stuggling with kicks
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tkdroamer
Purple Belt
Talk to your doctor and get in a good PT program. Almost everyone can get better with time and effort.
Are you required to kick above your waist? If so, then just stretching may help. Be patient and don't overdo it.
Gyakuto
Senior Master
I was a super-dooper kicker when doing karate, with above average flexibility of someone of my grade. I lost that flexibility over decades of not practising Karate and now I can barely kick above solar plexus level despite diligent stretching routines. I never get any more flexible and if I push it, I develop lower back pain (where I once had a herniated disc). I even bought one of those pro-stretching racks with a ratchet and wheel but I’d get so far after weeks of daily use and then BANG! Severe lower back pain and I’d have to stop 
Very few people are flexible when they start. Time, stretching, and patience are the answer. Also, realistic expectations. Not everyone is going to kick head high, and of those who do, fewer still will do those kicks well. I am unaware of any system that mandates high kicks. Just keep going, do the best you can, and keep stretching. Core strength is also important for kicking, so push that.
Here's a test I use to see how high someone should kick.
Get in the position you would be in at the end of a given kick. Obviously, the body position for a front kick isn't the same as a roundhouse, a side kick, etc.
Now raise your leg as high as you can. Raise it, don't swing it. However high you can raise it is as high as you can kick with power. You can probably kick higher, but the further above that point you get, the less power your kick will have.
What matters isn't how high you kick, it's how effectively you kick.
skribs
Grandmaster
If you have damage to your knees, then I would consult with your doctor and/or physical therapist about what activities will put you at risk of reinjury.
Kicking high is a combination of dynamic flexibility, hip and core strength, and technique. It is very common for all three to be lacking when you start. These are new movements for you, so you haven't built up the body mechanics to do them well. It comes over time.
Kicking high is a combination of dynamic flexibility, hip and core strength, and technique. It is very common for all three to be lacking when you start. These are new movements for you, so you haven't built up the body mechanics to do them well. It comes over time.
Olde Phart
Orange Belt
I was concerned when I re-started martial arts at the age of 65. My instructor told me not to worry about flexibility, just keep on practicing. His main advice that got me over my worries? "A roundhouse to the knee will disable your foe and put them on the ground just like a kick to the head."
Darren
Green Belt
Wonderful!!! Lower back pain run generic in my family!!!I was a super-dooper kicker when doing karate, with above average flexibility of someone of my grade. I lost that flexibility over decades of not practising Karate and now I can barely kick above solar plexus level despite diligent stretching routines. I never get any more flexible and if I push it, I develop lower back pain (where I once had a herniated disc). I even bought one of those pro-stretching racks with a ratchet and wheel but I’d get so far after weeks of daily use and then BANG! Severe lower back pain and I’d have to stop
Gyakuto
Senior Master
That’s very true!
But part of the apprenticeship of doing Karate etc is to look like you practise Karate etc when you perform it, which is why we obsess a little with high, flashy kicks etc
And then you can kick them in the head. One of the things I like most about Isshinryu - no kicks above the obi. Not that we can't; just that high kicks are not in the system.
Olde Phart
Orange Belt
I agree about the "flashy-ness" of martial arts. In my dojang, students are all agog watching some of the more flexible ones doing the high kicks. But, if they won't let you hit the head during sparring . . .
Olde Phart
Orange Belt
Yeah, it's a LOT easier to kick 'em when they're down!
Gyakuto
Senior Master
Just because there’s a sensible rule against head kicks in sparring, doesn’t mean it isn’t a skill one should aspire to 9f it’s part of the art. I am not permitted to slice people in half with a Japanese sword (sensible law) but I know how to do it
Olde Phart
Orange Belt
I know just enough about martial arts to know how little I know.
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