Superkick

Your Guide to Kicking Mastery

By Tony Higo
World’s Fastest High Kicker
Also By Tony Higo

Warrior Wisdom – the 25 Elemental Laws that Govern Life and Combat
Sparring – The Secrets You Absolutely Must Know

Superkick ©Copyright Tony Higo 2006

Second edition 2012
All Rights Reserved

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by section 107 or
108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act and the design and Patents Act 1988 in the United
Kingdom without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or
further information should be addressed to

Aegis Publishing.
C/O Natmac Ltd,
Swatton Barn,
Badbury, Swindon,
Wilts SN4 0EU
0800 0920948

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the
subject matter covered and no liability is accepted by the author for any injury sustained in the
performance of the drills, exercises or routines described. Before beginning any exercise program
you should consult a quali ied medical practitioner. This publication is designed to provide accurate
and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered.

It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,
medical or other professional or personal services. If legal or medical advice or other expert
assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
 Dedication

Special thanks to my wife Amaya for taking the photographs and

to my son Ben Higo, Amaya Higo and Lisa White
for helping me with the demonstrations
 Contents

Biography: Chief Master Tony Higo ......................................................................................................7

Introduction to Super Kicking.................................................................................................................9
Part One – Why This Book is Different ............................................................................................. 13
Part Two – What Do You Want to Achieve With This Book?................................................... 15
Part Three – Practice & Repetition .................................................................................................... 17
Part Four – Warming Up ......................................................................................................................... 19
Part Five – Paper Target Exercises ..................................................................................................... 27
Part Six – Assisted Kicking Exercises ................................................................................................ 29
Part Seven – Key Concept - Cloning ................................................................................................... 33
Part Eight – Developing the Cloning Movement .......................................................................... 37
Part Nine – Key Concept – Body Alignment .................................................................................. 45
Part Ten – Key Concept – Preparation, Delivery, Recovery ..................................................... 47
Part Eleven – Key Concept – The Launch Point ............................................................................ 49
Part Twelve – The Set Up – Using Effective Footwork to Set Up Kicks............................... 51
Part Thirteen – Key Concept – Jumping Kicks .............................................................................. 59
Part Fourteen – Key Concept – The Beat ......................................................................................... 61
Part Fifteen – Key Concept – The Pivot ............................................................................................ 63
Part Sixteen – Footwork Exercises ..................................................................................................... 65
Part Seventeen – Key Concept – Reaction Time ........................................................................... 71
Part Eighteen – Distance & Timing .................................................................................................... 73
Part Nineteen – Response Training ................................................................................................... 75
Part Twenty – Which Kick?.................................................................................................................... 83
Part Twenty One – The Cool Down .................................................................................................... 85
Part Twenty Two – Isometric Stretching......................................................................................... 93
Part Twenty Three – Splits & Leg Holds .......................................................................................... 95
Part Twenty Four – The Full Cool Down Stretch.......................................................................... 97

Part Twenty Five - Summary ............................................................................................................. 103

 Biography

Chief Master Tony Higo

8 Degree Chief Master Tony Higo is the founder and chief instructor of the National Martial Arts
th

Colleges. Master Higo began his own martial arts training way back in1965 when he was taught
the rudiments of boxing by his father in order to be able to defend himself against bullies at school.
Master Higo’s family have been involved in the martial arts for more than six generations,
going back to the days of the bare knuckle ighters. Every generation of the family has trained in
the martial arts.
In 1974 Master Higo added karate to his training and a year later began teaching martial arts
whilst still at school.
In 1982 Master Higo adopted the name AEGIS as the name of the martial arts system he had
developed over the years from his studies in boxing, ju jitsu, karate and muay thai.
In 1988 Master Higo was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the World’s fastest high
kicker and he made several appearances on TV. Master Higo has also competed on the England
team. However, although he enjoyed his competition days, he found they did not really motivate
him enough.
In 1997 in Leeds, Master Higo opened the irst of the National Martial Arts Colleges, which soon
became the largest martial arts academy in the city. He has put a great deal of time into training
new instructors to spread the message on how martial arts can improve people’s lives and now has
schools all over Yorkshire and af iliated schools throughout the country.
The ethos within most martial arts clubs is competition-based. While competition has its place,
it does little for those who are not as physically gifted or who are not challenged by sport martial
arts. Master Higo’s schools focus on using martial arts not only for survival, as in self-defence or
con idence-building, but look beyond the purely physical elements, encouraging the application of
the skills and strategies to encourage people to thrive in all areas of their lives. ‘Martial arts skills
are a metaphor for life skills – strategies that work in combat, work also in life’ says Master
Higo, explaining that ‘people often think that martial arts are about ϔighting, but what they don’t
realise is that the martial arts are more about not ϔighting. Fighting is dangerous and wasteful
and martial arts will give you the skills to protect yourself if needed, but it is far better to avoid
combat and use the skills of martial arts to help to resolve issues and build relationships with
those we interact with’.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

This important ethic is instilled into their students by the instructors of the National Martial Arts
College, leading to its success as one of the fastest-growing martial arts organisations in the UK.
Master Higo’s perspective on martial arts, though not unique, is quite different to the norm,
observing that ‘most martial arts instructors will only see you as a potential ϔighter in their
team, but these instructors often fail to understand the true nature and beneϔit that martial
arts bring when practised properly.’ At the National Martial Arts Colleges the motto is ‘martial
arts are not about winning, they’re about getting the result you want’. The National Martial Arts
Colleges teach students how to thrive in life not just in combat.
Master Higo has introduced several innovations to the martial arts, including training aids such
as the ‘Allrounder’ which helps students build their physical skills and also the ‘BeatBoXX’ training
system which can accelerate a student’s development by up to two thirds faster than other training
method. These innovations are both used in the National Martial Arts Colleges and have helped
students attain a staggering level of physical skill. He has also introduced Black Belt Leadership
and Professional Instructor training programs into his schools. ‘In the majority of martial arts
schools, black belt equals instructor; this accounts for the poor quality of tuition and facilities in
most academies and is the reason why so many instructors only teach full time. At The National
Martial Arts Colleges an instructor must undergo three years’ training with continuous professional
development afterwards to keep them at the top of their game and to retain their instructor status.
Master Higo has also written several books, articles and courses for martial arts practitioners,
his latest being his top selling book ‘Warrior Wisdom’ which focuses on the ancient laws that
govern martial arts and life success. The tenets of Warrior Wisdom are widely taught throughout
the National Martial Arts College academies to help students understand how their physical martial
arts skills can be adapted to life success.
Master Higo was recently promoted to the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt in recognition of his
contribution and service to the martial arts, making him one of the highest-ranking martial artists
in the world. Whilst Master Higo does not teach in his academies often these days, he continues to
teach and mentor his team of instructors and maintain his own personal development. ‘My focus
now is to teach more people how martial arts can add a wonderful new dimension to their lives;
to break down the prejudices that the term “martial arts” can conjure up in a person’s mind
and demonstrate what a positive addition the martial arts can bring to individuals and their
families, regardless of age or physical ability’

8
 Introduction to Super Kicking

T he aim of this book is to provide a different perspective on martial arts kicking; something
new, exciting and challenging. I regularly trawl my local bookshop looking for that special book
that will give me some new insight or understanding. Most of the time I am disappointed; I see the
same old titles with nothing new to offer - impractical martial arts systems, boring texts, books with
outmoded content- they are dull to read and of no practical value.
Rarely do I ind that little gem of a book that actually has something new in it; something I didn’t
already know. Most books just spout the same old stuff I read over 30 years ago when I sat for hours
in the only bookshop in Leeds that stocked martial arts books. Today I ind many of the same titles…
and the new titles are not saying anything different. If I ind that gem, I will buy it even if it only has
one sentence in it that might help me; a sentence I could simply write down on a piece of paper and
not even bother to buy the book. But if it has anything at all that spikes my interest, I will buy it and
treasure it. Sadly I ind these gems very seldom.
I decided to write a book about kicking that I would enjoy; a book that assumes a degree of existing
knowledge but that explores areas that may not have been considered before. Not a complete beginner’s
book, but one that a novice will bene it from as much as will an experienced practitioner.
I have not detailed how to perform individual kicks; instead I presume you already have a basic
knowledge which I can build upon. I have concentrated on providing training drills that will improve
your kicks but also improve your understanding of the kicks.
My students and training partners know me as a perfectionist who attends to the smallest detail
in my technique. For some this is irrelevant or boring but to me it is the life blood of my training; in
understanding why a small difference in a technique can make a huge difference to speed or power.
So I have written a book for me in the hope that you will ind something you hadn’t considered
before, something that you will bene it from - as I have. My hope is that you will really use these
exercises and insights and apply them to your training; that you will bene it from them and improve
as a result of them.
I have included training drills that will improve your kicks under pressure. I am a strong advocate
of reality training; that is, I believe if a kick is worth mastering it should work in reality: in the street.
However, I also enjoy those areas that are less practical, so I practise and teach high kicks, spinning
kicks and jumping kicks, these are for fun, but they also challenge you to try new things; to explore
how far you can go with a technique before it loses its practicality. Sometimes these more extravagant
techniques provide a greater understanding of the practical ones as they are often based on realistic
methods, just taken to that next level.
That edge of reality helps to make my martial arts training fun. That is important to me and
should also be to any martial artist as it helps keep you fresh and motivated to improve. If you are

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

not enjoying your training then you need to ind a new way of training. If it’s not fun you are doing
it wrong. I hope in some way to add that enjoyment to your training by sharing some of the insights
and discoveries that I have bene ited from over the course of my 40 years of martial arts study.
I hope my explanations are clear enough to follow and if not, I have included plenty of photos to
help to put across my message. Writing this book has reminded me of many other concepts that I
didn’t have the space to include… so keep an eye out for future volumes and in the meantime I hope
you enjoy this one.

