The Five Keys To Kickboxing Success

Key 1

     The first thing you must work on is your speed - getting faster, much faster... your hands, your legs, your whole body.
     By consciously making the effort to train yourself to get faster, in both your attacks and defensive techniques, will make you head and shoulders above anyone else - no matter how big or strong they are.
     The main aim in kickboxing is to...

Get in quick, get the job done,
then get out quick!

     We've seen it time and time again, in the training hall, competitions or on the street—if you can get fast, you're on your way to becoming a much better kickboxer.
      Have you ever got hit from such a distance by a hand or foot and didn't see it coming?  If you haven't, you're not pushing yourself to train with the best... if you have been on the end of something that came out of nowhere you know the shocking disbelief of  "jeez that was fast" reaction you had... if not the down right humiliation of being caught so easily.
      We've seen black belt ego's crushed by someone half as experienced as they were...

Beaten by someone so fast
and who can hit from a mile away

     If you come up against someone who has trained for speed... be warned.

      We shot some video from an advanced PKA-Kickboxing Black Belt only training seminar... Master George Shore demonstrates the meaning of speed.
      The opponent was told every time where he would be hit... the video is in real time and then slowed down in parts.  NOTE, regular PKA-Kickboxing training classes do not have this level of contact... this is purely shown to illustrate what speed can do:

     Well, read on as now we're going to get into specifically how you can train to get faster.
      In kickboxing you only need to be concerned with two elements of speed:

1. Your reaction time (reflexes) and...
    
2. How fast you can move your arms, legs and indeed your whole body - forwards, backwards, diagonally, up and down.

      First let's take your reflexes. This is simply how quickly you can react to something coming at you, either by seeing it first (if you're up against a slow person, this is easy as they might as well tell you when they're about to hit you with the amount of clues they give!), or by feel... anticipation—this takes a long time to develop, as comes from experience and knowledge.
      Yet, you sure can improve your reflexes from what you've got right now...

However, lots of 'authorities' say you
can't improve your reflexes because
they are genetic

     Poppycock! We've trained thousands to improve their reflexes and I'm going to show one way right now...

      But first I want to mention about the abundance of training aids out there at the moment.
      In particular the focus and kick shields which have a beep device connected to a sensor in the pad... unit beeps... you whack the pad... gives you a reaction time.  Then you spend 10 minutes trying to whack the pad to the beeps to improve your reaction speed!  This is all good and well, but all this does is train you to hit when you hear a beep noise! - not good as most opponents don't beepwhen they're about to hit you.

Forget fancy beeping
devices for now (buy one later)

     We need a cheap and more realistic method...
      Stand facing a partner (a sensible one), arms length apart - have your partner throw light flicking type movements using their hands aimed towards your shoulders (your partner should alternate hands frequently).
      The flicks should just be able to touch your shoulders... when you see your opponent move any part of their body (the hand, arm, anything that gives away they are about to flick you on the shoulder), pull your torso back to avoid the flick!  Don't try to deflect, block or parry your partners incoming hand... just bend your torso back slightly to miss the flick or twist sideways.  Do not step backwards—evade the attack by bending your torso.
     The idea of this exercise is to get you to improve your reflexes... and not to be always moving backwards when someone strikes out at you.  You need to learn how to evade strikes... and then counter quickly.
      Have your partner build up the speed of the flicking motion... but do not do this exercise aimed at the head or face.
      Next stage after aiming light flicks to the shoulders, move to light front kick style flicks to the stomach region.  Have your partner stand back slightly so that his/her kicks will lightly touch you if you don't have a defence for it... the defence this time is to arch yourself inwards just in time to avoid the kick and most importantly...

Don't step backwards,
arch inwards to avoid the kick

     Do not move backwards!  Learn to avoid a strike without shifting your whole body... if you can learn to do this, you are already in close and can counter strike much more quickly and effectively.
      If your partner has some maturity and concentrates by delivering quality 'flicks' you can concentrate on moving your body quickly when you see him make his move... you'll soon develop a sixth sense for when people are about to strike out... keep practising this exercise... learn how to spot when an opponent is about to strike you.
      OK, next... how to move your arms, legs and your whole body quickly.
      The best thing you can do straight off the bat is to...

