I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the best stretches to help me with my roundhouse kicks.I realise that correct technique is most important but was wondering if there were any specific stretches to make that kick any easier ?
Thanks in advance
Cheers
Nick

Nick B
One of the best stretches for performing correct roundhouse kicks (esp at hight) is the humble front split. That is to say the stretch where you end up with one leg in front of your torso and one behind. The reason for this is that when performing a correctly executed head hight roundhouse kick you will effectively be in the front splits position. I also recomend chambering the kicking leg to one side at the maximum hight you can whilst still keeping the knee and heel in line - then bob the chambered leg up and down to work the hip flexors. Thirdly i'd recomend the butterfly stretch. Theres also a great article by Tom Kurtz on this site - simply go to "learning" then choose the "stretching" option.
Regds and good training

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MrVigerous:
Nick B
One of the best stretches for performing correct roundhouse kicks (esp at hight) is the humble front split. That is to say the stretch where you end up with one leg in front of your torso and one behind. The reason for this is that when performing a correctly executed head hight roundhouse kick you will effectively be in the front splits position. I also recomend chambering the kicking leg to one side at the maximum hight you can whilst still keeping the knee and heel in line - then bob the chambered leg up and down to work the hip flexors. Thirdly i'd recomend the butterfly stretch. Theres also a great article by Tom Kurtz on this site - simply go to "learning" then choose the "stretching" option.
Regds and good training

[/QUOTE]

Hi Mr Vigerous, thanks for the stretching tips I appreciate the help.
Cheers.

Hello Nick,
I prefer the side ways split or chinese split to help one with the roundhouse kick,along with any exercises that help to loosen up the hip muscles.One exercise that I like, is to get into the front split and slowly turn into a sideways split.Another one is where you stand and put your leg on a support as if to do a front hurdlers stretch and after doing the front stretch turn your body into a side kick position and rotate your body as far back as you can to thouroughly work that hip area.After a while you can start raising the support to a higher and higher level,thereby increasing the difficulty and extending your range of motion.One good thing to remember is that your back muscles have alot to do with it so you want to make sure that you warm up properly.Always make sure you stretch before and after a good workout,and warm or cool down slowly as this will help to avoid lactic acid buildup in your muscles and help you to keep from getting those nasty cramps.Which are associated with cooling down to fast.
Take care,
Your Brother in the Arts [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

Thanks for the tips Brewer. I must say I do have a hard time with most stretches, it definately isn't my favourite part of training but I will endeavour to improve !!
Thanks again.
Nick