Dirty Harry

iTrader: (12)

Iam looking to buy a leg stretcher,anyone know of one for sale

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

You struggling to do anything other than kick people in the nipple shortly before falling backwards in a painfull pile Pete? Me too...


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-Bar-Leg-Stre...3A1%7C294%3A50

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ML1-Mechanical...3A1%7C294%3A50

Chip

iTrader: (3)

When I used to do martial arts I kept myself able to do the splits (box and side), and able to kick over the head of my 6' 5" sparring partner purely by doing exercises using my own bodyweight, I dont see the need for that sort of equipment, total waste of money IMHO

vroomtshh

I agree. There are plenty of exercises you can do with no equipment that will allow u to kick higher. I'm 5'10 but fight at 15stone so end up fighting guys 6-8inches taller regularly and never have any problems reaching there big ugly heads

Matt

^ what he said ^

a lot can be acheived on your own using your own body weight but the kru where i used to train ( www.wickercamp.co.uk ) always maintained it was better with a training partner

a few of the many stretching exercises they used to put us though were

back flat against a well, standing foot sideways on, raise your other leg, partner crouches in front of you with your achilles on their shoulder and stands up slowly, holds it at your limit for 10 secs, then 2 inches more for another 10 secs. swap legs.

shoulder against a wall, standing foot sideways on, raise your other leg banding at the knee so your shin is parallel to the wall. partner crouches in front of you with your shin across their chest resting on their arms and stands up slowly, holds it at your limit for 10 secs, then 2 inches more for another 10 secs. swap legs.

back flat against a wall, standing foot sideways on, raise your other knee to your chest. partner crouches in front of you with the sole of your foot on their shoulder and stands up slowly whilst pusching forwards to get your knee as close to the wall above your shoulder, holds it at your limit for 10 secs, then 2 inches more for another 10 secs. swap legs. ive seen knees touch thew wall doing that, looks very bizarre as the hip looks inverted LOL

i dont see why you need to kick above the head aside from the height differences in matchs. this isnt the jean claude van damne films LMAO
9 times out of 10 your opponent will be your height and when in fighting stance they are crunched down so 6-9" smaller than upright. also you're aiming to wrap your foot round their neck behind the ear with the contact point being your forward facing ankle joint and their neck so a further 3-6" lower, or the contact point is the temple.
basically if you're 6 foot and can stabily kick at 5 foot you should do well.

the kru at wicker (amongst others i spoke to) also used to recommend taking glucosamine sulphate tabs daily to aid joint flexibility

HTH

PS pete you're too old for that shit pal LOL

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Another point worth mentioning is that head kicks are generally something best avoided as a beginner (apologies if you are arent a beginner but the question kind of sounds like you are) as it takes a fucking long time for your foot to get from the floor up to someones head compared to just jabbing them in the face or solar plexus, and during that time you are basically showing your opponent right from your initial body movement right through to when you eventually connect exactly what you are up to, so it gives your opponent plenty of time to get out of the way, and if allowed in the artform you are partaking in, you are REALLY exposed to sweeps at the time, and even if sweeps are not allowed you are open to all sorts of other attacks.

I used to love doing jumping spinning kicks when I was doing training, but I never used them much when sparring or fighting really as the moment you turn your back and launch yourself off the ground you are just this big floating target with a load of exposed kidneys etc and you quickly learn its better to just rely on the simple stuff like punching someone in the face, well thats how it worked out for me anyway, and bear in mind that was despite me being VERY flexible at the time so the height was utterly no issue at all.

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Ps

elbows and knees are awesome, are you allowed to use them in whatever martial art you are doing?

Ive found they dont get taught as much as hand and feet stuff a lot of the time, but elbows and knees can be brutally effective, and they dont leave you with fucked wrists like I have from too much punching a hard skull with a fist supported by a soft wrist

vroomtshh

Or compltely fucked metacarpals like some of us

Matt

chip, twice in one day i agree with you LOL....
knees and elbows are awesomely effective and sooooo underated imo. im not talking about some of the shite you see in ufc - reaching for the ceiling and whamming down whilst knelt on your opponent, im talking hardened muay thai style. ive huge respect for mma thats not a dis its just not the same. american kickboxing just seems a bit gay once youve done eight point contact - seems to purposely ignore half your "weapons" LOL for those who dont know what i mean then search the net for some lumpini or ratchadamnoen stadium fights





been there done that

unbelievably i cracked mine in 2 places falling over the fookin wii console whilst pissed up rather than when fighting the doc at the hospital didnt believe me - said "its a classic punch break and you know it"

kept myself doped up for days after that, never known a dull ache like it!

ben_frst

lol i have the fat right hand from years of abuse broken my smallest 2nd smallest once (with the smallest and middle finger knuckle looks like its split right down the middle (2 knuckles soft in the middle) knees elbows and even a good head but works better im currently looking at going back to a martial art and think its gonna be kick boxing i used to be able to kick past my own head height but now struggle getting above my own waist

its all to do with regular stretching my old stretches where box splits reaching for the left then right ankles, splits side on reaching for whatever toes forward then repeating with the other leg forward, a little exercise i dounno what it called where you sit on the floor put the soles of your feet together pull your heels to your ass by hand with your elbows on your knees applieing pressure downwards you can use a partner to push your knees down, and bending over touching your toes the floor or even standing one a yellow pages touching the floor

after all that you should stand on one leg and holding your heel to you bum repeat with both legs and then shake em off id repeat this 30sec a limb 5 times a week for 2 weeks and i'll bet you see an increase in kick height and stability

DAB

Matt is correct working with a partner against a wall and on the floor is the way to go , no gimmicks just regular sessions will see huge improvements.
ive been in the dojo's for 20+ years , back in the 80's when doing upright box splits if you could not get any further down or sensei thought you were coasting he would take his foot to your right of left foot it did not matter and rip it outward quickly so you fell over "would not get away with that these days lol" that's was from behind while you were unaware , good old days .