Get up onto your toes more

     Don't be one of those people who moves with flat feet glued to the floor and with lead in their boots!  Obviously, kickboxing does require you to move around a lot so...
      You've got to move swiftly and being up on your toes is the way to achieve it.   Think about this - the fastest sprinters in the world run up on the balls of their feet - less in contact with the ground... less to move.  Get up on those toes!
      So what about moving your arms and legs quickly?  Well, developing your hand speed is easier... there is less weight in your arms than your legs therefore less mass to move... and kicking is technically more challenging than punching.
     The classic answer some people say to the question "how do I get faster?" is... "just do it faster!"  This is crazy because how on earth do you know if you are doing something faster... does it feel faster or something!  Come on, you need something much more tangible...
     If you are trying to improve your speed... you need to be able to measure it.

This is a great coaching secret...
measuring your techniques

     If you can measure precisely an exercise in terms of "are you getting any  quicker at it"... you're on the way to complete mastery.
      I'm going to give you one such exercise.  Stand in front of a punch bag or focus mitt (or anything you can punch safely).  Have someone next to you with a stop watch.  In the next 10 seconds punch out, using your best technique, as many times against the pad.  First, this is not an endurance test - don't bother with 1, 2, 3 minutes punching... that's not what we're after here.  We want explosive speed in a short time.
     The person timing has to count your punches.  With one minute breaks and a few sessions of timing - you will be able to increase the number of punches in that explosive 10 seconds. This exercise works well for combination speed training (i.e. multiple movements in one go, such as left jab, right cross, left hook to the head, right uppercut).  In fact that's a great combination to work "the 10 second challenge" - your target - four punches in one second... impossible?  Not really, just takes some practise...

Why be content with just one fast punch
when you can have a barrage of blows...

     ...that will have your opponent spinning as to just what the hell happened!
      So to sum up, get training on your speed—not just one shot techniques but try getting fast with multiple combinations... and remember get up on your toes!

Key 2

       Picture this:  A 5' 7" slightly built man, no more than 10 stone stands toe-to-toe with a 6' 4" 18 stone man gorilla - in a breathless movement he knocks the giant across the room...

With no more effort than like
flicking a fly off a table...

     How is this possible?  Welcome to the world of our next key... Power.

      Everyone has seen some kind of moment like the one described above—or at least understands that someone who has powerful kicks or punches is not to be messed with.

      On many occasions whilst coaching, we've asked everyone in a room what power actually is - lots of answers come back... none of them very clear... a lot of them confused.

      Even you may be slightly confused about what exactly power is, and more importantly how you can get noticeably more powerful.

      Well I'm going to tell you exactly what power is... and more importantly, how to train to get more powerful... powerful punches... powerful kicks.

      Are you ready?

      Here it is...

Power is simply... Strength x Speed

     That's it!  Nothing more, nothing less.  Power is simply made up of two components, strength and speed.  Put like this makes a lot of sense.  You can see that if you want to get more powerful in any particular technique then you've got to train on just two things only. Simple.

      If you train for speed and train for strength on any technique, magical things start to happen.

      We discussed speed last time - you should already be thinking about or constructing methods to train for speed...

      But everybody gets this next part regarding strength wrong... very wrong

      To become stronger in any technique you have to train the specific muscles used in that technique.  Read that again... you have to train the actual muscles used in that particular technique.  But...

How do you know what muscles
are involved in a technique
in the first place?

     If you want to increase the strength in your legs for better kicking what would you do?

       Most people will go to the gym and do squats, leg curls, leg extensions etc. all the usual stuff for legs.  Mistake.

      You can have thighs the size of an Oak tree, but if you can't move them quickly, no good... you have to find exercises that target the specific musclesused in kicking... this is vital (watch out for a dedicated course from us on this).

But is power really necessary?

     You definitely need to have power. Without it you are at a distinct disadvantage.  Don't be fooled thinking that you have to be super strong - juststrong for your size... and quick!

      So which are more powerful, your hands or feet?

      Your legs can generate more power than your arms as are naturally bigger and stronger.

Your legs are the most powerful
weapon you have

     I'll give you one simple thing to improve the power in your roundhouse kick...