Tony Higo

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SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

Tony Higo – Unsupported Side Splits Between Two Chairs

11
12
 Part One

Why This Book is Different

I f you are interested in improving your kicking and making it more effective then you’ve come to
the right place. In this book we are going to look at some of the less common aspects of making
kicks effective.
Most books and tapes base kicking effectiveness on deep prolonged stretches and high kicks
but, although high degrees of lexibility are helpful in effective kicking, they are not the most
important consideration.
Speed, power, footwork, distance, timing and strategy are all factors that must also be trained
too. Flexibility can affect these other factors either positively or negatively but should not be the
main focus of your study and training.
People are either born lexible or not and most writers of the stretching books and stretching videos
on the market were born very lexible indeed. But I often feel that the exercises and drills they offer in
their books are not very valuable to those less blessed in terms of their lexibility. I was lucky in that
I was born lexible; I didn’t become aware of it until I began martial arts training. Then I realised that
what was easy for me was often very dif icult for others less gifted in terms of their lexibility.
Certainly if you are introduced to martial arts training at an early age you will probably have
that natural lexibility that comes with youth. You will ind kicking easy, as your lexibility allows the
greater range of motion that is required with high ‘ lashy’ kicks. That’s not to say that less lexible
students can’t achieve great improvements in their lexibility too; they can with time and practice.
The point to remember is that high lexibility and high kicks are not as crucial to effective kicking as
most books and videos would have you believe.
Effective kicking, including high kicks, takes practice and, more importantly, an understanding of
‘realism’, which many martial arts seem to have lost these days. It is more important to practise those
techniques that will be effective in a real life self defence situation and, frankly, in most of these types
of situation high lashy kicks will not work.
For instance, punches are more effective than kicks in a real ight. Kicks generally carry more
power than punches but they are more dif icult to perform, particularly under pressure. Kicks tend
to hit targets that can take more injury, such as the leg or body, and it’s easier to punch someone in
the head than it is to kick them in the head; for one thing the ist is closer to the head than the foot,
secondly the hand is lighter and quicker than the foot, and thirdly, since we use our hands so much
more than our feet for ine motor actions, that much greater control makes us more likely to strike
someone with the hands rather than the feet.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

People get too focused on how good a great-looking kick is, when often the person kicking
couldn’t apply that kick in a street ight. I’m talking about the kind of kicks that look good in ilms
and demonstrations. They may appear brilliant but they are totally ineffective in a real ight.
What most books forget is that it’s one thing to be able to perform amazingly fast high kicks, but
it’s quite another to be able to hit a moving target that doesn’t want to be hit. In a street ight your
opponent not only doesn’t want to be hit, he’s also trying his best to hit you. To be an effective kicker
you have to understand this simple principle. Your kicking must work against a it, strong opponent
who is moving very fast at you with the intention of beating you to a pulp!
Your training must prepare you to hit these ‘hard targets’, otherwise you are wasting your time.
Your kicks may look good but if they don’t work in protecting you then what’s the point? You have
no time for deep stances and lowery movements in the street and most attempts at high kicks will
probably result in you lying lat on your back.
Real martial arts are about defending yourself in the street, and any martial art that is not ‘street
realistic’ is letting its students down badly. Most students rely on their instructor to teach them what
works because they have no life experience of martial arts themselves. Sadly most instructors are in
the same position and they simply regurgitate what they have been taught themselves. My advice is
that you should concentrate your training on applying your technique in a realistic way, not on how
high or how lexible you are. ‘Realism’ is the true watchword of the real ‘super kicker.’
My focus in this book is to teach you what works in reality and that will be my main aim. However,
that said, I will also show you techniques to increase your lexibility. My philosophy is that if you
can kick high and fast with power, then your ‘practical’ lower level kicks will be even better and,
therefore, more useful.
I don’t why you bought this book but I imagine you want to improve on what you can do right
now. So I have included exercises and drills that will help you to defend yourself in the street, in
competition and also just help you have more for fun in your martial arts training.
I am going to share with you some of the actual exercises that I use myself. Most of these exercises
I have used unchanged for over 30 years and I can kick as easily as I can punch even to this day. I
know these exercises work for me and have worked for over 10,000 students that I have trained
personally in a career spanning over 40 years in martial arts.
If you enjoy these exercises and do them regularly you will improve your kicking skills and have
a lot of fun. I have many more that I can teach you and hope to do this in a later volume.

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 Part Two

What Do You Want To Achieve With This Book?

I n order to get the most out of this book you need to set a goal for what you want to achieve. As the
saying goes ‘if you don’t know where you’re going then any road will take you there’ - if you
don’t set a goal then you won’t understand what your result has been.
The good thing about this book is that you do the exercises whenever you want with a different
goal to achieve. You probably already have goals in mind about what you wish to improve, bearing in
mind your weaknesses as a kicker.
Write down what you are unhappy with and what you want to improve; then you can focus
directly on these areas so that next time you read the book you can set a different goal to build a
different skill.
By repeating the exercises over time you can ‘tweak’ your training to focus on your immediate
area of need in terms of your kicking.
With your goal; be speci ic and make it measurable; simply writing ‘I want to get better’ or ‘I
want to improve my kicking’ won’t get you far because it’s not speci ic enough, and how will you
measure your progress? However, if you set a speci ic goal such as: ‘I want to improve my pivot to a
full 180 degrees on high lead leg roundhouse kicks’ or ‘I want to stop stumbling after my side kicks’
you have a better chance of success.
Once you have set a goal that is both speci ic and measurable, you must set a date by which you
want to achieve it. This will help you to stay motivated and focused so that you stay the course and
actually achieve it.
Next write down your goal where you will see it again to remind you of what you have chosen as
your immediate target.
On the next page I have set out a goals sheet that you can use to set your speci ic areas of need/
want. Photocopy the page so you can set increasingly more challenging goals and refer back to them
regularly to measure your progress.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

GOALS SHEET
My area of need is:

My goal is:

I want to achieve this by (date)

My area of need is:

My goal is:

I want to achieve this by (date)

My area of need is:

My goal is:

I want to achieve this by (date)

My area of need is:

My goal is:

I want to achieve this by (date)

16
 Part Three

Practice & Repetition

Practice Makes Perfect and Repetition is the Mother of Skill

I ’ve combined two old sayings together to reinforce the principle that you have to practise to get
better and practice means lots of repetitions of basic movements.
If you ever watch your instructors practising, then you’ll probably see more often than not
that they practise basic movements. Basics are the most effective movements because they are the
simplest and in a street defence situation you won’t have time to be extravagant with your fancy
techniques; you need to get in to hit fast and hard and avoid getting hit in the process.
When we irst start out training in martial arts we often feel clumsy and stupid. Then we start
making progress; sometimes that progress comes slowly and sometimes fast but gradually everything
begins to fall into place. You get better and better, but the killer thing is that you can’t make dramatic
progress all the time; gradually your progress will slow down, sometimes so much that you feel
like you are going backwards. This is a dangerous time because it’s when most students drop out,
thinking they’ve gone as far as they can or that they have lost the will to continue or even that their
school or instructor is to blame.
To beat this syndrome you have to forget how you compare with others and concentrate on your
own progress. Set simple goals on what you want to achieve; be happy and congratulate yourself
that you didn’t give up, but you turned up and trained.
Be gentle with your self criticism; we all get it wrong and that’s OK, because that’s how we learn,
by trial and error. However, all too often we beat ourselves up for failing and give ourselves lots of
negative feedback rather than positive. We need some positive strokes at times like these to see us
through to our next ‘growth spurt.’
Some of our best instructors and students got that way just by enjoying the movements; the
atmosphere; the sweat; the friendships or just getting itter. Basically just turning up and gradually
getting better and better. It can be a slow process sometimes, but stick with it. If you do it for fun
rather than progress you’ll rarely be disappointed because it’s not that important how good you are
at a certain time; it’s more important that you are turning up and giving it a go than making constant
dramatic leaps in progress.
Concentrate on your basic techniques and practise, practise, practise. Now practice can be dull
if you just keep doing things over and over in exactly the same way, though sometimes this is all it
takes to improve. My advice is: make a ‘play frame’ of the practice, that is; make it into a game.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

Years ago I read a book called ‘Secret ighting arts of the world’ by John F. Gilbey. In the book
there was a chapter about a Savate expert called Baron Fegnier. Fegnier was an old master and I was
inspired by the descriptions of the speed and power of his kicking. His advice was to concentrate on
speed and placement; that is; how fast and how precise the kick is.
I was so motivated by the descriptions that I set up small paper targets pinned to the curtains
and just played around trying to kick the targets.
To me it was just a game based on Baron Fegnier’s advice, but while I was playing around I was
throwing 100’s and 100’s of kicks without noticing. While I concentrated on the game my kicks were
getting faster and more accurate. The end result was that years later I beat the world record for the
fastest high kicks and it was all down to the foundations I laid by playing that game.
Make your practice fun; that way you’ll want to practise and your practice will improve your
technique. If an exercise bores you, then look for a way to make it fun; make it a game that you’ll want
to play time and time again. This is what I did with the paper target exercise and it’s an exercise we
will be looking at in more details later.

18
 Part Four

Warming Up

E ffective kicking needs some degree of muscle lexibility, the foot has to travel from the loor to
the target, which could be a high target like a head, whereas a punch only has to travel from its
position at the shoulder or waist. To keep one foot on the loor while the other is thrown at a high
target, such as an opponent’s head, takes a high level of lexibility. For novice adult students whose
joints and muscles have shortened over time high kicks can be a dif icult challenge.
Time and practice can change this and one of the great ways to improve your lexibility is
through dynamic stretching in your warm-up routine. Dynamic stretching consists of a morning
exercise routine designed to re-set the extent of your muscles to a longer length for the rest of the
day. Gradually these morning exercises will develop increases in muscle length and, consequently,
increasing lexibility, leading in turn to easier, higher, faster kicks.
For best results perform this routine for 4 or 5 minutes each morning. Go slowly and be gentle
with yourself and remember you’ve just got out of bed and your muscles will be tight and stiff.
Don’t swing too high or twist too hard. Lift your legs more than swinging and use muscle strength
more than momentum. This will ensure you don’t overstretch your muscles and joints to cause
damage or straining.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

THE DYNAMIC WARM UP

Do 8-10 repetitions of each exercise, not too many, don’t tire yourself out just loosen your muscles
gently preparing them for the day ahead.

