6 Things a Tae Kwon-Do Fighter can Learn from a Sprinter
A sprinter has much of the attributes that a Tae Kwon-Do (TKD) fighter needs. Successful sprinters require strength, speed, dynamic flexibility and well co-ordinated biomechanics. What can we take from a sprinters training programme? How can we utilise and adapt a sprinters training programme to suit it to our needs?
Lift Weights
The mythology which goes along side martial arts and weight lifting was mentioned in another post:
Lifting heavy does not slow you down. You just need to lift correctly and no, that does not mean light weight and high repetitions. Just remember that lean mass is heavily associated with speed. If you practice being explosive you will become explosive.
Accelerate
Most participants would see a punch bag and try to kick it through the wall. Honestly, this is what I love to do. It feels good to squat down, load up a your leg and swing a thunderous 360 into your target. Now ask your self how much do you telegraph your kick when you do this. Don’t always focus so much on the contact. See how quickly you can get your foot from the floor to the bag and back.
Multi Twitch
Another pit that the average TKD participant fall into is what I would call the “one kick wonder” habit. Through every traditional pattern or line work combination we are taught to perform one solid kick followed by landing. This is often the case for most sparing combination practice on the pads. To improve neural drive and to lower time between kicks try smashing out as many kicks as you can in 10 seconds. It’s not the best method for nailing the technical aspects of the technique but it will certainly sharpen you up for the ring.
Dynamic Flexibility
It’s rare to go into a TKD class and find an instructor that uses dynamic flexibility exercises efficiently. Most instructors opt for more static stretch variations which is perfectly fine at the end of a workout but it’s no good for a starting point. Look at it this way. Why on earth would you make all this effort to promote blood flow to your limbs through a warm up based cardio station and follow it up with static stretches which lowers blood flow? Static stretches also lowers neural drive so you’ve actually making your kicks weak before you even begin the main part of the session. Opt for leg raises and lateral lunges. You’re blood flow will improve and your dynamic muscles will respond more powerfully to kick practice.
Try Plyometrics
Plyometrics have not been proven to build a substantial amount of power. The are however a superb method of increasing the rate of which maximum strength is produced so therefore it is best partnered with a well designed weight lifting plan. Plyometrics also aid in joint stabilisation for safer training. Finally Plyometrics provides more efficient energy usage by teaching us how to absorb ground reaction force correctly.
Look After your Ankles
There are two types of ankle flexion to be concerned with. The first one is dorsiflexion. Dorsiflexion is the given name to the sagittal plane movement of your toes pointing up towards the sky. The second is plantaflexion. Plantaflexion is when you point your toes down.
When a TKD competitor fights it is common to see pool ankle stability due to a lack of dorsiflexion. When every you bounce off the floor there should be dorsiflexion present. The participant should start to plantaflex their ankle as they make contact to the ground. This helps to keep the ankle stable.
If you enjoyed this post you may also be interested in:
Resistance Training and Lateral Movement
Hill Sprints for Speed
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