19.10.20
On Monday night my client reached the ninth hour of her current course. Tonight, at her request from last week’s workout assessment session, we looked at developing speed in her kicks. There are various factors that affect speed in techniques. As with power, technique is often the key to improving speed and should be trained ahead of conditioning. We are looking to better develop muscular strength in relation to speed and reaction time.
I looked at three leg techniques: rear spear knee, 45 degree round kick and lead teep. These were all used in conjunction with punching techniques to help create momentum and to set the pace for their delivery. We also spent a lot of time working on faster retraction, pulling away after impact rather than stopping. Using shadow boxing methods, it was crucial to keep limbs loose and to be mindful of hyperextending joints when striking to the air. After going through individual techniques and in combination – jab/rear knee, jab/lead teep and jab/45 degree round-kick/cross – we did sets of 10 and then five to confirm improvements in form. The lesson finished with a tabata that combined shuffles and hip-switching with all the three techniques performed in isolation.