Arm circling – slow gentle rotations

Arm swings – slow and controlled

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

Body twists – left to right and right to left

ALTERNATE TOE TOUCH

Don’t push too hard to reach your toes; after a few seconds the stretch re lex should ‘kick in’ and
that means, if you have any lexibility reserve, then you should be able to go a little bit lower; don’t
force it but let it happen naturally and, if it doesn’t happen straightaway, then don’t stress. Gradually
you will get lower. Just remember to keep your legs straight so that you concentrate your stretch
on the hamstrings at the back of the thigh. The hamstrings are big muscles and most exercise has
the effect of shortening them and making them feel tight when you stretch. Men in particular suffer
from shortened hamstrings, but they can be lengthened with work and your progress will be faster
if you don’t cheat by bending your legs to get lower. This is a valuable exercise which uses your body
weight to loosen and stretch the muscle. It may not be the most exciting exercise in the world but it
is a useful one, so persevere!

Keep your llegs straight

K i h Workk to stretch
W h hhamstrings
i & bbackk

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

FORWARD LEG SWINGS

Remember to try to lift your legs as much as possible; avoid swinging them too hard and fast, as you
may cause injury to yourself.

Notice the raised hand – this, acts as a target to kick at and will help you to achieve greater height
with less risk of pulling muscles.
Don’t swing too high too soon or you’ll risk hurting yourself. The irst few swings should be low
and gentle, becoming a little more vigorous toward the inal two swings.
Don’t be put off if you can’t get as high as the photo; be patient and just keep doing the exercises
everyday and you will gradually get higher and higher – it takes time – you won’t do it overnight.
An important point to note here is that the forward leg swing stretches the same muscles as the
side splits. So a right leg swing represents a right side splits. Look at the photo on the right – it’s a
right side splits. As you swing, rotate your supporting foot outwards to facilitate the movement.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

SIDE LEG SWINGS

Don’t pivot your supporting foot; just turn your foot out about 45 degrees and no more. It’s very
important to get this position correct. Pay close attention to the photographs of the body positions.
This exercise is to stretch the inner thigh NOT the hamstrings. Make sure your foot points sideways
and not upwards. Pointing upwards will stretch the wrong muscles.

Use marker hand Cross feet over for better swing

Notice the box splits position? Important - I don’t turn my hips

Cross your feet over to get a better swing and make sure you do not turn your hips otherwise
you’ll lose the bene it that you need – that is to stretch the inner thighs. Often when people do this
exercise incorrectly they end up turning their hips and doing the equivalent of a forward swing
instead, so study the photo positions well and try to copy them. Once again – don’t worry about how
high you swing your legs, but do use your hand as a marker. You may not be able to touch your hand
to the side of your foot, but this is your eventual aim. Initially, if you can’t touch your hand to the side
of your foot, just swing and touch the side of your leg. As your lexibility increases your hand will get
closer and closer to your foot. Don’t cheat; keep both legs as straight as possible.

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FORWARD & BACKWARD LEG SWINGS

For this exercise use a chair so that you don’t fall over. Holding onto the chair with your left hand,
swing your right leg as high as you can but keep your swinging leg straight – you are stretching your
hamstring, the big muscle at the back of your thigh, on the swinging leg and you must keep the leg
very straight.
Swing the leg as high as possible and then swing it straight back down and swing it behind you
as in the photo on the left.
At irst you’ll have to take care not to fall over as it’s easy to lose your balance.
The rear swing will concentrate your stretch on the front of the thigh of your swinging leg.

Work on good form and a nice even swing, not too high at irst, but, as you get used to the exercise,
you’ll get higher and the height you achieve will increase.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

SIDE BENDS
Keep your feet about two shoulder widths apart.

Bend all the way from side to side holding the position
sition for about 10 seconds each
ea side. Bring your
high hand across so that you can see it as you stretch. This will help you to maintain a good position

HIP CIRCLING

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SUMMARY
All this should take no more than about 4 or 5 minutes, but do it daily and you’ll ind very quickly
that you can kick higher with less warm up. Your muscles will be re-set for the whole day at a longer
length, so you are able to kick higher without a warm up at any time during the day.
Don’t forget - it won’t work if you don’t do it regularly; that means you have to do the exercises
for more than a week! You have stick with it week in, week out and month in, month out. Long-term
results take long-term efforts and a little bit done every day is better than a lot done once in a blue
moon, so keep that practice going.

KEY POINTS
1. Do the exercises every day
2. Only work for 4 or 5 minutes
3. Long term results take long term effort
4. A little bit every day is better than loads done once a week
5. Make sure you don’t push yourself beyond your limits – it’s easy to damage your muscles
6. Don’t get disheartened if your results are slower than you want; just keep going and results
will happen

26
 Part Five

Paper Target Exercise

T his exercise can be performed with or without a partner and just needs a little space and a
small piece of paper or card. I do it like this:
Take a piece of paper, say A4 initially (smaller as you get better with the exercise) and pin it to the
curtains or ix it to somewhere where you can kick it and not hurt your foot if you miss.
Fix the paper target at a comfortable height, not too high and not too low. Gradually, as you get
more lexible you can raise the height of the target to be more challenging. All you have to do now is
practise your roundhouse and side kicks on the target.
Just try to touch the target, that’s why you are using paper so that you don’t use any power. The
lightest touch is what you want because this is a speed and control exercise, power is irrelevant in
this exercise but you will ind that your power improves as your kicking gets easier to do.
This exercise is one of the irst ones I used over 30 years ago to develop my kicking and I still use
it today. It’s fun and challenging. As you get better at it you can make the target smaller and smaller
until it’s no bigger than a credit card. As you get better, you can make it even smaller than that. I
generally use a pencil now or a small piece of rolled paper to make a taper.
This exercise will have you kicking like a champion in no time and it can be used as a warm up in
itself or as a complete session. Try to stay relaxed as you do it; don’t concentrate too hard and end up
holding your breath. Just stay loose and relaxed and enjoy playing the game.
Remember - don’t do it for hours and hours; just 15 to 20 minutes whenever you get the chance
is enough.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

KEY POINTS
1. Use speed and control – not power
2. Try to hit different parts of the target to improve your accuracy
3. Don’t put the target too high – a comfortable height is best
4. Gradually use a smaller and smaller target
5. Make a game of it
6. Don’t do too much – if boredom sets in, you won’t want to keep doing it. Control is the key part
of the exercise – don’t hit the target hard, just use a light touch to build your control, speed,
distance and timing.

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 Part Six

Assisted Kicking Exercise #1

A nother great exercise is this partner-assisted slow kick exercise. It’s brilliant for checking and
improving your alignment and positioning.
Remember to kick very gently and very slowly. Most people go nice and slowly on the low kicks
but then swing up the last kick; the high one, too fast.
DON’T! The whole point of the exercise is to build correct positioning and kick strength; the
height of your kicks will gradually improve, but if you have to kick fast to get high, then you won’t
get the bene it of the exercise.
Going fast means you can hide the errors in the movement, but if you go slowly then you have to
do it correctly, particularly if you are working at your maximum height range.
This is how to do it:

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

ASSISTED KICKING EXERCISE # 1

1. With your left hand holding your partner’s left hand, perform slow roundhouse or side kicks to
your partner’s knee – gently and barely touching-bring back to chamber
2. Then kick out slowly to your partner’s abdomen – check your positioning and make sure you
pivot fully, and lean back to counter balance the weight of your kicking leg.
3. Then re-chamber leaning well back and pivoting fully on your supporting leg and kick extra
slowly up to your highest point without overstraining – that could be chest, shoulder, head or
higher – but remember to pay close attention to the quality of the movement, keeping nice and
slow to get the most bene it.
4. Then your partner does the same – do 10 reps each then change to the other leg.
5. Always go slowly and with control, not fast; the slower you do it the better.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

KICKING EXERCISE #2
This is basically a variation of the previous exercise but without a partner. Instead you can use a
chair or other stable aid to support your balance as you perform the kicks. Again, and I know I keep
stressing this, make sure you go slowly and don’t try to go too high.

If I can use mountaineering as an analogy: mountaineers get to the top of the mountain by
climbing higher and higher; they start at the lowest point and, little by little, they progress to a
higher point, and then higher and higher until eventually they reach the summit. They can’t jump to
the top; for one thing it’s too high and, secondly, that would be the high jump event, not a mountain
climbing event!
The point I am making is that you’ll change the game if you go too fast - this is not a speed game
it’s a control game. It’s about balance, position and control.
The exercises so far are to prepare you for kicking, i.e. warming up ready to kick. Next we are
going to look at the important area of kicking that is ‘cloning’

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32
 Part Seven

Key Concept – Cloning

T he idea behind each kick is to make it an exact copy of every other, so that you are consistent
in how you throw your kicks. Repetition will build this but, if you are repeating an incorrect
movement or position, then you’re not going to progress to quality kicking. This next exercise is a
valuable one because it is designed to correct any errors in the movement. Errors in the movement
or technique will affect the speed, height and power of a kick. So, obviously, it is important to make
sure each kick is correct in its positioning and alignment.
You should work for technique excellence rather than excellent technique. Excellent technique
means a good kick but technique excellence is striving for every technique to be excellent or as near
as possible.
Bruce Lee once said that, before he began in martial arts, a kick was just a kick, but when he
began martial arts and learned how to kick, a kick was no longer a kick. A kick was a roundhouse or
side kick or axe kick. Then, after several years of training when he had achieved a level of technique
excellence, a kick became just a kick again.
This is an important concept in developing excellence, understanding that there are only so many
directions your legs can move in and also only so many angles that they can adopt. Understand that
kicks weren’t designed by people, they developed through necessity and opportunity; a front kick to
hit someone attacking from the front, a roundhouse to hit an exposed target on the side of someone’s
body head or leg, a back kick to hit someone attacking from behind, a side kick to hit someone at the
side of you, and so on.
Kicks travel in basically the same direction and paths, for instance a front kick travels straight
forward and upwards. A roundhouse kick travels like a front kick but with a twist of the hips, hitting
sometimes as it rises, sometimes laterally and sometimes as it falls.
A side kick is the same movement as the roundhouse but hits with the heel into the front of the
target rather than with the instep or shin into the side of the target. A hook kick is a roundhouse kick
in reverse, just as both back kicks and axe kicks are front kicks in reverse.
All the kicks travel in basically the same groove but hit the target at different parts of the groove.
Some hit as they rise, and some hit as they fall. This exercise is to develop that groove so that a kick
becomes just a kick and the kick you use depends upon the angle or position of the target available
and almost nothing else.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

