Learn The Secrets To a Lightning Fast Roundhouse Kick

The roundhouse kick is one of the most powerful kicks you can throw if done correctly. This kick is popular in Taekwondo, Karate, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, MMA, and many other styles. If you want to develop power and speed there are a few things you must know.

The first step is to learn the basics of this kick. Without the basics, adding power will only cause you injury and not your opponent. You must first raise your kicking leg, pivot on your standing leg, rotate your hips, and extend your kicking leg. Getting the foundation of this kick right is critical to an effective roundhouse.

Once you get the basics down, it's time to work on striking a target. I recommend that you start by striking a kicking bag lightly and build up power as your body and foot get used to it. Make sure you are rotating your hips and your foot on the base leg when you kick the bag. If you don't pivot the base foot you can injure your knee!

I recommend that you throw 10 roundhouse with each leg on the heavy bag, rest for one minute, and then repeat. For the best results, start with 3 sets and work up from there. After your feet toughen up and get used to striking the bag, 5-10 sets, three times per week will create devastating power in your roundhouse kick.

Our next goal is to work on the speed of the roundhouse kick now that we have a power training program in place. Timing drills work the best for creating explosive speed, and there are many different ways to work your timing. If you have a partner, I would recommend one of you hold a standard hand target while the other is throwing kicks. Have the holder in fighting position ready to extend his hand out with the target, so the kicker can strike. This drill will really help you develop lightning fast roundhouse kicks in a hurry. By doing what is known as "broken rhythm" or kicking drills where the kicker doesn't know when the target will be held out, you will develop explosive speed.

Take your time, start slow, and practice these drills regularly and you will be shocked at the change in your roundhouse kick. The number one way that students get injured is by overtraining and pushing the body to early and too fast. Take your time, martial arts training is a marathon, not a sprint.