Front kick problems

[cturts]

Hey, I'm new to this forum, this is the main reason I wanted to sign up,
I've been training kung fu with a shaolin master for about 8 months,

I'm 6ft 3in and am currently really trying to get my front kicks higher and much more effortless. when the Master kicks, it's totally effortless and he can hold his leg up so high. I can kick quite high straight forward, but trying to get higher my standing leg will bend! not good, but it feels almost totally joined ha, I can't seem to get out of it.

I wondered if this is a problem or just something everyone gets when they need to find more ways of stretching out, I'm very flexible but seem to have hit my limit ha.

Hope you can help
Chris

[GoldenBrain]

If you're kicking for a warm up and flexibility training by doing the walk forward front kick straight up and slapping your foot thing then a straight back leg is fine. If you are training for martial application then the back leg can be bent. If it doesn't bend a little then you won't have any power or a good root which will make it easier for your opponent to pull you off your feet.

Also, some people just aren't ever going to be very flexible. Especially if you start your training later in life. If you're one of those people then I'd suggest not using front kicks higher than sternam level when it really matters such as in a fight. By all means keep training the high kick and working on your flexibility but don't be too surprised if you hit a plateau.

[cturts]

So you would say that it's normal to get to a point where the back leg bends to get it any higher, and that just stretching more and doing that kick more should help?
That's great news yeah I'm 23 and I can already hold my body flat against my legs etc so I don't think flexibility should be an issue too soon, was just worried I was broken

[bawang]

flexibility isnt that important in traditional kung fu. get iron fist first.

[GoldenBrain]

flexibility isnt that important in traditional kung fu. get iron fist first.

Truth!!! Iron fist, iron body = GOOD

[GoldenBrain]

Oh yeah, I forgot to say...welcome to the forum!

[GoldenBrain]

So you would say that it's normal to get to a point where the back leg bends to get it any higher, and that just stretching more and doing that kick more should help?
That's great news yeah I'm 23 and I can already hold my body flat against my legs etc so I don't think flexibility should be an issue too soon, was just worried I was broken

Higher or not, the back leg should still be bent a little to provide force generation and still have balance. In time the kick will be higher if that's your goal. I rarely throw high kicks but rather bring their head down in order to provide a finish kick. For example: kick the groin, kick the head as a follow up, or head hunt for a while with my hands and wait for them to duck then kick the head. I NEVER lead with a roundhouse or front kick to the head unless they are noobs and beg for it by keeping their hands down. I expect to be dumped on my ass when leading with a high kick because that's what I'm going to do to them.

Here's a textbook combative front kick except for the hands. I don't teach to drop the hands ever unless throwing a roundhouse, side or spin back kick. In those three cases I block with cloud hands which is one hand high to block the head and one low to block the groin. A good counter to either of those kicks is a simple front or slap kick to the groin, but be ready to follow up because it usually just pisses people off since they are normally wearing a cup in sparring. We allow groin striking in order to learn to defend against it. Anyway, back to the kick below. Notice the back leg is bent.