CLONING ǧ THE KICK MOVEMENT

Starts as a front kick Moves into rising Into lateral

roundhouse phase roundhouse phase

D
Dropping
i FFoott ddown, switch
it h weight
i ht St
Starts
t as a bbackk ki
kickk
roundhouse phase to other leg

Side
Sid kick
ki k phase
h H
Hookk ki
kickk phase
h C
Crescentt ki
kickk phase
h

Each kick develops into the next phase

of kick; front, rising roundhouse, lateral
roundhouse/side kick, downward roundhouse,
reverse back kick and touchdown

A
Axe/Front
/F ki
kickk phase
h

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

FRONT VIEW

SStarts as a FFront ki
kickk Turns iinto a R
Roundhouse
dh Ki
Kickk IIt tops out lik
like Sid
Side Ki
Kickk

Arcs over Lik

Like a R dh
Roundhouse Chan
Changee to other le
leg sin thro
Passing h Back Kick Phas
through Phase

Th hB
Through Backk Ki
Kickk Ph
Phase IInto H
Hookk Ki
Kickk H
Hookk Ki
Kickk

D i Lik
Dropping Like an A
Axe Ki
Kickk A
Axe Ki ki D
Kicking Down B
Backk tto th
the flfloor

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36
 Part Eight

Developing the Cloning Movement

T his is one of the very best exercises for developing speed, power, control and proper alignment. If
you practise these exercises regularly and pay close attention to your positioning, climbing over
the obstacles as you’d climb on and off a motorbike then your kicking skill will go through the roof!
I regularly put my instructor team through these exercises and even those who are less naturally
lexible can kick stylishly, effectively and with enormous power.
These simple exercises need the utmost application and repetition which will bring massive
results in a short time.

CLIMB ON EXERCISE #1
Imagine you are mounting a horse or climbing onto a motor bike; you have to raise your knee into a
chamber position so that you don’t bash your knee on the side of the bike. As you do that you have
to pivot on your supporting foot as if you are throwing a side kick or roundhouse until you have fully
mounted the bike. To dismount you perform the same movement in reverse.
If you can imagine the movement, you start facing the back of the bike; swing your leg forward
as if throwing a front kick which turns into a side kick position and then into a roundhouse as you
complete the turn and step down onto the ground. Then to dismount you throw the back kick which
as your hips turn becomes a hook kick, through the side kick phase and into the axe kick as you drop
your foot to the ground again. Get it? Well hopefully you will when you perform the exercise:
Using a chair and placing it in front of you with the back of the chair nearest you:

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

CLIMB ON EXERCISE #2
This exercise takes your focus off the ‘arc’ shaped movement through the kicking phases and puts in
a target. This will both help the kick and potentially spoil the movement.
Try to maintain the smooth transition through each kicking phase, that is, from front kick to
roundhouse etc., the idea being to clone each kick so that the movement is always identical. This is
the principle of ‘technique excellence’ so that an excellent kick is not a one-off, it’s a constant. This
will happen as you develop your cloned technique.
With this exercise still try to focus on the movement, it’s just that this time you have an obstacle
in the way. If you stumble or fall it means there is an error in the movement; that it is not identical
or you have changed the movement. This is bound to happen because you are moving your whole
body from side to side as you kick, so in order to master the exercise you must concentrate on always
doing it using exactly the same movement.
Excellent technique; a really good roundhouse kick for instance, may have an error in the
movement as you step down, causing you to set up the next kick from a poor position and, therefore,
spoiling the next kick.
If you work on this exercise, concentrating on each movement individually, including your footwork,
leg lift, hip turn etc., then each movement will have fewer errors in it and you will not stumble so often.
Try to see how many kicks you can throw without stopping: each kick should ‘feed’ into the next
kick. As you lift and turn, kick and step down; that movement should set up the next kick smoothly
and without causing you to falter or stumble.
Once again, don’t try to kick higher than your lexibility will allow and don’t try to kick too fast or
too slow – work on a smooth rhythmic movement and just do as many as you can without stopping.
This exercise will bring you closer and closer to ‘technique excellence’, so work hard at it.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

CLIMB ON EXERCISE #2

1. Kick the paddle with a slow and controlled roundhouse kick.

2. Kick through the paddle and place your foot down on the other side of the chair as if you have
climbed onto the imaginary motorbike
3. Bring you foot back in the opposite direction as a hook kick once again hitting the paddle.
4. Make sure you turn your hips fully and lean away from the target as you kick
5. Make sure you pivot on your supporting foot and don’t try to kick without the pivot movement
or you will hurt your hip.
6. Once you have completed the irst kick repeat the process with the other leg. Try hard to make
each kick movement identical to the last one.
7. Get your partner to tell you if you don’t turn correctly.
8. Work for correctness not speed, height or power. Practice will improve the height but the
exercise should always be slow and controlled.
9. Keep doing the movement for no more than a minute at a time before swapping places with
your partner
10. The number of repetitions is up to you; build up so you can keep going without fatigue for up
to 5 minutes.
11. Once you can do this without tiring, start to add weight, such as ankle weights, but be careful
not to lock out your joints as the extra weight can cause knee damage.
12. Work for every kick to be identical.
Follow the next sequence and pay particular attention to hip and foot positions to make sure you
know what you are trying to achieve in terms of your kicking position.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

Slow controlled roundhouse

roundhouse, Step down on to your Hook kick backwards
not too high kicking foot then into the paddle

Step down on the other Lift your other leg into a Remember to kick through
side of the chair roundhouse kick the paddle and…

Down again onto Then repeat the action again Through the paddle
the kicking foot lifting the hook kick

Momentum going And on.., over and over working

nd so on Or faltering – making
without stumbling to keep yourself from stumbling replicas of each kick

Forget power and work for placement and control, the slower the better, and it doesn’t matter
if the kicks are low over the chair. If your lexibility won’t allow you to use a chair then try a lower
obstacle like a buffet. The main thing is the positioning, control and alignment – not height – height
will come with practice.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

CLIMB ON EXERCISE #3
This is a more advanced variation where you use two chairs side by side and perform roundhouse,
hook kick, roundhouse, hook kick, backwards and forwards over and between the two chairs. Leave
a gap between the two chairs large enough to step down easily, but not so wide as to make the
movement more dif icult to kick over.
The exercise goes like this: with your right leg perform a roundhouse kick over the irst chair,
step down onto the kicking foot then perform a spinning hook kick with your left leg over the second
chair. Don’t go too fast, and remember to pay attention to correct positioning. Look at the earlier
photos on cloning and copy the hip, body and foot positions.
Most people who do this wrong try to keep their body upright. Don’t! You must lean back away
from the kick to counter balance the weight of the lifted leg. Also watch your foot position; if your
toes point upwards then you are not turning your hips or leaning back far enough.
Try to build your speed without losing quality or hitting the chairs. This is a tough exercise
because one false move means you will lose the position and kill the kick. Take care not to fall and
hurt yourself by going too fast or hard.

Roundhouse over chair #1 Hook kick over chair #2 keeping

Study the foot position. the same position as the first kick,
Don’t let your toes point upwards but in reverse direction. Again
watch the position of the toes

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

CLIMB ON CLIMB OFF EXERCISE #4

This variation involves the same movement as exercise #3, but at the halfway point you double the
kick so that it becomes either a double roundhouse kick on the climb on or a double sidekick on the
way back.

Lift Kick

Retract
R t t Kickk again
Ki i

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

One of the bene its of doubling kicks is that to, correctly perform a double kick, you have to throw
them from an identical position and in an identical way.
If the position of the irst kick is different from the position of the second, then it won’t work as
a double; it will be dif icult and will probably feel uncomfortable to perform.
A good double kick needs correct positioning, and then it becomes very easy to perform, even
though it may look very dif icult to those watching. Once you are in the correct position you can
throw lots of identical kicks. This is what you must strive for in your technique.
The ‘climb on’ drills are invaluable for developing good form and technique. Don’t do them for
hours at a time, just a few minutes a day is enough.
Consistency is more important than long infrequent sessions; quality rather than quantity.

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44
 Part Nine

Key Concept - Body Alignment

F or many years in my classes, I have stressed the importance of alignment. Alignment means
lining up certain key parts of your body to produce a better technique by improving the bio-
mechanics of a movement.
Good alignment will improve speed, power, balance, body weight and effort in any given technique.
For instance, when you perform the lead roundhouse or side kick, try to keep your foot, hip, and
shoulder in as straight a line as possible at the inishing point of the kick as well as the starting point,
as in the following photos.

CORRECT ALIGNMENT OF FOOT, HIP AND SHOULDER

Sh
Shoulder,
ld Hi Hip & Foot
F t Aligned
Ali d Ali
Aligned
d Again
A i D During
i ThThe Ki
Kickk
Remember to keep your shoulder, hip and foot in as straight a line as you can on every lead leg
kick. Rear leg kicks have a different alignment, so the above photo will not apply in the same way.
Keeping this alignment will add more power to your kicks, for no more effort, because your whole
body weight is directly behind the kick. This way, what would have been a light snappy kick can be
given knockout power. Using a mirror is a good way to ensure your technique is aligned properly –
remember to keep your shoulder, hip, and foot in a straight line for maximum effect on lead leg kicks.

