Tips to kick higher?

Answer 1

Well two parts here.

First in real life DONT DO IT. Most the time you will have your leg caught and get yourself hurt for you are usually in clothing that is restricting to kicks.

Second, for class or practise, then using a stretching machine, or a partner on a wall every other day allowing a day to heal in between will help a lot for you.

Try to work on your splits both ways also. The thing is though even if you do get them higher, the higher a kick goes the more power it loses. IMO the best kicks are done from your midsection down and never higher unless it is a finishing move.

i have had a few real life experiences with it and never have i ever kicked higher than my stomach, one opponent did however and they got caught on ther jeans, slipped and fell and got more hurt from the fall than from anything we did to each other.

So i hope that helps.

Answer 2

The ability to kick higher is an outgrowth of increased flexibility. So that is where you start and the first area is the lower back. Your hamstrings interact with some of your lower back muscles at the top so that is why some people hurt or pull their back out when trying to kick to high. Start doing exercises to increase your lower back flexibility. Next are the groin and hamstring muscle groups. Stretch these by doing slow static type stretching and isolate and stretch individual parts of those muscle groups first and then the entire muscle group. An adequate warm up before doing this as well as stretching your lower back is important. Warm muscles stretch better than cold ones! Hold each pose or exercise for ten to twelve seconds and breath out as you do the extension phase or work phase through the mouth. Breath in through the nose out through your mouth when holding the pose or stretch. Proper breathing like this will help to relax you and the more relaxed you are the more efficiently you can stretch. Use props like chairs to help support your weight when strectching your entire hamstring or groin group taking some of the weight and tension off of your legs. If you feel a sharp ripping it is your body telling you that you are over strecthing and that causes excessive tearing of muscle fibers and a build up of scar tissue. This in turn will work against you so do nothing beyond a dull ache. At the end of your workouts do a brief cool down stretch for a few minutes as this is very important for you in building and maintaining flexibility also.
Besides using props like chairs, pieces of card board (for your feet to slide easier) there is also partner stretching.

There is a wealth of information on the internet about this and if you do some reading on slow static stretching and yoga you will find some exercises that work the lower back, groin, and hamstring muscle groups which are key to building great flexibility and allow you to kick higher.

Answer 3

What is your art? TKD you have to do it, If you can not kick at least at head level with all your kicks you can not advance. Stretching machines, and normal stretching, at the end of the day you may not get there. I’ve known lots of muscular / aging guys that had to give up TKD specifically because they physically could not achieve the high kick requirement. My advice is that if you are in the Muscle/old group cut your looses early.

Karate high kicks are discouraged, so no problem there

As posted above under the best of circumstances high kicks are a complete waste of time. Under the worst of circumstance high kicks will get you hurt. I love to see those feet flying, nothing better than hitting a guy full force in the ribs while he is standing on one foot. This is usually a show stopper.

Answer 4

Stretch out everyday. Front splits, side splits-- you will get there. Try to stretch your leg higher and higher (over time). Don't try to stretch too far too fast or you will pull something. Then the only thing you will be kicking is yourself. A few scenarios I think kicking high would be useful are: When your arms are restrained and you only have your legs and feet to defend yourself from an attack. Another: your arms are restrained from behind by the attacker and you kick him in his face with a front rising kick. You will have to stretch for a long time to achieve this, but it is possible. I can do it.

Answer 5

This is already answered but I'm already here. It's stretching and practice that will get you there. I can do the splits now and as a result my kicks can go a lot higher. But outside of showing off in forms, high kicks are not useful in fighting and can pull your hamstrings if you're not careful and fully stretched.

Answer 6

You should be stretching 2-4 times a day. Just before training, swing your legs out to the front, sides and back and stretch them well. With pad work, always aim to get a couple of millimetres higher than the previous kick and you'll get there eventually.

Answer 7

I have been doing martial arts a long time and I can kick higher than my head. I use a ballet bar to stretch. They are the bars you see along the wall of a dance studio. Start with the hight you feel comfortable with and you will see yourself gradually being able to get your leg higher and higher.

Answer 8

Don't.

High kicks don't work in real fights, neither does TKD, the art famous for high kicks.

Better yet, try to work on faster, smarter, and more powerful low kicks.

Answer 9

Increase your flexibility. Do splits.
Um... that's pretty much all I can think of...