      Your roundhouse will become infinitely more powerful by turning your hips more into the kick...

      Let me explain... the key is to pivot more on your supporting leg so your hips are able to turn more into the kick.  By turning your hips quickly, pivoting more on the ball of your supporting leg you will generate more power.

     You'll know your hips have turned more into the kick because your supporting leg foot should be pointing rearwards.

You've already got
a lot of power within you

     You've just not tapped into it all yet - often small tweaks in techniques yield massive results.

      Imagine with the right muscle training exercises, small modifications to technique and speed work what will happen to your kicks - you'll be unstoppable.

No matter how tall, small, thin or big
you are, you can increase your power

     First, work on your speed of a technique as discussed last lesson. Make sure you are performing it in a fluid manner, that's the key... how do you know you are doing it fluidly?... learn from a good instructor. There is no point practising all day long doing the wrong technique.

      All of this above explains how a small diminutive man, who was extremely fast and strong for his size was able to generate tremendous power - the two combined... speed and strength is truly...

Unbeatable

     Oh, I forgot to tell you the man's name... Bruce Lee.

      He knew by being fast and strong he could beat men much bigger than himself—he trained those skills... so can you.

Key 3

     Ok, we’re getting somewhere now… you need to be quick… and you need to be powerful. Let's tie in the third key… Targeting.

      Targeting is the concept where you 'target' specific areas of your opponents body you intend to attack.

      It amazes me how little time most students put into practicing targeting.  They just wildly lashing out with a punch or kick… with generalisations of 'head' shot or 'body shot' - this just won’t cut it if you want to get good.

      When you see an accomplished targeting pro (sharp shooter), he/she can pick areas of the body at will, and hit them every time with no effort at all.

      How do you get to be that good?

It’s surprisingly easy...

     The reason why few people are any good at targeting is they haven’t been shown what to do... or they haven't then gone away and practised it!

      So here’s the trick:

      When ever you’re training or sparring you have to be consciously thinking of where you want to hit your opponent—that is exactly where to hit them.

      This does take a bit of practise.

      You're trying to get your brain to subconsciously 'remember' target areas... so eventually you don't have to consciously think about where you want to strike your opponent.

      When you’re a beginner you’re learning lots of new movements, new techniques, combinations, your fitness is improving—a lot is going on.

      The problem in these early stages is it is very difficult when you are executing a technique to be thinking precisely where it’s going… other than perhaps the common thought in your mind… “go for the head!” or “go for the body!”.

      The way around all this is from day one is to be always thinking where you want to hit… exactly...

     "Say" the target area in your mind.  Over a short amount of time (with constant repetition) you won't have to be thinking about where you want to hit...

Your fist will just go there
all by itself!

     Now I know that kind'a sounds unbelievable... but by constant repetition your brain and muscles will remember certain pathways therefore movements will become subconscious... just as the same way you don't have to consciously move all your individual muscles in your legs when you want to walk - it just happens...

      Let’s go through a few examples:

      In kickboxing one of the main areas to go for on the head is the chin... it’s one of the most effective areas to strike—hundreds of years of boxing can’t be wrong!

      Can you say every time you shoot a jab or a cross you’re really aiming for the chin or just hoping it will land there?

      From experience most students are going for the face as a whole or any part of the head they can make contact with. So try this...

      Start by picturing just where you want to strike; the chin; the ribs; the side of the abdomen…

Begin with trying this mental focus
whilst working the bag or mitts

     Later, try the same mental focus whilst light sparring… concentrate.

      This principle of targeting is extremely important for self defence situations – a lot of the target areas in self defence are the eyes, throat, armpit, groin etc. Very small places to hit...

      It requires skill to hone in just where you want to place your blow… this only comes from constantly thinking (whilst you’re fighting) where you’re going to hit... then that thought process becomes second nature.

      It doesn’t take too much practice to get very proficient if you concentrate on a handful of targets.

      But, don't get caught up in the classic “over-analysis-paralysis”.  If you spend too much time choosing one of the hundreds of places to attack your opponent... you'll be the one getting hit.

Less is definitely more

     Chose two targets to begin with… the chin and ribs are great, and work just on these two areas.   You’ll be very surprised at the results... keep practising and don't give up.