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46
 Part Ten

Key Concept – Preparation, Delivery, Recovery

I n kicking, these three areas are particularly important because kicks are generally slower and more
dif icult to apply than hand strikes and, therefore, more dangerous to you as you throw them.
With a punch you are only using the upper body to prepare and deliver the technique; obviously
the feet are involved too, but nothing like they are in a kick. In a kick the whole body has to be moved
so much more in order to hit the target.
A kick, if it’s to be successful, must be at least as fast as an ef icient punch or, as many of the most
effective techniques are, unseen. What this means is that the technique that hits you well, is the one
you never saw coming. Thus a kick, while requiring the additional movement of the whole body to
achieve the same effect, must be at least as effective as the relatively effortless punch.
Very good preparation is needed to accomplish this; and involves disguising the fact that you are
going to throw the kick, to give yourself a better chance of hitting with it, and throwing it as fast as
possible to allow the chance of landing it, even if it is seen.

THERE ARE THREE PARTS TO EVERY TECHNIQUE:

• Preparation –

What happens before you deliver the

technique, making sure that you don’t
‘telegraph’ it. Starting from a protected
and balanced position.

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SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

• Delivery –

How the technique is actually applied,

how you protect yourself during the
technique, chamber, guard etc.

• Recovery –

How you regain your composure

after the technique, getting back into
a guarded position ready to defend
yourself and able to attack again quickly

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 Part Eleven

Key Concept - The Launch Point

T o get close enough to the target to hit it well means having excellent footwork. In this course we
are going to look at two ways to deliver a lead leg kick:
1. The Slide Up
2. The Lift & Kick

But irst let’s look at another key point that we must understand fully before we study these two
set ups – The ‘Launch Point’.
I often see students struggling with their kicks; not being able to get the height or power and
inding the whole movement uncomfortable and dif icult to perform. Often they blame their lexibility
for not being able to kick high or fast, and this may be a factor, but more often than not it is due to a
faulty ‘launch point’ of the kick.
The launch point is the position of the feet immediately prior to launching the kick. I ind that
many students struggling to kick effectively have an error in their ‘launch point’. That is, they have
their weight on the wrong foot or their feet in the wrong position.
Let me explain what I mean. Throwing a lead leg kick is not the same as throwing a rear leg kick. A
rear leg kick gains much of its power from the momentum created by swinging the kicking leg, from
the rear position where it starts to the target where it lands. This being the case then, the width of
ones stance is of lesser importance in rear leg kicks. This is why, in general, rear leg kicks are easier
to perform than lead leg kicks. A lead leg kick does not have the leg swing to create the momentum,
speed and weight that will give it height and power, and this is where the dif iculty starts.
A lead leg kick, not having this momentum, needs more careful preparation and often this is
where beginners go wrong because they don’t understand the concept of the ‘launch point’. Often
they struggle because their weight is on the wrong foot when they launch the kick or their feet are in
the wrong position. This results in a poor kick, lacking in speed, power and height.
An effective lead leg kick works best when both feet are very close together at the launch point.
To illustrate this point try this exercise: stand with your feet about two shoulder widths apart, in
what is sometimes referred to as the ‘Horse Stance’, then, with your feet wide like this and without
moving your right foot, throw a left leg roundhouse kick. It’s not easy is it? Now try this one: put your
feet side by side with your ankles no more than a couple of centimetres apart, and throw a left leg

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

roundhouse kick. It’s much easier this way isn’t it? This is a key point to bear in mind when throwing
lead leg kicks – they are easier to throw when your feet are close together.
The next area where students make mistakes is on the weight distribution. If your weight is on
the wrong leg the kick won’t work properly. To demonstrate this principle, try this exercise:
Stand with your feet side by side and about 30cm or so apart. Now lift your right foot off the loor
about 5cm. Next, with your right foot off the loor, throw a left leg side kick. Now, you either can’t do
it at all or you hopped from your left foot to your right to throw the kick. I’ll bet that if you managed
to throw the kick at all it wasn’t a good one and probably hurt your hip. Often beginners do this
without realising it; they have their weight on the foot they want to kick with so when they throw
the kick it’s ruined by their incorrect weight distribution.
This simple concept is one that many martial artists don’t understand. Poor weight distribution
makes for an uncomfortable kick that won’t go high and has no power. Frequently the kickers blame
their lack of lexibility or their inexperience but often it is their positioning at fault, rather than
their lexibility.
In short, the rule of the ‘launch point’ states that: the closer the feet are together before a lead leg
kick, the easier the kick is to perform. The reason for this is that the foot that carries ones bodyweight
before the kick is closer to the other foot and it is therefore easier to switch your weight from one
foot to the other. If your feet are wider apart it is more dif icult to switch your weight from foot to
foot. Ones bodyweight must be switched to the rear foot before the lead leg kick is launched. Of
course this is obvious; if you throw a kick with your left leg, then your bodyweight must be on the
right leg.
However obvious this is, when the lead leg kick is launched, the kicker often doesn’t realise that
he has his weight on the wrong foot. He concentrates on the kick unaware of the importance of
where his bodyweight lies. And, if you don’t know where the fault lies, you can’t correct it.
This is why I have covered this point in detail so that when you practise you will understand
how the mechanics of a kick work and be more able to recognise where the problem lies if the kick
goes wrong.
Now that you understand this concept we can move to the footwork that gets us into a correct
‘launch point’ – the ‘Slide Up’ and the ‘Lift & Kick’

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 Part Twelve

Key Concept - The Set Up

Using Effective Footwork to Set Up Kicks

T he ‘slide up’ is a very natural way to set up a lead leg kick. It involves sliding the back foot up
close to the lead leg and then lifting the lead leg to kick. After the kick, you can either step
forward to regain a guard stance or slide back into position. If a slide up is done properly it can
be very effective but it must be as smooth as silk, that means no bumping, stumbling or twisting
that might give your intentions away. First, the back foot must slide up behind the front leg so that
the opponent does not see the approach. Many kickers make the mistake of doing this poorly, by
sliding the foot up alongside the front leg. This is too easy for the opponent to see and, therefore,
to defend against.

Starting position Slide up back foot Step back into stance

Also, the opponent’s vision is focused on your head as a main target area and to gauge your
responses by looking into your eyes. Often when people slide up they go from a crouching guard
position and as they slide up their back foot they stand erect before they lean back to deliver the
kick. As they stand erect from the initial crouch position, it’s obvious that they are going to try some
sort of attack because their head has gone from low level to high level suddenly, signalling that they
are about to attack.

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SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

• Preparation
The level of your shoulder should
stay at the same level throughout
the movement to disguise the fact
you are about to kick

• Slide Up
(Delivery)

As you slide up, this is the time when

you are likely to ‘telegraph’ the fact
that you are preparing the kick

• Finish
(Recovery)

Return to the same position as if

nothing has happened. Once again
‘cloning’ the movement so that you
disguise your intentions.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

Keep your shoulders at the same level and the kick will be much more dif icult for your opponent
to recognise and respond to the attack. Practise keeping your shoulders at the same level using a
mirror or a partner to tell you when you are ‘telegraphing’ the movement.

• Preparation

The start of the technique is OK.

Guard is up and body is protected

• Delivery

This is where it goes wrong because

your opponent will see the level of
your shoulders change and recognise
that you are about to attack.

• Recovery

Recovery is OK, but the chances are

your attack will have been thwarted
by the level change of your shoulders
on your slide up

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

To make the slide up work, you must irst slide your back foot up directly behind your front
leg so your opponent can’t see it and then, as you slide up, make sure that you stay in the same
crouched position (as in the photo) so that you don’t suddenly stand upright as you slide up. If
you work on these two areas, then your slide up will be much more effective and you’ll hit the
target more often.

EXAMPLES OF POOR FOOTWORK IN SLIDE UP

Sliding back foot up in front of the
front foot

Your opponent will easily see that you

are moving forward to attack

Stepping behind the supporting leg

Has the same effect. It’s obvious that

you are about to attack

Correct Slide Up

Slide up behind the front leg the back

foot is completely hidden by the front
leg to disguise the fact that you are
about to attack

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

THE SLIDE UP BREAKS DOWN INTO 5 KEY PARTS:

• Slide up
• Chamber up
• Kick
• Re-chamber
• Step down

Slide Up Chamber Up Kick Out

Re-chamber
Re chamber Step Down Re-guard
Re guard
The slide up is a simple movement. Although it will take practice to master it effectively, it’s
important that you do. Your kicks are useless unless you can land them effectively. Often it is the
basic things that greatly affect your success, so practise this slide up diligently, watching for the key
points of shoulder ‘level’ and foot position. Next we’ll look at the ‘Lift & Kick.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

THE LIFT & KICK

This is a little more sophisticated than the slide up and takes a good deal more practice, as it is not as
natural to perform. The ‘slide up’ moves the back foot irst and then the kicking foot whereas the:
‘Lift & kick’ moves the kicking foot ϔirst and the slide
only happens as the kick is travelling to the target.
This is the dif icult bit. When you try to use the ‘lift & kick’ your back foot will try to move irst,
but you mustn’t let it. The key to a super fast front leg kick is the ‘lift & kick’. If it’s done properly
they’ll never see it coming, because there is no visible preparation and it’s the preparation that your
opponent sees. If you hide the preparation there is just the kick; no warning, just kick. Then if the
kick is up to scratch, you’ll hit the target – Wham! The only time I use the ‘slide up’ over the ‘lift &
kick’ is if I have to cover a greater distance between me and my opponent. The ‘slide up’ is very
effective but I prefer ‘lift & kick’ because it’s much faster and blends better with my boxing.

Preparation Delivery – lift the kick

att the
th same ti
time sliding
lidi fforward
d Recovery
R

It’s more dif icult to ‘lift & kick’ because it’s more natural to adjust the feet position prior to the
kick as in the ‘slide up’, rather than just lift the leg and then adjust the feet.

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 SĚĕĊėĐĎĈĐ Y G K M by Tony Higo

Look at the previous photo sequence and study the starting point of my back foot in the irst
photo. Then look at where it is again in the second photo. The only movement is the ‘pivot’ or turn
of the foot – nothing else moves before the kick is lifted off the loor. This is the key – the kicking leg
moves irst.
It’s not easy to do this, so here is a way to make it easier while you are learning it. Before you
throw the kick try a slight front foot ‘tap’ to settle your balance just before you throw the kick. This
small movement will help you a lot.
Another way you can do the ‘lift & kick’ is by drawing the front foot back toward the rear foot, but
you have to be very quick and disguise the movement very well.
In some ways this defeats the object of the ‘lift & kick’, which is to kick without preparation, but
often your opponent won’t see the movement because your body is not moving forward (which is
easy to see). Instead just your front foot is moving back to settle your balance before you kick and
this can easily be disguised by feinting with punches irst.
Study carefully the following sequence of photographs and practise them a lot, as with all the
exercises in this book, they must be repeated often to make them work for you.

