Side Kick Trajectory

Many of the fighters who talk negatively about the side kick, never developed a correct technique or don't know how to mix it with techniques that they  already  use  effectively.

Today's video discusses the challenges of the side kick trajectory, prior to and during the impact.

Following the discussion - trajectory improvement drills are shown.

Check it out!

It doesn’t have to take years to master a perfect kick, if you know what to practice. Indeed very few masters in the world, who perfected their own kicks, know how to quickly and safely pass the skills on to others.

Side kick is the kick known for it’s power. Side kick is also the least accurate kick of all kicks. Muscles used in the kick are large and powerful. Regulation of these muscles is called gross motor control. The opposite of GMC is fine motor control. The example of FMC is writing with a pen. Fine motor control is what is needed for accuracy.  The two types of control rarely naturally co-exist. They are brought together through specialized training.

Being able to place an accurate kick make the difference between “I felt it, it hurts” vs “lights out…” A side kick to the solar plexus missed by an just a little is not as effective. Same for other targets. Knee, jaw, etc. To get full use out of a side kick’s raw power, it must hit the intended target.

The striking surface or point of impact for the side kick is either the heel or the edge of the foot. Heel is more powerful. If you are going to train for accuracy, you might as well go for the all the marbles and focus on maximum returns.  

The program focuses on the heel. However all the exercises are easily convertible to the edge of the foot, in case you prefer to strike with that point of impact.

How does this program work?

First a heel must be established by the nervous system as the point of impact. This simply means that your body needs to know where you heel is when throwing the side kick. The program starts with this.

Next step is trajectory. In technicality any mastered trajectory can lead to accuracy. It can be a semi-circle of any radius or a straight line. As long as the line of kick is exactly repeated every time, the accuracy will be developed. Having said that, we focus on developing a straight line. (From point A, where heel is at chamber positon to point B, where the target is.)

We focus on mastering a straight line for 3 reasons.

1. A straight line is most easily replicated. In other words, if a curved line is called for, the degree of curve is hard to control. This will leads to adjustments at the end of the kick. Those adjustments in turn will decrease the speed and power.
2. Shortest distance form A to B is a straight line. In some situations, a millisecond is not significant. In other circumstances, such as competition between two world class athletes, it can make a difference.
3. Vector alignment. For maximum generation of power the heel must travel in the same line as the body’s mass is accelerated. When throwing a side kick the mass moves directly at a target. The kick must continue this path. If the kick moves in any other route, the vectors will partially cancel each other. This again will end in loss of power.

Once trajectory is established the kick is practiced with a simple feed back mechanism and is adjusted after each kick. This allows the kicker to get the most out of the kick.

Do you need this program?

Place a dot on the target and kick it. Can you hit the dot? Are you slowing the kick down? If you can hit the dot at will, without sacrificing speed and power. Congratulations!  You got to send us a video. You definitely don’t need this program.

On the other hand if your kick is not accurate, when thrown at full speed and power. You need the program.

Click on the Picture below to Get Started!

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