Kickboxing London | The martial arts place

In the second of his three article series, Sensei Russell Cronk discusses his top tips for DURING your session at the Dojo.

“These tops tips are essentially aimed at our beginners, though, they are definitely something that all students should bear in mind!”

1) Always be aware of your fighting stance

• Your fighting stance is a neutral position from which you can fire ANY and ALL shots, be them kicks, punches and combinations of both.
• If you’re not in a correct fighting stance you are vulnerable, you cannot move properly and may find yourself off balance
• Correct fighting stance means keeping your knees bent, your back heel off the floor and your body weight centred. Your feet should be at about 35 degrees.

.

.

2) Move your head!

• Get used to moving your head, it prevents you from being an easy target. If you are firing a straight punch with your left hand then your head will move slightly to the right. When firing a straight punch with the right hand your head will move to the left. These head movements are fairly subtle and should not be jerky.

3) Finish your punches and kicks

• Finishing your punch means bringing your hand straight back to its start position without dropping it – almost like the hand is on elastic. If you don’t snap your punches you’ll be leaving your head open to attack.
• Snapping your kicks means bending your knee after the kick and returning to the start position of the kick – before putting your leg down and returning to fighting stance. By doing this you will be ready to fire another kick. Sometimes you might want to fire two or three kicks before putting your leg back down.
• Finishing the kick correctly prevents your leg from being grabbed by an opponent. It also aids balance and as mentioned, means you can quickly and easily fire another kick.
• Also remember that when you kick, you should always pick your knee up first rather than your whole leg.

4) Rotate your shoulders when you punch

• Rotating your shoulders when you punch will lengthen your reach, helping get those hard to reach opponents!
• Rotating your shoulders through the punch will also help deliver maximum power when you punch as you have the force of your body behind the punch.

.

.

5) Listen to Sensei

• Your Sensei has been where you are now.  They have experience of being the student and have all come through the same grading processes, they understand if you are having difficulties and are all well versed in the sport.  Don’t be afraid to ask for more help if there’s something you’re not happy with!

6) Always try your best, try to give 100%

• Don’t be afraid to push yourself in the lesson, if you slack off then you will not get the most from your training.

7) Don’t give up

• “A Black Belt is a yellow belt student who didn’t give up”

8 ) Don’t be afraid to ask questions

• If you’re unsure about anything during a lesson then ASK your Sensei, never be embarrassed to ask for Sensei to show you again or to run through something with you.  It’s what we’re here for.

.

.

.

9) Don’t be too hard on yourself

• We all learn at a different pace, don’t worry if another student seems to be racing ahead, it’s YOUR learning that counts to you.
• We all have bad training days, the way to deal with these is to do your best, finish your session and go away knowing that even a less than perfect training session is a step in the right direction. Also reflect on what has affected your training today, are you tired, stressed, hungry?
• Ask Sensei if you need a drink during the lesson – it’s only polite rather than just walking away. It’s important to take small drinks during training.

10) Learn to count

• Counting each movement is important, it helps regulate your breathing, it’s too easy to hold your breath when going flat out on a bag!
• Counting though each sequence will help you remember your sequence, associating your combinations with counting will help you realise if you’ve missed a move…does your combination have 5, 6 or 7 moves?

.

.

In his next article Sensei Russell discusses his top tips for beginners to think about AFTER the lesson has finished.