I'm currently taking tkd and I want to prepare for the upcoming tournaments. I'm not very flexible, can't even do the splits. So far the only kicks I can kick at head height are; front, roundhouse, axe, inside crescent, outside crescent. I've been watching some sparring videos lately and I've seen ppl use alot of back kick, reverse roundhouse/spinning hook for counters to roundhouse kicks. I've been practicing alot of back kicks for countering roundhouses. I'm trying to incorporate some side step, back step counters into my techniques but so far the reflexes aren't kicking in yet lol. I'd like to know different strategies for sparring in non-contact, light-contact ( no head shots), light-contact, and full contact. So far I'm comfortable doing all the basic kicks such as front kick, roundhouse, axe, outside crescent, inside crescent, sidekick. I can kick at head height with sidekick when kicking with my left leg but not right. For hop step roundhouse I can only kick head height with right leg. For back kick and spinning hook kick I can only really kick properly and with power with my left leg. My hook kick for both legs is horrible since I can barely reach the chest. Well I read the best techniques to use are, roundhouse, axe, back kick, spinning hook kicks. Therefore these are the main kicks I'm trying to perfect for the tournaments. I especially love back kick and spinning hook kick for counters like when they throw a roundhouse with there rear leg in open stance I quickly spin around and kick them. Works almost 100% of the time. On my last tournament I competed in which was like 3 weeks ago I used a spinning hook kick as a counter and whacked the guy on the face. My favorite kick is the jumping back kick but currently cannot execute that yet. As you can see my ability to delivery kicks are all over the place instead of being able to delivery the kicks with both sides. Right now I'm trying to practice kicking more with my left leg since I'm right legged to balance things out. I'm also trying to practice more side stepping and back stepping to avoid kicks but the reflexes aren't kicking in yet. All I know is if I don't train hard and prepare my competitors are gonna take my head off lol, so better me kicking the $hit outta them then them doing it to me. Gonna switch into muay thai and some grappling such as judo, ju-jutsu and take some internal martial arts such as aikido, hapkido after I receive my second or third dan to be well rounded. Reason I'm doing tkd first is so I can build strong fundamentals and can develop the speed, flexibility and power.
do you really need those fancy kicks? in my martial arts, we cut that crap out. maybe cause we specialized in close range fighting... cause if u can kick above waist height, why not punch them? its faster
Well its sport tkd like the ones you go to compete in tournaments. Punching someone in the face is not allowed in wtf style sparring matches. Those kicks I mentioned aren't fancy kick, I know it sounds fancy but those are mostly the basic kicks you learn excluding back kick and spinning heel kick. Obviously in real life situations its a lot different. My master always tells me to throw Muay Thai low leg kicks in real life situations and to kick low as its harder for them to catch your leg. We also cross train in other disciplines such as boxing, muay thai, hapkido, and jujitsu but since its a tkd school obviously we do mostly tkd. My question pertains strictly to tournament sparring.
