Flexibility: The Critical Component of Kicking

​One thing I always say in my self-defense seminars is, "don’t forget that you have legs!"  So often the legs are forgotten or overlooked when it comes to being used to defend ourselves.  They house the largest muscle groups of the body and are capable of generating tremendous power, but are far too often forgotten about.  You can literally stop an attacker in their tracks by forcefully kicking them in the groin, knee, shin, instep of the foot, or even stomping the foot itself.  Low line kicks are in essence you using your longest and strongest weapons (the legs) against some of their closest and most vulnerable targets (groin, knees, feet).  

The Critical Component of Kicking 

Many people don’t feel confident in their kicking ability, perhaps due to lack of proper knowledge of mechanics or power generation.  However, the mechanics of throwing a kick with enough force to hurt someone is actually fairly simple. How many of us have ever kicked a ball?  Not a whole lot of difference from kicking a ball to kicking someone in the groin, knee cap, or shin. I believe that the actual problem for most people isn’t so much in proper technique, but in a lack of flexibility to execute the technique.  I have been absolutely amazed over the years on how very inflexible most people seem to be. Now, you do not need the flexibility of a gymnast to be able to kick someone below the belt, but you should have enough flexibility to where you can quickly kick them without losing your balance and get away.

To break things down further...

• In order to generate kicking power, muscles must of course be strong. 
• However, strong muscles are no good for power generation unless they can generate speed. 
• Tense muscles do not generate speed very well at all, they need to be flexible and relaxed in order to move smoothly in a full range of motion. 
• Therefore, flexibility + speed + strength = POWER. 

Neglect any of these areas, and your whole chain of power can suffer.  Neglect flexibility, however, and you don’t even have a foundation to stand on.

Flexibility for Kicking

As already stated more often than not, flexibility is the area I see most neglected by those who want to become better kickers.  Flexibility is the base. I cannot stress enough that if you neglect this area, you are sabotaging your kicking potential from the start.  All power comes from the hips, and in order to have good hip mobility, you must stretch. If your goal is to kick someone’s head off, your inner thigh muscles and hamstrings likewise need to be flexible enough to first reach that height.  Like I mentioned earlier, even in a self-defense based scenario where you would not want to kick any higher than someone’s groin, having the flexibility to bring your leg up quickly to that level, extend it out with force, and get it back without losing your balance is essential.  The less flexible you are when you kick, the more likely you will be off balance as well, which is a huge risk factor whether you are sparring or fighting for your life.  

People love to train for strength because it’s a very active process.  They can feel themselves getting stronger and see the amount of weight that they are able to lift increase.  Same thing with training for speed. It’s a very active and repetitive process of trying to move one’s limbs or body faster in space.  But flexibility is really neither of those things. It can be very static, slow, and sometimes uncomfortable. It’s one of those areas of fitness that is looked at as almost a prelude into a real workout, something that must be done before the real fun starts.  However, if you really want to be a good kicker, you must treat it as a very serious part of your training that demands the same amount of concentration, effort, time, and dedication as any other area of fitness. I have not found a truly phenomenal kicker yet who was inflexible.  A couple of my favorite kickers of all time are the late, great Andy Hug and retired fighter Cung Le. They have different kicking styles, but both were very flexible and dangerous individuals that are great examples of the devastating power of well placed kicks.

With all of that being said, some of my personal favorite stretching exercises that I do on the regular to improve my kicking flexibility are: 

1. Front Splits
2. Side Splits
3. Front Lunge all the way with chest to knee
4. Side Lunge all the way with chest to knee
5. Lying down knee to chest hold + carry leg across the body afterwards and hold
6. Standing Quadriceps Stretch

Before you go into any of these stretches, you should always warm-up first.  This could be 5-10 minutes of jogging in place, jumping jacks, light shadow boxing, a combination of all the above, etc. The increased blood flow that warms a muscle up will allow it to stretch further and with much less risk of injury than trying to stretch when the muscle is “cold”.  After I warm up, I hold each stretch for 30 seconds to 1 minute, with the exclusion of the front splits. (I like to take my time with the front splits and gradually inch my legs further and further apart. I usually pull down 10 times to each leg and hold on the 10th rep for about 30 seconds.  I then do the same thing pulling down to the middle 10 times and holding down on the 10th rep. Finally, I’ll slowly inch my legs a little further out and repeat it all over again.) 

Performing the above stretches consistently throughout the years has allowed me to maintain my flexibility and kicking power.  I feel confident that I can direct a well placed kick to any target on the human body quickly and with force should the need arise.  Being able to kick quickly, forcefully, without losing balance, and with very little risk of personal injury is a great tool for anyone to have in their self-defense arsenal.  Furthermore, having good flexibility is beneficial beyond just the realm of kicking or martial arts. Taking time each day to stretch all of your major muscle groups will lead to greater mobility, better balance, increased body awareness, and aid in injury prevention.  Perhaps the best part of all of is that these aspects don’t just make for better kicking, but for a better overall quality of life as well.  

​ ~Don