Im losing flexibility.

[AAAhmed46]

My old school, kicked high. So i was flexible enough for high kicks.

But since wks dont do high kicks, i havent gotten any flexibility practice down lately, so im losing flexibility.

Im scared to practice my old kicks because im scared i may screw over my progress with uechi-ryu. Should i really be worried? Should i practice my old kicks?

[Stryke]

YES YES YES !!!

practice the basic kicks all you want , If your talking side front roundhouse etc , i cant think hw this would affect your uechi except positively .

as for stretching , look at dynamic stretching

much less time consuming to do and easy to maintain flexibility .

I`ll post how later .

[JimHawkins]

But since wks dont do high kicks, i havent gotten any flexibility practice down lately, so im losing flexibility.

What kind of kicks?

Most kicks that can be done low can also be done high. Snap kicks, round kicks, side kicks..

Although WCK kicks are supposed to be low and even look like they should be done low you can do them as high as you want in practice and I encourage any student when just working kicks, in air or on a bag, etc. to work them low, medium and high as well. For some kicks it's much harder to generate power higher up.. So for example with the main WCK kick if you can generate good speed and power at head height then you can really deliver a leg crusher down low..and the low kicks will be faster and more relaxed...

Also a daily stretching regimen, probably something everyone should do is also something you should have leftover from your last school, will help out quite a bit as well.

[AAAhmed46]

Well, the front kick i may be able to keep, but rick's has the same principles for a side kick as my old school, exept instead of retracting, he would ask me to just drop the kick, so more of my wieght would go there.

[Stryke]

It`s more a variation than a different Kick , Ive been taught methods were to kick at all you must fully commit , to be able to recover from a kick while missing you are not generating enough force .

look at Muai thai style roundhouses .

[-Metablade-]

I've always wondered, why in blazes would anyone need really high kicks?

I suppose if one is really short, then this may have value.
However, arts that employ lots of kicking, Oh, let's say TKD for example, were developed for fighting men on horseback so I've been told, which isn't something one is likely to come up against these days.

Since most humans in America are approaching 6 feet tall on average, I'd say that the highest one need to go is the side of an opponent's head, and no higher, which should not be too difficult for anyone.

Unless you are planning to fight Shaq, I'd not worry too much about high kicks, which is just my opinion.
Besides, as was JimHawkins pointed out, I also feel that lower and mid-range kicks can employ much more power.

Try this example:
Do any sort of "spinning-back-roundhouse-snap etc" kick at high, middle and low. You will clearly observe were most of the power and speed (of the three) lies.

Right smack dab in das middle.

[MikeK]

However, arts that employ lots of kicking, Oh, let's say TKD for example, were developed for fighting men on horseback so I've been told, which isn't something one is likely to come up against these days.

I think that's just a myth. I've always believed that the emphasis on kicking in TKD was to seperate itself from it's Japanese/Okinawan lineage.

[-Metablade-]

I think that's just a myth. I've always believed that the emphasis on kicking in TKD was to seperate itself from it's Japanese/Okinawan lineage.

Meta: Interesting.
Why is it that you believe that?

[Kevin Guse]

But since wks dont do high kicks, i havent gotten any flexibility practice down lately, so im losing flexibility.

Another great flexibility program is the ACTIVE ISOLATED STRETCHING program developed by Aaron Mattes. Great for starting the day and waking up too.


More info at these two sites-

http://britathletex.com/html/flexibility.html
and
http://www.stretchingusa.com/

[RACastanet]

Here is my bible of flexibility:

http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/doc ... g_toc.html

Rich