though that may be as my instructors belive us beginnners don't need to know these things yet.)
My question is this - is it possible to injure yourself by kicking incorrectly or without any technique, even if it's just into the air drill style and not against a bag?
Some of the kicks we do - crescent kicks, side kicks, axe kicks, low sweep kicks and a very vigorous kick where you punch forward and kick backwards at the same time.
Can one injure oneself if one does not know EXACTLY how to perform them? Ie if one overextends, locks the knee, doesn't abduct or extend properly, pivots wrong or doesn't pivot at all etc...
I am told this is not the case and that it is just my body getting used to being used in a way it's not used to. I'm inclined to think it's at least as likely to be because I have no clue as to what I'm doing. Eg on the low sweep kick I didn't know you had to pivot the standing leg, thus the hips are rotating but my knee wasn't, stuff like that.
I would appreciate replies from people with a LOT OF EXPERIENCE and perhaps instructor experience.
Thank you