Increase your kicking speed and power

Once you have learned the technical aspects of a striking technique, there are many simple exercises that you should be looking to incorporate into your conditioning program to help increase your kicking speed and power.

There are many exercises that we can do that are not only simple but do not require any special equipment whatsoever.

One such exercise is the Tuck Jump or as we used to call it, “knees to chest”.

Squat down slightly and then explode into a jump, as high as possible, tucking your knees up to your chest and then land back on you feet. Repeat a set number of times as quickly as you can, whilst maintaining your form as correctly as possible. Minimise the amount of time that your feet stay in contact with the floor in-between jumps.

Really give it some effort and jump as high as possible!

This type of exercise will help add that explosive power into your striking techniques, thus helping you to increase your kicking speed and power.

This is one of many exercises that I will introduce to you…

…but lets take it one step at a time!

Leg Kicks are under rated and under used. It is a super effective strike whether it is being used in Self Defense or in competition.

Targeting the femoral nerves of the inner and outer thigh muscles, leg kicks can have a real devastating effect. Anyone who has experienced a “charlie horse” or “dead leg” in the outer thigh, will appreciate just how effective this area can be.

In Self Defense, leg kicks to the thigh can at minimum slow down an attacker to such an extent that you can easier create distance between you and the attacker. Distance is time and time can make all the difference.

In competition, firmly landed leg kicks can change the whole outlook of the fight. The focus of the recipient becomes one of defense rather than attack. His mind is more engaged in the lingering pain of each strike. Additional strikes to such a sensitive area compound the effect. The pain also slows down the recipient, making it hard for them to move around with any fluidity.

There are 2 basic ways that leg kicks can be employed. Firstly, as a fast distracting strike to set up further strikes as part of a combination and secondly as a very effective power strike, where the force of the body is added with a full rotation of the hips.

Leg Kicks are basically Roundhouse kicks targeting the lower limbs. The fact that they are targeted low makes it much easier to maintain balance and to strike with very high levels of force.

It is a very simple strike that can be learned easily by anyone. My advice would be to make effective leg kicks a major part of your arsenal.

Bodyweight Exercise is one of many styles of training that can be used as part of your conditioning. Make an effort to educate yourself on this topic and you will discover exercises to work virtually every muscle in your body.

This type of training can be carried out by absolutely anyone whether you are training for an upcoming competition or someone who is just looking to get themselves into good shape.

Bodyweight exercise takes away many of the typical excuses that people make about not having access to a gym, not having fancy equipment at home, not having time to exercise. The excuses are crap as you can exercise very effectively with no equipment at all right in your own home. Routines can be created that take up as little as about 20 minutes per day and will still give great results.

Bodyweight exercise can be made as challenging as you want it to be!

The techniques are simple and very convenient as they can be carried out virtually anywhere with very little space required. At the end of the day, resistance is resistance whether or not it comes from weights or your body weight.

Identify your goals, whether they be for endurance, stamina, power, shape, strength and then apply a strategy to help reach that goal. Very simple items of equipment such as high tension resistance bands can be used in conjunction with the exercise if bodyweight alone becomes too light.

Personally, bodyweight exercise is a favourite of mine, I create some very challenging workouts that give great results.

Train Like a Sprinter not a Marathon Runner. 

Long distance runners tend to be rather scrawny from the type of long distance style training they have to do whereas sprinters are very well muscled with explosive power and strength. 

Anyone can learn Jiu-Jitsu throws in their basic form but more power, more speed and more strength is only going to improve your game. 

Power, Speed and Strength are attributes that will improve your Jiu-Jitsu game, these can be improved by carrying out ballistic and plyometric style exercises like those of a sprinter. 

Ballistic Training and Interval training with very high intensity periods followed by a brief intervals of rest. Strangely enough, that is very much like Jiu-Jitsu or MMA style competition.

Ultimate Fighting Championship - UFC 84 has some great fights in store on May 24th. They include – 

BJ Penn is up against Sean Sherk. Conditioning will be a big factor here as Sean Sherk, very strong at Lightweight always looks in ultimate shape, however, BJ Penn is fantastic with his Jiu-Jitsu skills, incredible flexibility and is a pretty handy striker these days too. His conditioning has looked a little suspect at times in the past but I’m sure that he will be on top of that for this fight. 

Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida slug it out at 205 pounds. This is another tough one to call as Machida is fantastic both standing and on the ground. Ortiz, very strong is a hard guy to beat. 

Wanderlei Silva takes on Keith Jardine in another 205 pound clash. Jardine is very awkward and has chalked up some good wins recently.  However, for this one, I’m looking to Silva as being more than a match for Jardine. 

If I were a betting man, I would be looking at BJ Penn, Lyoto Machida and Wanderlei Silva to come up trumps on this card. But who knows - “It’s a funny old game”. 

Whatever the results – UFC 84 will be a great one to watch.