Shuby Health

Power, in the Martial Arts, especially martial arts like Kenpo or Shaolin is often measured by how hard you can hit. Thus, people beat the stuffings out of the punching bag and the Makiwara, and they do push ups to strengthen themselves, and…and they are doing it all wrong. You see, there is one essential thing that they don’t understand, and so all their push ups and punches are having less effect than they would wish.

It makes no sense to let an attacker get close enough to punch. If he’s got a knife or club, or just a fist that is fast, the best strategy is to kick low and hard and keep him out of range. The problem is that many Tae Kwon Do schools do not teach the right way to use the legs.

A couple of things to remember before we get into making your kicks powerful. Practice high so you have strength and flexibility, but keep your kicks low in a fight so you don’t get a leg caught. And, the best strategy is to avoid the fight altogether whenever possible.