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LIFT & KICK WITH FRONT FOOT SLIDE BACK

Ready to begin Slide front foot back

Chamber the kick Kick out

Re chamber
Re-chamber Step forward into guard

The tap down is just a small re-adjustment of balance prior to the kick to make sure that your
weight is evenly distributed between your feet.

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 Part Thirteen

Key Concept - Jumping Kicks

T his is a key concept in kicking. When you kick effectively you will kick from a balanced position
in which your weight is equally distributed between both feet.
The launch point will always involve a brief moment where both feet are placed down with
equal weight and then the kick is launched. Examine this carefully when you perform your kicks and
you will see that it’s true. In fact the most effective kicks will happen with a small jump involved,
particularly on single kicks and especially on power kicks.
This also happens with power punches; many involve a small two footed jump into the technique
when delivered at high speed and with power. Observe any boxer or kick boxer and, when you see
a knockout punch or kick, watch their feet and you’ll often see they are actually airborne as they
launch their technique and hit the target as they land.
The starting point for both involves dropping onto both feet equally; bending both knees to
gather your momentum, ready to pounce, and then a small jump into the target as you launch the
technique. The jump may only be a millimetre high but it’s still a jump. I don’t want you to think it is
a high jump, it isn’t, but for a moment during the technique both feet are off the loor.
In fact jumping kicks are an evolution of this small movement, exaggerated for dramatic effect.
So when you hit the bag next time, work through the movement carefully and watch how you
jump into the technique as you hit the target whilst simultaneously your feet hit the loor again.
Don’t worry if you are not jumping yet, as you progress you will achieve this eventually.
Study this concept closely as it will give you a better understanding of speed and power in
your techniques.

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 Part Fourteen

Key Concept - The Beat

The ‘lift & kick’ is often more effective because it has fewer ‘beats’.

T he beat of a technique is like the syllables in a word; for instance martial has two syllables;
‘mar’ and ‘tial’ it has two beats.
It’s the same with kicking; each technique has number of steps or ‘beats’ that it takes to perform
the technique. A slide up has two beats: the slide up is one, and the kick is two.
So, no matter how fast the kick moves, its speed is always going to be dictated by the number of
beats involved in the slide up. The only way to speed up the kick is to speed up the slide up.
You could have the fastest kick in the world but if your slide up is crummy, then the kick will be
too. That’s why preparation is so important.
The lift & kick has only one beat; that is; just kick. Everything else happens after the kick or as
the kick is delivered; so imagine that it takes one second to slide up and one second to kick; then
the ‘slide up’ would take two seconds, whereas, the ‘lift & kick’ would only take one second and,
therefore, be twice as fast. This is a simpli ied example but the principles are sound.
A kick delivered with a ‘slide up’ is only ever as fast as the slide up that delvers it, if your ‘slide up’
is slow then your kick is slow. The ‘lift & kick is faster and therefore has more chance of hitting the
target, but, being less natural to perform, it takes more practice.
Now let’s look at some exercises that will develop the ‘slide up’ and the ‘lift & kick’

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 Part Fifteen

Key Concept – The Pivot

B eginners almost always struggle to pivot when they begin kicking, but I see a lot of experienced
martial artists who don’t pivot either. So what is the pivot?
The ‘Pivot’ is the outward rotation of the supporting foot when you kick, particularly important
on higher kicks. If you don’t pivot, you will lose height and power and, in addition, the kick will be
uncomfortable to perform. Also, unless you are super- lexible, you’ll have to lean back when you
throw a lead leg high kick and the pivot helps you to maintain your balance. It also helps to rotate
the hip, making the kick more comfortable to perform.
If you try to kick high without pivoting, it will be very uncomfortable, basically because you
are hitting the top of the thigh bone against your hip bone. Many martial artists who struggle with
their kicks, blame their lack of lexibility, and this may be the case, but often it is their faulty kicking
position. They simply do not pivot, and this prevents them from kicking much above waist height. So
remember to pivot when you kick.

THE PIVOT

Rear foot points forward Foot

oot points backwards and body
before the kick leans back as the kick is thrown

Rear foot before kick Close-up of the pivot

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 Part Sixteen

Footwork Exercises

P oor footwork spoils more kicks than the lack of speed, power or lexibility. Footwork is important
in the set up of every kick. Your opponent doesn’t want to be struck by your kick, so he will do
everything he can to avoid getting hit. If your kick is fast but your footwork is poor, the kick will fail
more often than not.
Good kicking skill combined with good footwork will exponentially improve your chances of
hitting your opponent. Practising footwork is not the most exciting of exercises, but it is absolutely
essential. Without regular practice you have little chance of ever becoming a super kicker.
Practise the following exercises regularly and you’ll guarantee your success.

‘SLIDE UP’ EXERCISE #1

With a partner holding a kicking paddle at a comfortable height for you to kick at, practise the slide
up and roundhouse kick a few times to warm up, then do the same again but this time:

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1. Do 10 kicks using the slide up

2. Your partner watches your back foot and, every time you kick, if you ‘telegraph’ the movement by
stepping up badly, he will point it out.
3. You must perform an extra kick to replace the one with the poor slide up
4. Next, do the same again but this time your partner watches your head. If your head moves and
‘telegraphs’ the kick, your partner will have you do it again.
5. Do another 10, then change over and you hold the paddle for your partner.

‘SLIDE UP’ EXERCISE #2

The irst exercise is to eliminate errors in the movement of the ‘slide up’. This time we are going to
hide the preparation using other techniques; in this case ‘punches’. The idea is to make your opponent
believe you are going to box him whilst in reality you are setting up an effective kick. It’s a common
technique used by experienced ighters and it means the movement can be a little less perfect. But
that doesn’t mean you can neglect your basic movements!
1. Partner A holds the paddle at a comfortable height and moves around to mimic the movements
of an opponent.
2. Partner B throws light Jabs & Crosses at the paddle or in front of it.
3. The punches must be convincing, full range and at a realistic speed to convince your partner
that they are real
4. Every three or four punches, slide up and kick the paddle. Use the punches to disguise the kick.
5. If Partner A sees the kick coming, he must pull the paddle out of the way so Partner B misses
his target.
6. Repeat this exercise for a minute or so before changing over to the other partner to kick.
7. At irst Partner A should not pull the paddle away too fast. Give the other partner a chance
to develop his skills before you apply too much pressure. Remember it’s not a competition to
prove who’s fastest; it’s to help each partner develop their technique, so work in cooperation
and not competition.
8. Each partner should help and guide the other to make the kicks more effective.

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‘SLIDE UP’ EXERCISE #2

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‘SLIDE UP’ EXERCISE #3

The same as in #2, but this time Partner A holds two paddles. The second paddle is placed against
his lead leg so it’s easier for Partner B to perform the kick but, at the same time, it’s more realistic.
Everything else is the same. Remember to move around and not to stand too still, in order to keep
it realistic.

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‘LIFT & KICK’ EXERCISE #1

Similar exercise to ‘slide up’ Exercise #1, once again using a paddle. Partner A watches for the
preparation of the kick and tells Partner B when he sees it.

‘LIFT & KICK’ EXERCISE #2

As with Exercise #1, but this time when Partner A sees the kick coming (that is, when he sees the
back foot move irst), he will pull the paddle out of the way so that Partner B misses. At irst don’t
pull the pad away too quickly; give Partner B a chance to develop their skills. Remember it’s about
cooperation not competition.

Ready to kick Partner sees preparation

And pulls pad away Kick misses

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CLOSING DISTANCE WITH ‘LIFT & KICK’

One thing you need to know about the ‘lift & kick’ is the movement of the supporting foot. In order to
get close enough to the target to hit it, you must slide the back foot up. However the most dif icult part
of the technique is to move the back foot after you have lifted your kick into the chamber position,
and not before. This is where most people go wrong.
As you lift your front foot into the chamber position, you must slide your back foot in a ‘dragging’
motion – after and not before the chamber.

Starting from your guard position

getting ready to prepare the kick

As you lift, you kick into the

chamber position and slide forward
toward the target.

This will cover your distance and

add extra power to the kick

You must make sure to land with

your weight forward onto the
kicking foot

This will bring you into a good

position to continue your attack
A good tactic is to follow the kick with
a punch to bring your weight forward

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 Part Seventeen

Key Concept - Reaction Time

Two key ingredients of effective kicking are

• The speed of the kick and
• The preparation of the kick.

We have already dealt with the preparation of the kick and how to disguise it. Obviously speed
will also be improved by good preparation, as we saw earlier in our discussion on the ‘beat’ and the
comparison of the ‘slide up’ and the ‘lift & kick’.
Another key ingredient is ‘reaction time’. Reaction time is the amount of time your opponent has
to react to your attack. If the kick is fast, then his reaction time will have to be fast to avoid the attack,
and your chances of landing the kick are increased.
Think of it like driving a car; when you have to brake suddenly, your reaction time is based on
• Thinking distance
• Stopping distance

Thinking distance or thinking time

This is the amount of time that it takes your mind to register the danger- in our terms; to see the
attack and to recognise that you have to respond to it.
Stopping distance or reaction time
This is the amount of time it takes you to react once you have recognised the attack. The time it takes
to physically respond.
With practice you will get faster at recognising that an attack is coming at you, and your response
to the attack; the block, for instance, will become faster because your experience of performing the
movement is greater.
If your preparation is effective, that is fast and well-disguised, your opponent has less time to
react and your kick or punch is more likely to land. But it’s still not enough - next we want to look at
distance and timing.
.

