Please critique my front kick

[Ivan]

I have recorded myself doing the front kick on both legs in four different manners. Back right leg front kick, front right leg front kick, back left leg front kick, and front left leg front kick. Prior to me filming this video, I practiced by doing 400 front kicks, 100 for each position. Note that since this has been filmed the sides are reversed i.e. what appears to be my right leg in the video is actually my left leg. Please tell me how to improve my technique: I would like to know what I do wel, and what I need to improve on.

Also, please ignore my abundace of bracelets, my weird guard position (specifically the hands), and me constantly looking at the camera. Sidenote: I am a Tae Kwon Do green belt.

 

[jobo]

I have recorded myself doing the front kick on both legs in four different manners. Back right leg front kick, front right leg front kick, back left leg front kick, and front left leg front kick. Prior to me filming this video, I practiced by doing 400 front kicks, 100 for each position. Note that since this has been filmed the sides are reversed i.e. what appears to be my right leg in the video is actually my left leg. Please tell me how to improve my technique: I would like to know what I do wel, and what I need to improve on.

Also, please ignore my abundace of bracelets, my weird guard position (specifically the hands), and me constantly looking at the camera. Sidenote: I am a Tae Kwon Do green belt.

I think it looks pretty good, you've good speed, reasonable height and good balance, now get something to kick and and practise power, is a lot less reps and a lot more ummp, you don't need the ability to kick someone gently 400 times, one good one is enough, and a couple more in reserve just in case

 

[isshinryuronin]

Form - good
Execution - knee is the key. The foot follows the knee. Knee could come up faster and the foot should come back faster. This will greatly increase overall kick speed and provide snap - this will make it harder for it to be caught and give quicker recovery for the next move. The kick should come back faster than it goes out.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Was there something about the front kick in particular that you're concerned about? If there is it could help us know what we're looking for

 

[Buka]

I have recorded myself doing the front kick on both legs in four different manners. Back right leg front kick, front right leg front kick, back left leg front kick, and front left leg front kick. Prior to me filming this video, I practiced by doing 400 front kicks, 100 for each position. Note that since this has been filmed the sides are reversed i.e. what appears to be my right leg in the video is actually my left leg. Please tell me how to improve my technique: I would like to know what I do wel, and what I need to improve on.

Also, please ignore my abundace of bracelets, my weird guard position (specifically the hands), and me constantly looking at the camera. Sidenote: I am a Tae Kwon Do green belt.

I froze this image of your front kick with the front leg.
In bringing back the kick...you have brought it back further than needed, then have to bring it forward to put it down.That's an extra step that takes time. You want to bring it down as economically as possible, no extra movement, no extra time taken.

Right now it's being brought back from the target to the line of the rear leg, then forward to your preferred stance.



In that second photo, that line where your front foot wants to stand, that's how far you should pull back that kicking leg....and bring it right down to your stance.

 

[dvcochran]

It may have been from the limited room you were in but it is not often that the front leg kick looks better than the rear leg kick, but yours do.
You are doing a segmented kick, meaning you are using only the leg. A powerful front kick comes from using your core and especially the push or drive from the hips. @jobo is right (can't believe I said that); you need a target to work on to develop your power.
You have the "invisible rope" thing going on where a person pulls their arms down thinking it is helping pull their leg up. All it is really doing is dropping your guard. Especially the shoulders and arms are relaxed throughout the kick. You will be amazed how much relaxing the upper body will help your wind.
It will come with the reps you are doing but you need to get comfortable, keep your body up and get the knee higher. This is fundamental for most all kicks, and it is a guard in its own right.
Overall I feel you are progressing on pace for your belt. Keep up the good work.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

knee is the key.

Agree! If you can stretch yourself that your knee can touch your chest before you kick your leg out, you will have good front kick.

 

[drop bear]

I think it looks pretty good, you've good speed, reasonable height and good balance, now get something to kick and and practise power, is a lot less reps and a lot more ummp, you don't need the ability to kick someone gently 400 times, one good one is enough, and a couple more in reserve just in case

You don't really need heaps of power. You just need to aim it.

This is the number one move I drop people in sparring with.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Agree! If you can stretch yourself that your knee can touch your chest before you kick your leg out, you will have good front kick.

That's in line with something i was taught about 7 yeard ago thats stuck with me-when you kick, raise your knee about 6-8 inches above where you're aiming to hit, and students without full contact experience should aim (their knee) almost a foot above where they think it (the ball if their foot) will land.

 

[marques]

It looks good to me (but I am no TKD man). What you need now is a heavy target to strike. Your mass centre moves back (for balance) instead of towards your target. Also, having something to hit gives you some clues about the power you can deliver.

 

[jobo]

You don't really need heaps of power. You just need to aim it.

This is the number one move I drop people in sparring with.