      I want to give you one more target area to consider.

      This relates to the thigh kick.

      A lot of fighters always go for the "dead leg" by kicking the outer side of their opponents leg.  You see this going on all day long in Thai Kickboxing fights... two guys just exchanging thigh kicks.

      They have trained hard to take that kind of a bashing, however...

Here's something the best
don't want you to know

     Kicking someone in the side of the thigh might give them a dead leg... however strike on the front of the thigh, about 2" above the knee... and you'llalways give a dead leg.  The lower front of the thigh is much more susceptible to a dead leg and no-one ever trains to condition that part of their thigh... I've seen far more people dropped in one kick to the lower front of the thigh than around to the side.

      The way to strike to the front is different from the common "roundhouse to the outside of the thigh" method... as requires you to move side ways and forward to kick someone on the front of their thigh and do that you have to have set up the move before... which is a lesson in itself and one I hope to show you fully in the future.

      This and many more are just examples of precision targeting for maximum effect.

      Spend some time outside of the training hall thinking about exactly where you want to place your shots... and then practise them—religiously.

Key 4

     All the kickboxing keys we’ve discussed so far have huge importance to your overall success, however...

You can be fast, powerful and
a sharp shooter…

     but it won’t make a blind bit of difference if you cannot execute at just the right time… Timing is the fourth kickboxing key.

      Timing is hitting your intended object and reaching maximum speed right at the point of impact… this is crucial.

      You can become so disheartened in kickboxing simply because you don’t feel that your strikes are really that effective.  Many students have given up, because although they knew how to do the techniques... they just couldn't connect with them.

      Timing is such a key element... you cannot afford not to train on it.

      Problems occur in both punching and kicking... but more so with kicks due to the longer distances and slower speeds you can do kicks at than a punch.

      Listen, there is a solution.

      A lot of the time...

Your timing can be improved
by proper distancing

     Lets take a front kick… if you are too close to your opponent, the kick ends up as a push… if you are too far away, the kick has lost all it’s potential power...TIP: - if at the moment of impact your leg is straight... you’re too far away from your opponent.

     At the right distance your kicking leg has to have a slight bend in the knee… this allows you drive your power more into the target.  Those of you lucky enough to attend one of our Scott Adkins courses will have seen this first hand.

      Start by using a training partner to really gauge at what distance you actually need to be at…

Most beginners fight too far away
for fear of being hit themselves...

     or, not close enough to make good contact.

     You may have heard of the phrase “eye gap”. This is using your eye and your opponent to judge the distance in which you should use your hands or legs.

      You must practice knowing at what distance YOU have to fight at to make contact…

      After you know this, you can work on moving slightly back out of that zone… and then working on speed techniques of how to get in and out of the strike zone

       Look how far Master Shore is away from his opponent (watch the video in the speed section), he explosively moves forward into the strike zone, where he can deliver a fist full of blows.

     A lot of the time your general movements, ability to “close the gap” between yourself and the opponent and the timing required to strike at the right time, can be improved tremendously by...

Working on your rhythm

     Rhythm works on your motion and beat… a continual measured motion to a steady pace.

      When you’re standing ready in your fighting stance, you should be gently rocking backwards and forwards on your toes… to a constant beat… forward and back, forward and back, forward and back (say this over in your mind).

     As you are gently bobbing forward and back you can take tiny steps with your feet… either in a straight line or in a circular path… both are classic ways to get closer to your opponent without them really noticing your forward advance…

WARNING – experienced fighters know how to break your rhythm so don’t get cocky!

     One of the best ways to get rhythm is to train to music that has a constant beat… and the music makes a training session much more enjoyable anyway.

      Other traditional methods from the boxing world are... speed ball training and skipping… these are great because they rely on you working at a constant rhythm.

      Timing is linked to your reflexes – you have to be at a point that when you shoot a technique it is a spontaneous process, not a thinking one…

      To get good you really have to think mentally hard about it in the first place, and then through repetition you will make gigantic improvements in your timing.

Key 5

     Here it is, the final key… this one holds all the others together.  Without it you’ll have some great skills just by being say fast or powerful… but with this driving the ship you’ll make your full and exciting potential… it is Strategy.

