suhpreme

Hi, first post btw.

i just have a question regarding kicking height. ive been training mma for about 5 months now. i try to stretch every day or every other day. But ive noticed that i still cannot kick passed shoulder length of someone who is the same height as me. ( i am 6'0) if i kick straight up it is pretty decent but my muay thai kicks are pathetic when it comes to height. Is there a specific stretch i should be emphasizing on or is it something else?

Boppers

Well its hard to say if your doing the right stretchs and if your doing them correctly so the best thing to do is ask your trainer hes there to help you

Personally when i took up kickboxing i was 6'5 and my head were alright but i was training with guys much smaller than me and when i went into competitions and fought against guys my own height i had problems so i stretched every single day with a good warm up and wasrm down but it took months before i began to notice big results,some people could do stretching for a couple of weeks and become very flexible but some people like myself have to work harder to get the same results

I play a lot of rugby to and even though it sounds weird things like pilates help flexibility and you can do it at home to,trust me dont knock it until you've tried it

__________________
Its like a black blanket coming to life

getbacktomat

When you do pyramid drills, get you partner to set the Thia pads as high as you can whit in reason. Or do this after class if you have the time, after class do at least 30.

getbacktomat

also start slow, just in case you set the pads too high so you dount kill your partner

Fieos

Warm up before a work out and stretch when you are finished with a workout. Partner stretching is the key to faster gains but don't hurt yourself or your partner. Also make sure you stay hydrated.

When you start training martial arts you typically start building muscles that actually reduce your flexibility for a short time. This is due to a previous lack of resistance of poor muscle tone. Stay diligent and you'll be kicking high in a very short amount of time.

Also, it may be the technique of your kicks. You should be rolling your hip into the kick and you should probably have a coach check out your form.

Squirrelfighter

The biggest point of stretcing to throw most varieties of kicks is the pelvic region.

Roundhouese kicks: pelvis, rear femoral
Straight snaps/thrusts: frontal femoral, rear femoral
Side thrusts/snaps: pelvis, rear femoral, front femoral

To stretch these areas I do the following:
Pelvis: american splits-done by stretching the legs out to the left and right as far as possible, even sliding forward on your ass with your heels planted helps stretch it further.
Rear Femoral: i don't know the proper name for this stretch, someone who does could help, it'd be nice to know what I'm doing...but you plant one foot as deep into your pelvis as you can while sitting down and stretch the other one out. Reach behind the ball of the stretched foot and pull it right off the ground about 1 inch. crawl your fingers down your foot as close to your heel as you can going over the top of your toes.
Frontal Femoral: chinese splits. these are done by placing one foot forward, he other behind and lowering down as low as possible with the arms on the ground on both sides for support and balance, the body in that position is very precarious.

If anyone has better ways to explain these please do so. I tried my best but upon rereading I realize some of that makes only meager sense.

__________________


Sig courtesy of that photo-matic magician limba