Heeps of power may not be needed??? but power most certainly is and you won't develop the intermuscle co ordination to develop any notable degree of power doing air kicks. quite the contrary doing say 400 sub optimal air kicks on a ongoing basis is fixing sub optimal movement pattern, that you need to unlearn at some point. which is why soccer players as a general rule kick soccer ball's to practice rather than thin air, you have an immediate feed back loop on both power and accuracy that allows you to modify the mechanics

 

[Dirty Dog]

Overall, it looks very good for a green belt.
If you were my student, the things I'd be pushing are:
Hands. They need to be guarding. They're not. At all.
As @Buka mentioned, you're withdrawing the kick farther than needed.
You're not fully extending the knee.
You need to push the ball of your foot out. Your ankle is at 90 degrees. That's not how it's taught in TKD, or at least not in any of the flavours I've trained in.



This shows what I'm talking about. See how the ball of the foot is pushed out, with the toes pulled back?

Again, it's a very good kick for a green belt.

 

[drop bear]

Heeps of power may not be needed??? but power most certainly is and you won't develop the intermuscle co ordination to develop any notable degree of power doing air kicks. quite the contrary doing say 400 sub optimal air kicks on a ongoing basis is fixing sub optimal movement pattern, that you need to unlearn at some point. which is why soccer players as a general rule kick soccer ball's to practice rather than thin air, you have an immediate feed back loop on both power and accuracy that allows you to modify the mechanics

In a round about way yeah.

 

[jks9199]

I would agree with a few others; you need to actually kick something with resistance. You've got the mechanics, it seems. You need to work on the guard position of your arms -- that's just something to work on and be aware of. But I strongly suspect you haven't really kicked anything that's solidly resisting, like a good-sized heavy bag, or a partner holding a shield strongly. There's a solidity, rooting, and unification of the body that I just can't find a better way to teach than making contact with something that'll knock you on your *** if you aren't solid behind your kick...

 

[Gweilo]

As already pointed out, foot placement, and would need to see you kicking a heavy bag, in addition I would add, you only showed a right leg kick, which is probably the strong leg, and the leg with the bad habits, it would be nice to see the same sequence with the left leg, the only other criticism, I could see was there was a slight dropping of the head and arms, which to an experienced fighter/combatent would be a tell, apart from that keep practicing.

 

[Martial D]

I have recorded myself doing the front kick on both legs in four different manners. Back right leg front kick, front right leg front kick, back left leg front kick, and front left leg front kick. Prior to me filming this video, I practiced by doing 400 front kicks, 100 for each position. Note that since this has been filmed the sides are reversed i.e. what appears to be my right leg in the video is actually my left leg. Please tell me how to improve my technique: I would like to know what I do wel, and what I need to improve on.

Also, please ignore my abundace of bracelets, my weird guard position (specifically the hands), and me constantly looking at the camera. Sidenote: I am a Tae Kwon Do green belt.

2 things.

The first is a matter of preference I guess. Thrust more with the hip to make it a teep.

The second is that your front foot travels too much. the foot should return to where it lives in stance asap. you are pulling it all the way back to the rear leg. That's a split second opening to get swept that someone good WILL snatch up.


Other than that, looking good. your balance and form looks solid.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

To kick a small tree can be helpful.

- If the tree is the size of a human leg, you can develop accuracy for your kick.
- You can adjust the kicking distance and use your jumping kick to move in (kick far, not kick high).
- the tree will give just enough yield so you won't hurt your knee.

If you can't find any tree, to set a PVC pipe on the ground can be helpful.

 

[pdg]

I'm only quoting you for convenience also my comments are from my interpretation of my own tkd research so may not be 'current' and certainly won't apply to everyone.

The first is a matter of preference I guess. Thrust more with the hip to make it a teep.

Depends on the type of front kick...

Snap, thrusting, pushing - delivered with a slightly different amount and style of hip movement and different intent. In theory, they have different applications.

your front foot travels too much. the foot should return to where it lives in stance asap. you are pulling it all the way back to the rear leg. That's a split second opening to get swept that someone good WILL snatch up.

It's stated that the foot should return to the chamber position, so up to chamber / out to target / return to chamber / down to stance - as opposed to the triangular trajectory you describe (up to chamber / out to target / down to stance).

The disadvantage is as you describe (stood on one leg longer than absolutely required), but the advantage is that you can deliver a second kick quicker, because you're in chamber.

I return to chamber (partly because that's how it's described in the encyclopedia, so is 'of the art'), but I don't hang there unless I feel the need - the full return should be as quick as the full delivery.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

the full return should be as quick as the full delivery.

The full return won't be needed if you use your kick to move in. A kick can be just like a step forward.

 

[pdg]

The full return won't be needed if you use your kick to move in. A kick can be just like a step forward.

That's not the described technique.