     Too many students go into situations, tournaments, street fights and just regular sparring sessions without first thinking what they are going to do, and how they are going to cope with what comes at them... it's a dangerous combination.

      I want to remind you of the 5 P's...

Proper Planning Prevents a
Poor Performance!

     When you know a particular event, tournament, sparring session etc.  (a street "event" can happen anytime) is coming up, train for it.

      What I have just said here seems obvious to someone who already does trainmethodically for such events – but you will not believe the amount of students who turn up at tournaments/sparring little prepared – you can spot them easily, not because they are losing fights, but they try techniques they're not very good at (great examples are spinning foot sweeps, jumping kicks, spinning back kicks), and...

Get punished for it

     Strategy is a massive subject, but I want to tell you about strategies related to when you are actually fighting someone – particularly in a tournaments, full contact, semi contact, light continuous or sparring sessions.

       To gain the advantage over your opponent...

In the quickest time possible
you want to test your opponent

     This is a secret that will you make or break you.  You've got to use your brain when you're fighting... not just standing there reacting to what is coming at you.

      You want to test how your opponent moves (slow or fast)… how fast are his hands, his feet, his reflexes, his distancing…

      This is not hard to do… throw out several predetermined moves on him to see how he will react…

      Good moves are the left jab… not only can you distance yourself correctly using the jab… but you’ll find out how quickly your opponent can move/see things coming.

      The jab is a great move to “close the gap” between you. Here's a great tip -shoot a jab towards the face and shuffle in at the same time (a classic way to move in quickly), then follow up with a kick or another punch in one fluid motion...

This simple strategy is a
great base to learn from

     However, if you do it too often, a smart opponent will read you like a book and counter every time.

      So the jab is great for closing the gap and blocking your opponents view (another great tip).

      Learn to have a fast jab – when I first started boxing, my coach wouldn’t let me do anything but left jabs – after two months I was bored stiff of just jabbing all night long… but can you image how fast my jab was?  It was quite funny from that point onward as I could stand way out of the strike zone, but in an instant, pop a left jab and...

Hit my opponent square on the nose
every time

     Another strategy is using your lead leg to fend off an opponent who is always rushing into you fast – your lead leg is the tool of choice to keep someone away from you.

      Here’s another strategy.  If you notice your opponent favours his hands more than his legs, try to pick away at his weaker areas using your legs going for hisbody.

      If you face someone who favours their legs more than their hands, become an “in-fighter” and get in close and go again for the body areas (more fights have been won by a blow to the body… literally sapping the will to fight).

      If you come up against someone who continually holds their lead leg up in the air “taunting”  you – deflect the foot/leg with your lead hand and always go for their supporting leg with a sweep – if you sweep them and they land hard on the floor – I guarantee they won’t leave their leg up in the air again!

You want to make your opponent
make mistakes

     You do this by breaking his rhythm (fast fighters hate to fight slow… and vice a versa), test his reflexes with doing “faking” and “feinting” movements yourself.  If you are only in a short round fight – you have to work quick to place your opponent where you want him.

      One of the best ways to improve your fighting strategies is to spar with as many different partners as you can – taller than you, smaller than you, faster than you, more powerful than you – only then will you get real experience of how to use your strategy.

      Don’t get into the habit (which always does happen) of sparring with the same partner every week – you’ll get lazy.

      Sit down and write out some basic strategies.

      Here’s a quick example:

• Work on getting a fast jab
• Use it as a distancing tool
• Use it as an "eye blocker"
• Use it to set your opponent up

     Just 4 things?  Yes - I’ve just honed in on the jab – if you dedicate more time on simple basic techniques, instead of trying to learn every single martial arts move in the book – you will see huge differences in your abilities and skills.

      In fact your strategy may be to pick 8 core techniques and train on them so you can do them in your sleep – and more importantly stick to them when you’re fighting.

      Most good fighters are like this, they are extremely good at making basic moves work well – something worth thinking about.

      So, at the end now to conclude...

The Five PKA-Kickboxing Keys to Success:

	Speed
	Power
	Targeting
	Timing
	Strategy

     These five areas, given the right attention will make you one hell of a formidable fighting force.