How important is it to chamber and re-chamber the kick on every single kick. I mean will it eventually tear up the leg or it really does not matter?
Chambering
- Thread starter terryl965
- Start date
My vote is to chamber and re-chamber. Re-chambering gives you more control allowes a gaged stance recovery, and would quickly allow for a follow up strike.
Sean
My feeling is, train with rechambering. If you can rechamber at will, regardless of your body configuration during the kick, your speed and power, and so on, it will improve your control, whether or not the circumstances of an actual combat make it useful or necessary. It's like training high kicks---it's not something you are necessarily going to do in a fight---probably you won't---but if you can kick high in good balance and form, your mid and low kicks are going to be devastating to your assailant and safe for you.
zDom
Senior Master
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Very.
The only time, IMO, you shouldn't "rechamber" is during a combination kick: you chamber, kick, chamber into the NEXT kick (in place of a re-chamber), and execute the second kick.
So, for example:
Chamber a front kick,
front kick,
chamber a round kick,
round kick,
rechamber round kick,
set down kicking leg.
If you don't rechamber then you don't do the kick correctly. IMO it is nothing more than throwing your leg out. To me chamber/kick/rechamber is the same as lift bar off bench/bring bar to chest/lift bar. It is an eccentric and concentric motion.
To not rechamber is not finish the kick.
To not rechamber is not finish the kick.
FearlessFreep
Senior Master
To not rechamber means to leave your leg out where it can be grabbed.
I would say you don't re-chamber if you are planning on kicking through the target and using the landing point as your new base. For instance you could do an inside stomp through the leg to the floor, trapping what's left of the leg between your foot and the floor, and base off of it.
Sean
I have taken the position that it is of the utmost importance. To the point of having a very high chamber. One of my former instructors said that Myself and another of his students have the highest chambers he has ever seen. It does sacrifice about a sixty-fourth of a second, but the power trade-off is worth it.
A high chamber is actually a form of strength and balance training. You need the extra strength to get you leg up that high, and you need superior balance skills as your center of gravity rises... so training high chambers on a regular basis is a good thing in both departments.
Something I've been wondering about... do you ever use leg weights in your own training? I do for certain exercises, like `freezing' kicks at arbitrary points through the motion. They would definitely increase the strength/balance effects of training high chambers...
stoneheart
Purple Belt
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I don't necessarily believe in rechambering in the classical sense of refolding your leg for another kick. Rather, you should always return your limb to your center and be prepared to throw another strike. That can mean rechambering or it might not.
I agree that it's extremely important to rechamber after the kick. Without it, you run the risk of being caught while extended out there too far. (The opponent can come in while you're left out there.) This also leaves you w/out the ability to throw a strong counter attack.