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 Part Eighteen

Distance & Timing

T here is an optimum distance and time to launch any attack or defence to get the maximum
result. Being at this optimum distance takes lots of practice and you can bet that you’ll never
know for sure whether you have the ideal distance until you hit your target for real.
I was teaching a class of black belts the other day, performing a combination which consisted of
having a partner hold pads in front and another partner holding a kick shield behind. Once the hitter
had hit the pads in front, he had to turn and perform a back kick on the kick shield behind him. One
of the black belts complained to the partner behind him that he was too far away – I reminded him
that in a street ight you won’t have the choice of where your opponent is!
Realism dictates that your opponent will try to be in the best position for him and the worst
position for you, so you must be able to adapt your position quickly.
The ighter who controls the distance and timing is the ighter that wins the ight. You may
have seen examples of this in competitions or boxing matches on TV, where one ighter can hit his
opponent at will and the other guy can’t lay a glove on him. This is an ideal example of one ighter
controlling the distance and timing of the ight: having superior control over his distance, and timing
his attack at just the right time to make the best hit.
You have to work on your distance and timing and build it so it becomes second nature, so that
you know just how far away to be and can respond very quickly when an opportunity arises for you
to strike. This obviously takes time to do but we have an exercise that will build your distance and
timing effectively.
This is where the kicks are applied under pressure, that is, under realistic conditions. An important
part of your training is to make your martial arts kicks work under pressure.
If you are ever attacked or have to defend yourself, your heart rate is likely to go through the
roof! Nerves, fear, anger will all serve to work against you and cause what the Americans call
‘choking’ to describe what happens when the stress gets too much and your ability to perform
effectively is reduced.
Often your conscious mind will only get in the way of applying your martial arts in the street. You
must be working on re lex. Thinking is too slow for realistic combat, at least in terms of fast punches
and kicks.

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Repetition will help this; 100’s and 100’s of repetitions of your techniques will build them into
your muscle memory so that they are second nature, re lex actions. So that you don’t have to think,
you just react. This will help you to respond under pressure and increase your chances of winning
the ight.
But your practice must also have realism because it’s not enough to have the perfect technique;
you must also be able to land it on a target that doesn’t want to be hit.
This is one of the secrets of the martial arts that so many styles seem to forget. They do all the
repetitions but they don’t practise realistic applications. They’ve got effective-looking technique but
little idea of what it takes to apply that technique to a real-life street ight.
Realism training builds on the repetitions, but also the distance and timing needed to land a kick
on an uncooperative target. You have to be able to kick fast and effectively to damage the target and
also to recover quickly to be ready to hit again, because it’s unlikely that you’ll disable your opponent
with just one shot - you may have to throw a lot of kicks and punches to win.
Also, remember your opponent is going to be iring shots back at you just as fast and hard. There’ll
be no time for much blocking and evasion, it will be all-out fast and furious!
Obviously you can’t practise like this all the time because the number of injuries you’ll receive
will be too great, so we have developed a number of reality drills designed to develop distance and
timing without risking lots of injuries.

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 Part Nineteen

Response Training

R esponse training is an exercise we developed many years ago to speed up reaction time and to
improve your distance and timing.
The point of the exercise is to hit the target as soon as it is visible and block the attack
immediately afterwards. Little regard to stance, guard and style is possible because the exercise
requires such fast responses.
Wherever you are when the target becomes available, you have to hit it; so it’s important to
have good footwork and to stay close enough, in a suf iciently strong position from which to launch
your attack.
This exercise is very physically demanding and we recommend a maximum of 30-second rounds.
Once you have hit your partner’s pad, he has to try and hit yours with the minimum amount of
preparation that might slow down your response.

RESPONSE TRAINING EXERCISE #1

For this exercise you will both need a focus mitt. Each partner wears one mitt and faces off against
the other in their guard positions. The idea of this game is to respond immediately, so that when your
partner hits your pad, you must try to hit his pad before he can recover his position. Whilst your are
not deliberately trying to hit your partner you are taking less care over his safety, so as not to lessen
the effectiveness of the exercise.
1. Partner A kicks at Partner B with a mid-level roundhouse kick
2. Partner B blocks the kick with a focus mitt and returns his own kick before Partner A can
recover fully
3. Work on this at full speed for a maximum of 30 seconds at a time.
4. This is a physically-demanding exercise and the quality of the technique is important, so
don’t try to extend the rounds to longer than 30 seconds at this stage.
5. Use either leg and initially stick to the same kick, i.e. roundhouse.
6. Don’t worry about the height of the kicks – waist level is more than high enough
to be effective.

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7. Defend against each kick with the pad as if you are blocking rather than catching the kick.

Ready
R d PPositions
ii PPartner A SStarts to ki
kickk

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PHOTO SEQUENCE

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RESPONSE TRAINING EXERCISE #2

As before in Exercise #1, but a little more advanced. This time both partners wear two focus mitts
each. Partner A kicks irst and Partner B second, using alternate legs to kick. In this version it’s easier
to stick to roundhouse kicks so you can keep your speed up. The point of the exercise is not so much
which kick you throw, but how fast you react under pressure.

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RESPONSE TRAINING EXERCISE #3

This is yet more advanced. In this variation both partners can use any kick and either leg, so you
can use roundhouse, side kicks, hook kicks, and include spinning and jumping variations. This is an
advanced exercise – it is important to become pro icient with the previous exercises irst.

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RESPONSE TRAINING EXERCISE #4

This one focuses more on power and recovery; it’s designed to develop an understanding of the type
of impact you will apply and receive in a real ight or a full contact ight. One partner holds both pads,
one behind the other, supporting the front pad to better absorb the impact. Hold the pads about waist
level. The irst pad should be on the left hand, pointing down in a ‘low block’ position, and the right
pad pointing upwards in a ‘palm block’ position, but hold them very strongly.

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RESPONSE TRAINING EXERCISE #5

This is a more physically-demanding version of Exercise #4. This time Partner B kicks the pads for 30
seconds continuously, trying to maintain the intensity, speed and power all the way through. After 30
seconds, change over so Partner A can get a chance and Partner B gets to recover.
Once again; don’t do these exercises for too long; short sharp bursts at the end of the session are
enough. These last two variations are not quality so much as quantity and intensity, different from
the others in position and alignment.
1. Partner A holds the pads VERY irmly at about waist level.
2. Partner B kicks 10 times as hard and as fast as possible.
3. Partner A shouts encouragement pushing Partner B to go faster and faster.

This exercise is designed to develop maximum power at full speed whilst under time pressure. It is
also extremely valuable for improving the preparation, delivery and recovery we discussed earlier.

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 Part Twenty

Which Kick?

Y ou will notice in this manual that I have not stressed roundhouse or side kick or front kick etc.,
because whichever kick you use is dictated by the situation before you; whatever your position
and whatever the target available. It is important to work on being able to deliver fast powerful
kicks to vulnerable areas, more than which kick should be used for the job.
How the kick looks is entirely unimportant, although correct technique is generally aesthetically
pleasing. If a kick is to be worth its salt, it must be useable, in competition perhaps, but mainly in the
street. The street is the real testing ground for ‘real’ kicks. Obviously it’s not ethical or responsible to
look for situations to test your skills there and it’s also both highly dangerous and illegal.
Competition can sharpen your skills, but even then it can never be completely realistic. A
competition has rules and a referee to stop the ight if you get into trouble, whereas the street is
equipped with neither. The best alternative is sparring and repetition of pressure training, like the
examples we have been working on before.
Next we will look at improving lexibility. Flexibility is not immediately obvious as being important
to ‘real’ kicking, but, if you are lexible, you can kick quicker because your muscles are longer and,
therefore, looser. If you are lexible you can also take advantage of high targets and, although the best
kicks are low kicks, it’s easier to knock an opponent out with a head kick than it is with a body kick,
even though a head kick is more dif icult to land than a body or leg kick.
Head kicks carry more risk for the kicker, but if you have trained diligently on repetition, distance,
timing, and response time and have thereby achieved a high degree of lexibility, you can often hit a
head target as easily as most people can hit a low one.
Work your lexibility diligently. To become a superkicker you need to be as lexible as you can
be, no matter how disappointed you may be with the results initially. I am convinced that long term
lexibility training combined with the kicking exercises in this book, will bring the results you desire.
Pay attention to my safety warnings though, because an injury can lay you off your training for weeks
at a time, so take care and train safely.

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 Part Twenty One

The Cool Down

The cool down is the end of the session and the part where we stretch the muscles and try to make
gains in lexibility. So far we have worked on; position, alignment, the quality of the kick and its
practical application. Now we want to work on increasing the range of movement so we can kick
higher with more ease. The following stretch is the one I use personally and can be done everyday;
it’s a very relaxing Yoga-style stretch that will gently ease your muscles. The only caveat to this are
the isometric stretches at the end. These should only be done every couple of days and the general
rule is: don’t do them until the aches from last set have gone completely. Then you can be sure of not
overdoing it.

THE RELAXED PASSIVE STRETCH

Because we are working kicks I will, for the sake of space, concentrate solely on the lower body
stretches and leave out the upper body.
1. Sitting Leg Spread

Sitting on the loor with your legs comfortably wide apart, gently lean to the left and try to touch
your left shoulder to your left knee. Keep your legs straight, wide apart and don’t push too hard; let
your body weight do the work not your strength. If you need more weight, stretch your arm out over
your head. Hold the position for about 10 seconds then change to right shoulder to right knee, again
holding the position for 10 seconds.

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Bring soles of your feet together

Bring your feet in so that the soles of your feet are lat together. Make sure your feet are as close
to your groin as possible and then gently apply pressure to push your knees down to the loor, or as
low as you can push them without over-stretching, hold the position for 10.

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2. Stretch out your right leg straight

Then stretch out your right leg straight out in front of you, keeping your left where it is at your
groin. Pull your shoulders back and sit tall, take a deep breath and, as you breathe out, bend forward
as if you are trying to touch your nose to your toes. (Don’t try to actually touch your toes to your nose
because its nigh on impossible.) Remember to keep your stretched out leg straight – that’s more
important than how low you get your head.

