Day 10 - kicks

I sort of lost track of the days for this logging of the kicks, so I will just summarize my experience. I really had to push myself to honor my commitment to kick the bag every day, I am not sure what was up with that but I definitely was attempting to create some road blocks. Once I got started, I was totally into it and had to time myself so that I wouldn't spend too much time down stairs.
I changed the stance for my round house kicks in the last 10 days and it feels a lot more powerful. When I was doing it from a horse stance, I don't thing that I was using a proper three point position and my kicks did not have the power that they needed. When I do it from a bow stance, I feel like I go almost automatically from a crane stance to the three point and then all I have to do is release the power. They feel good, I still have some tweaking to do but they feel like they are moving in the right direction.
I have been unhappy all week with my spinning back kick and I couldn't quite put my finger on it until this morning. I practiced at home and then I went to the kwoon to help with the kids class and then worked on my kicks there after class. I think that I was over rotating at home because I have laminate flooring and it is really easy to twirl around on it. Once I was on the mats, everything returned to normal and my kicks felt strong again. I do need to continue to work on keeping my head up and therefore kicking higher.
My goal for my side heel thrust has been to concentrate on transferring the power at the end of the kick. Sometimes I feel like I just place my foot on the bag at the end of the extension. This may be an exaggeration but it is the only way that I can describe it. I really focused on making sure that each kick counted as a good one by releasing my power into the bag. They feel a lot stronger on a more consistent basis than they did last week. Now I am going to focus on returning to my stance before launching the next kick.
My favorite kick is the front thrust kick. I love the feel of it when I execute it correctly, I feel strong when I kick. This week I have been focusing on bring my crane stance up higher so that I get more height in my kick. I think that this is improving (okay I marked the bag so my I know that my kicks are higher) and I have enjoyed the progress that I have seen everyday. On this kick I also need to focus on returning to my stance before launching the next kick.
I have really enjoyed this exercise in working on one thing every day and looking for ways to improve and get stronger. Some days my feet, joints and/or muscles did not like the idea of this plan but all was forgotten (not yet forgiven) as soon as I started kicking the bag. I am making a commitment to myself to continue to strive towards improvement in all aspects of my martial arts.
Sihing Kichko

Allan Gamble - Day 8 Kicks

360 kicks completed.

Legs a little tired for this session, everything progressing well.  This will be my last post as we are away on a little vacation and will not be on a computer.  Will however be completing kicks for day 9 and 10.  Have a great training week!

Sihing Gamble

Allan Gamble - Day 7 Kicks

360 Kicks completed

Timed in a testing environment.  Very happy with the progress and training.  Have a great day!

Sihing Gamble

Day 7 - kicks

I seem to have hurt my foot working on my forms on a wooden floor. I don't know for sure if that was it but it hurts like crazy today so I'm officially resting it, massaging it and trying to take it easy. I hope that it will be better tomorrow.
Sihing Kichko

Allan Gamble - Day 6 Kicks

360 kicks

Practiced on technique, crane, vectors, and breathing.  A good day for me and my fence post target.  Have a great day!

Sihing Gamble

Day 6 - kicks

Yesterday was filled with kung fu practice and teaching and learning. I talked lots about technique and approach and decided that I need to remember to train smart. For me that means not kicking the bag everyday so I don't damage my muscles or joints. It doesn't mean that I am not working on or thinking of my kicks everyday, just can't handle the bag so much.
Today I ran out of time and energy, I worked on paying attention to my vectors and I may just have made a breakthrough regarding how I move. I am back to the bag tomorrow to test my theory.
Sihing Kichko

Allan Gamble - Day 4 and 5

360 Kicks Day 4
360 Kicks Day 5

Eye for detail help from Sifu Brinker, Sifu Freitag, Sifu Hayes, Sifu Rybak, and Sihing Weibe.  A good day with confidence and self esteem building in my pride of "power".  Technique is top of mind.

Have a great day1

Sihing Gamble

Day 4 - kicks

I attempted to time my own kicks this morning and it was more challenging than I figured it would be. In retrospect, I should have put my watch on a one minute count down and then I wouldn't have to try looking at it. Anyways, I am already seeing a difference in my kicks with just a few days of attention to detail, they seem stronger and more accurate. I think that I need to push the speed a bit and see what happens. That's a drill for tomorrow.
Sihing Kichko

Allan Gamble - Day 3 Kicks

360 kicks completed

Working mostly on the spinning back kick.  I think I have a bit of an issue with the pivot foot position on the kick delivery.  Will seek some advice in class.

Allan Gamble

Day Two - kicks

I mostly played with technique today, changing my stance has actually made my round house faster and the technique feels more sound. I need to continue to work on transferring the power in my side heel thrust and my spinning back kicks. I am sure that they will improve with practice and attention.
Sihing Kichko

Allan Gamble - Day 2

Day two went much better than day one.  My body is recovering physically and mentally from the weekend, and I am being mindful of a knee injury which is coming along.

360 kicks completed

Eye for detail provided by Sifu Harrigan and Sihing Kitchko.  From this I have switched my roundhouse kicks from a horse stance to a combative bow stance.  The numbers are slightly lower but the technique and power and significantly better.

Have a good day!

Sihing Gamble

Allan Gamble - Day 1 kicks

360 kicks completed

I used a fence post in the field last night as a target and this worked very well for accuracy, push back resistance, and placing my heel on the target for side heel thrusts.  I made great improvement in one day.  I worked on the kicks by myself and Wednesday I will be in class and will have others input and eye for detail on my kicks.  Have a great day!  We will get better every day we do this!

Sihing  Gamble

Day 1 - kicks

Front Thrust - 50 each leg
Side Heel Thrust - 50 each leg
Round House - 50 each leg
Spinning Back - 50 each leg
All but the front thrust are from a horse stance, I am going to time them tomorrow and maybe switch to a bow stance on day 4 and compare the times. I really tried to open up my shoulders and hips on the spinning back and push my power through my heel into the bag. I focused on my three point position with the round house and really tried to pull my knee back to line up with my hip before throwing the kick. In the side heel and front thrust, I focused on my crane stance and getting my knee up higher. Tomorrow I will record how long it takes me to do 50 kicks and try to improve that time, every other day.
Sihing Kichko