For four years I trained in Tae Kwon Do, and never had a problem with what they called a "roundhouse" kick. Then I herniated two discs in my back, had surgery, took a break, and started up Shotokan.

I am having a lot of trouble with Mawashi geri. I am good with a side thrust kick, back kick, front kick, etc. However, I am not having an easy time (not that it should be easy per se) setting up and executing the kick.

Does anyone have any tips on how to practice mawashi geri. I often find my self losing balance, snapping my kick out sloppily, etc. My leg does not seem to want to go parallel to the ground with my knee bent as I get ready to snap it out.

What kind of stretches are best for preparing to practice Mawashi geri? Strengthening exercises?

Your basic split, touch the toes, lean backwards, etc is not helping.

I would recommend starting with a really low roundhouse kick, especially if you're loosing balance. Work with that a while an then slowly work higher. By low, I mean knee or even shin level to start.

I alway felt anf taught that the American split was a good stcrech do that while watching tv, then practice slowing striking the hand pad or heavy bag.

You are working for form and properly delievery not power, you want the right angel and knee snap and hip follow thru. For a Shotokan rhk you want angle and the hip with the snapping knee. Later you can diversify and modify it to do whatever. Its often said with proper form comes power.

After bending your knee preparing to kick, should your shin be parallel to the ground?

Developing a basic rhk kick yes your shin should be level and the knee, after you get a soild basic roundhouse you can lift the knee/shin in an angel to disguise it, the motions the same its just quicker or shorten pending the target you are striking. But at 1st level the knee and shin.
The rhk once acheived has three angels over and down, straight across, and up and under almost half front kick/half rhk. But get the basic down 1st.

I missed something it seems balance is the problem and would causes the kick to look sloopy if you are about to fall.

Practice the motion holding on to something and then with just the leg in the cocked position don't throw the kick, hold it for the count of five. Work this until you can do free standing.

Then practice just the knee flick while you hands against a wall or soild object do 5 kicks then work that up to 10 you are just flicking out the knee and making sure you have proper form. After working this for a while practice kicking over a box sitting on a chair (if by yourself) or with partner holding a kicking pad over a kicking sheild. You practicing kicking and retracting the knee which requires balance and form, after developing this basic foundation you are ready to add power.

I hope this helps. Whats does your Sensei say about your rhk problem, keep practicing?

My sensei is good at explaining the form, but i almost seem to be encoutered a pain in my hips when executing the kick. He emphasizes snaping the hips to make a powerful kick.

Do what your sensei says, but do the exercise above at home training this will strengthen the muscles used in the kick. Once these muscles are strengthen you won't feel the pain as much. After learning the kick the way the way your Sensei wants it start experimenting with snap power and just hint of hip, then thrusting the kick through as they do in Muay Thai they don't hardly use any snap and its a very powerful kick.

Learn the basic, strengthen the muscles neccesary to do it proper for that system, then make it your technique made for your body and no/less pain.

Don't fret 30 years in the Martial art and I don't do Flying side kick worth a crap. I'm like a Pterodactylus, I need a long run way for that kick. Take what you can use and store away the rest, eventually. I'm so old now it seems a waste of enegry, just to be counter by side stepping.

Ash,

Having degenerative discs and a herniated one, yep...I can feel your pain...literally. I really think that some of the problems may be associated with the way the round kick is thrown in TKD.

I consider myself a Karate-ka for the most part, but my early MA life incorporated about 7 years of TKD practice, though not all of it as exhaustive as the first three.

In any case, I also used to practice the MT style kick which needs a lot of hip and trunk torque to get it going. I don't do these but occasionally any more due to those very same back issues.

On the other hand, I think a modified round kick coming from karate offers me the best approach that doesn't drive my back nuts. Within this technique though, as you noted, there is a requirement for having very good hip flexibility. Unlike TKD and some other styles of karate where the round kick is at first chambered from a front kick position, this kick would be chambered from the side in what some call a "dog-pee" set up.

The benefit for me is that the back is generally left isolated and not responsible for huge torquing in the MT sense or the huge amount of restraint stopping the body momentum in TKD to allow a snap and retrieval of the leg from a hight round kick position. Both of these types of kicks place different stresses on the back.

Per the more traditional, though I have modified it a bit to suit me, round kick: The dog-pee style offers a lot but may not be the best type of round kick to use when facing your opponent. If you are to the side of an attacker, you can use this round kick nicely. The point here is to keep the leg moving "over" the hip joint in an arc and not swing the leg as if a gate door on hinges. This way you have better body weight transfer and can use the ball of your foot for a large amount of impact. But again, you do need hip flexibility to accomplish this with more than average results.

Good luck!

I'm not even worried at this point. I am just trying to prevent pain in my hips while doing the round kick in kihon.

If I am doing a round kick to the waste level, I can put my foot up extended on a chair and rest it there without. It's when I go to execute the kick that I'm having trouble. How can you work on building up strength to execute the kick in your hip?

I think strength will come from practice and doing the mechanics of the kick slowly and with integrity to the technique. No cheating!

But the crux of the ability to perform this kick well comes from the requisite flexibility around the hip joint and there is no need to do full splits or anything like that.

However, if the pain you are feeling is intense and not just the burning sensation from stretching or muscular tiredness, I really would have a doctor take a look-see and recommend which types of stretching and strength training would be OK for you.