3. Bring your head back up after a count of 10

Bring your head back up after a count of 10 and then repeat to breathe and take your head down
toward the loor for a count of 10, always remembering not to overstrain. Bring your head back up.

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4. Lift your right foot and place it on the left side of your left leg

Lift your right foot and place it on the left side of your outstretched leg with your foot lat on the
loor, then take your left arm over your now raised right knee and press the back of your left elbow
against your right leg, and twist to your right for a count of 10.
5. Take your right leg back and place your right foot beside your right buttock

Take your right leg back and place your right foot next to your right buttock leaving your left leg
outstretched; push your right knee gently backwards feeling the stretch on your inner thighs on both
legs again for a count of 10.

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6. Put your right leg out

Now put your right leg out straight and draw your left foot up to your groin and repeat steps 3-6

7. Put both legs out straight

Put both legs out straight, sit tall; take a deep breath and breathe out as you bend forwards, as if
you are trying to touch your nose to your toes. This is a radical stretch so take it easy. Hold for 10 and
remember to breathe all the way through.

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8. Bring both feet back into your groin

Bring both feet back into your groin with the soles of your feet together, as in number 2, and
gently push your knees down toward the loor. You should ind that this time it’s more comfortable
than the last time you did it. Hold for 10.

9. Spread your legs wide again

Spread your legs wide again, as in 1, and lean your shoulder irst to your left knee then to your
right each time holding for 10 seconds; then take a deep breath and breathe out as you try to put
your head as close to the loor as you can, and hold for 10, remembering to breathe normally. If
you struggle to get close to the loor, stretch out your arms straight out in front of you to add extra
weight. DON’T use any other type of weight or assistance!
10. Now keeping your legs as wide as possible

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Now, keeping your legs as wide as possible, push yourself up into a standing box splits position.
If you can’t do it without moving your feet, then stand up irst and then slide gently back into the box
splits position, supporting your body weight on your hands. Take the weight on your hands, ready
for some isometric contractions.

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 Part Twenty Two

Isometric Stretching

I sometric contractions are a brilliant way to make substantial gains in lexibility BUT you have
to go very carefully. Do not take risks; do not contract your muscles so hard that they hurt and,
at the end of the contraction, take the weight back onto your hands gently. NO fast movements! As
I mentioned earlier, don’t do these isometric contractions if you are still aching from the last time
you did them. Make sure your muscles are fully recovered before doing them again; if not you will at
least slow down your progress and possibly cause damage to your muscles. If you continue to ache
after 5 or 6 days, then consider consulting a specialist.
11. From the supported box splits position
From the supported box splits position, switch more weight to your legs for support until you are
becoming slightly uncomfortable with the weight of your body in this stretched position, then count
to 7 (one thousand and ONE, one thousand and TWO etc.). Then take the weight on your hands, again
making sure to hold your position.

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12. Let your muscles relax as much as possible

Let your muscles relax as much as possible: you might notice that your feet are trying to slide
a little further apart. If they do, let them, but listen to your body and don’t overdo it. Repeat the
contractions two more times – don’t try to push yourself too hard! These are hard and potentially
dangerous exercises, so be sensible.

13. Turn your hips to the right

Turn your hips to the right so that you are in a side splits position. Let your left knee rest on the
loor. Let your hands take the weight and then, when you are comfortable, take the weight off your
hands so that you feel the stress on your legs. Contract your leg muscles as if you are trying to close
your legs but the loor is in the way. Do this for a count of 7 as in 13. Repeat this two more times being
careful not to hurt yourself.
14. Turn your hips to the left and repeat 14.
Once you have completed these exercises, gently take the weight back onto your hands and slowly
lift yourself back into a standing position. Do a few hip circles to ease off the stretched muscles.

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Splits and Leg Holds

T his next exercise is one of my personal favourites and will get you low into the splits and high
on the kicks faster than just about any other exercise I have ever come across.
With this exercise we combine high leg holds with box splits/side splits alternating between the
two. It’s a demanding exercise so don’t do it more than a couple of times a week and make sure you
get at least two days rest in between each session. If you are still aching from the last session, then
wait until you are fully recovered before you do these exercises again.
When you lex a muscle you contract it, and when you relax the muscle again it becomes more
relaxed than before the contraction. If the muscle relaxes more, then you are able to stretch it more,
within the safe limits of your maximum lexibility, of course.
This next exercise uses the ‘contract-relax’ principle by combining leg lifts with box splits. When
you hold your leg out as in a side kick position, you lex the abductor muscles (the muscles on the
outside of your leg) and you relax the muscles of your inner thigh, the adductors.
When you perform the box splits, you contract the muscles of the inner thigh and relax the muscles
of the outer thigh. By combining the contraction and relaxation of these two opposing muscle groups,
you maximise the contract-relax principle giving you greater gains than either of the exercises will
give you by using them alone.
These two exercises combined are great for improving the height of your kicks as well as the
aesthetics, but they will also improve your speed and power too. Do them regularly and you’ll get
great bene it.

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START WITH A LEG LIFT AND HOLD

Hold chair & chamber up Hold leg out for 7 seconds

splits.
Drop into a box splits Hold for a count of 7

Repeat the hold for 7 seconds Hold splits for another 7 seconds

Back into the splits for another 7 And another hold for 7
This exercise builds great leg strength, improves lexibility and improves kicking height and
leg lifts

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 Part Twenty Four

The Full Cool Down Stretch

T he following is a full stretch routine using a relaxed passive cool down. These are the exercises
that you can do everyday if you like to improve your stretching and lexibility. They are not so
quick and effective as the isometric and the lifts & holds, but they are easy on the muscles and will
cause little, if any, injury. If you get into the habit of stretching regularly; for example while watching
television or reading a book, you will get progress. Like most things in life, if you practise regularly
and consistently, you will end up being the master. These exercises work gradually, but they work –
use them often and stick with them.

Reach
R h fforward
d and
d stretch
h out SStretch
h your right
i h arm across
your back muscle to stretch your triceps

And
A the same on th
d th the lleft
ft arm Bend
B d sideways
id until
til you can see
your hand again

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And the same on the left side Reach to your left foot or as near
as you can reach

Then th
Th the same on th
the other
th side
id Grab
G b bboth
th ffeett and
d pulling
lli gently
tl ttoward
d
the floor keeping your legs straight.

Bend
B d your right
i h kknee kkeeping
i your lleft
f lleg Then
h againi on the
h other
h lleg. DDon’t’ take
k too muchh
straight to stretch out the inner thigh weight on your hands; let your legs work

Turn and sink into a dancer’s lunge letting Straighten your left leg and bend as if
your legs take the strain and not your hands trying to put your nose onto your toes.

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T
Turn and
d repeat on your right
i h side
id A
Again straighten
h your right
h lleg
to stretch the back of the leg

Then llunge again

Th i Turn your hi
T hips tto th
the ffrontt

Drop your right

D i h kknee to the
h flfloor SStraighten
i h your lleft
f lleg,
right knee on the floor

From there go back into the box splits Hold the position first with
your weight on your heels

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Then on the sides of your feet

feet. Sit back into a wide leg spread
Then on the soles of your feet

Straighten your arms above your head side. Try to keep

And the other side
and lean across to the right both buttocks flat on the floor

Put the soles of your feet together and Stretch out your right leg and
push your knees downwards grip your right foot

If you can reach lift your heel off Take a deep breath and put your head
the floor to stretch your calf muscle on your knee or as close as you can get

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Lift up aagain,
ain then lo
lower
er your
o r head do
down
n Lift your
o r left foot oover
er your
o r ri
right
ht le
leg,
to the floor as you breathe out then your right arm over your left leg and
twist to the left. Repeat on the opposite leg

P
Putt your right
i ht lleg bbehind
hi d you and
d push h P
Putt bboth
th llegs outt straight.
t i ht T Take
k ad
deep
your knee back to stretch the inner thigh breath, push your chest out

And
A d try to touch
h your hhead
d to your Bring
B i the
h soles
l off your ffeet together
h
knees keeping your legs straight again and push your knees to the floor

SSpreadd your llegs as wide

id as you can. Reach
R h fforward
d and
d ttry tto putt
Sit up straight take a deep breath, your nose on the floor,
reach high with your hands and… keeping your legs straight

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Lif
Lift yourselflf iinto a bbox splits,
li T
Turn iinto a right
i h side
id splits,
li again
i hhold
ld
supporting yourself on your hands, for a few seconds going as low as you
hold until your muscles adjust, then comfortably can

Once you hhave sunkk as llow as you can

O And
A d perform
f lleft
ft side
id splits.
lit
turn, to your left Don’t worry about how deep you go.
Practice will get you lower

Lift your self out of the splits and back onto your feet to complete the cool down stretch. Follow
these pictures often until you can perform the whole routine from memory. This routine will stretch
all the major kicking muscles and is the routine I have used myself for several years. After you
complete the full cool down you can do an isometric stretch. Do isometrics two or three times
a week, remembering that you should not perform them again until your muscles have fully
recovered from the previous stretch and have stopped aching.

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 Part Twenty Five

Summary

T hat’s it! You have completed the cool-down stretch and, if you repeat these and the other
exercises regularly and safely, you should see gains in lexibility and kicking quality within a
few short weeks, with considerable gains over the next few months.
All these exercises work; they are the exercises I use myself and have done some of them for over 35
years. I can still drop into a side splits without a warm up and do a full splits unsupported between
two chairs.
I can still do vertical side kicks even though I am 52 years old, and I have no hip or joint problems. These
exercises work BUT only if you do them and ONLY if you do them sensibly with safety as paramount.
They work best for me as a form of play- don’t get too serious, don’t work too long, don’t expect too
much, just do them for the fun of it and your kicks will improve; not overnight but gradually.You will
sometimes hardly notice the difference, but the chances are that others will.

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Taking a Break After a Hard Day’s Photo Session

W ork the drills and exercises detailed in this book regularly and you’ll see dramatic changes in
both your kicking skill, in terms of speed and power, and also your ability to land your kicks
in sparring, competition and street defence. All these drills will work as long as you work them;
progress takes time and patience but sustained effort will produce results.

Good Luck and stick with it!

Tony Higo

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