The Ultimate guide to Increasing flexibility for kicks in Taekwondo

If you happen to train Taekwondo then you will know it is pretty obsessional with kicking, so it’s good to learn how to kick as effectively as possible. Overall, there are several ways to increase the impact of your kicks, including strengthening your legs, improving your technique and flexibility. Arguably, flexibility is the most important factor to focus on. This is because without flexibility, you can’t expect your kicks to reach far. For instance, if going for a head kick – you will need flexibility. If you lack this, then you simply won’t be able to land on the head, or if you do it will lack the desired power.

With this said, flexibility is absolutely crucial for Taekwondo and should be the pillar to improve your game around. Before continuing, you should note that these methods take time. Just like training Taekwondo, you shouldn’t expect instant results. Not only this, but some people will naturally be more flexible than others. This may suck, but luckily with work and determination, you too can vastly improve your own flexibility. Here is the ultimate guide to increase your flexibility when kicking in TKD.

Using yoga and stretches to improve flexibility

Whilst this may be obvious to some, it may not be to others. Basically, it’s commonly known that yoga will improve your flexibility. When breaking it down, yoga is effectively stretching your body whilst trying to breathe as efficiently as possible. Because of this, you want to stretch as much as possible to improve flexibility. However, it isn’t just that easy. Of course, there are some stretches that are more geared towards TKD compared to others.

For instance, stretching your calf muscles is better than nothing, but stretching your groin or quads will gain better results. This means you should focus on the optimal stretches that are targeting the key areas of your kicks. For the record, the bulk of your stretches should be targeting your upper legs as that is where your muscles are typically more tight. Further, this is where the majority of your power will come from. Lastly, most movements such as pivoting and creating angles will come from the upper legs such as the thighs, so that is why it’s important to focus on the upper areas of your legs.

How long should I train use yoga for?

Ideally, you would workout using yoga on a daily basis. For some people this isn’t possible due to being busy, so your stretching routine may suffer as a result. Nonetheless, practically everyone should be able to fit in 5-10 minutes of yoga per day. This is even better if you practice this before going to bed as it will also relax you and slow your breathing. Basically, if you’re incredibly busy then 5-10 minutes of stretching on a regular basis will suffice. Although it isn’t ideal, you will still see results. The downside of this is that these results will be slow. Ideally, you should be aiming at closer to 30 minutes per session.

Even if you can only do two sessions per week, this will see quick results. Remember, don’t expect miracles, and gaining flexibility takes time, so you need to be patient. Nonetheless, with enough commitment, you will get there. The bonus of this is that it can be done at home on your floor and is literally free. With this in mind, there’s no reason not to use yoga. Not only this but yoga is a great long-term habit to get into that also helps as you enter older age. It should be noted that thankfully, these yoga poses are for beginners and aren’t particularly advanced. Don’t worry, you’re not expected to do unorthodox methods early on.

Practicing the splits for your groin and thighs

The splits are a classic yoga pose that practically everyone is aware of. This can be done to the front or with your legs spread to the sides and both variations will yield different results. Starting by doing the splits with one leg in front and one behind (forward splits), you should only begin by going lightly. This is because if you push yourself too far, you can damage your muscles by over-exerting them. The idea is to slowly push yourself a little further each time.

The point of the forward splits is to stretch your hamstring muslces to increase flexibility. As these muscles will generate the power in your kicks, it is important to stretch them. Remember to keep a straight spine and chest whilst doing this, so form is important. You can also modify the forward splits by touching your toes (or as near as possible) and bringing your head down. This will turn it into a calf stretch, which is something else you may wish to explore.

The next variation of this exercise is the side splits. This is similar to the forward splits but instead of having your legs back and forwards, you should instead have them facing to your sides (left and right). Although similar, this works out a different set of muscles and is targeted towards your groin instead. Because of this, many people find the side splits are naturally harder compared to the forward splits as your groin may be tighter. This means practicing the side splits with caution and taking it even slower.

Again, if you want a harder workout, then you can lean your upper body forward which will add more pressure to your groin and thigh area. This is particularly useful when pivoting. By opening up your groin, you can activate your hips which allows you to create different angles to strike from.

The butterfly pose for your groin

Another important yoga stretch to activate your inner thighs and groin area is the butterfly pose. Again, this is widely known and has been practiced for hundreds of years. To do this, you should sit on the floor and have the soles of your feet touching each other with your knees pointing outwards. The idea is to get your knees as close to the floor as possible which will really put pressure on your inner groin area. Once more, this aids flexibility to key areas and will allow for circular movement with your kicks.

This means, your hips will rotate easier whilst kicking. It is not good just to kick forwards, sometimes you will want to pivot like a roundhouse kick. A key benefit of the butterfly pose is that you can literally push your leg muscles down whilst training. Unlike the splits, the butterfly isn’t as all or nothing which really helps, especially for newcomers.

The pidgeon pose for your hips

So far, we’ve looked at the inner hip area and specifically the groin. Whilst this is important, your outer hips will also need to stretch properly too which also aids in flexibility. For example, the question mark kick in particular requires great flexibility of your outer hips. With this said, the pigeon pose is ideal in improving your hips in this region. Starting by sprawling your hips into the floor, you should then bring one leg up. You should then bring one foot out towards the side so you have one straight leg, and another bent.

You can then lean forward if you want which will stretch the outer hip. If your hips are particularly inflexible, then you should feel an instant burn in this region. This is good and you should try to hold this pose for a few seconds. Often when thinking about kicking flexibility, people ignore the outer hips which are arguably one of the most important areas to work on. Another example is the spinning kick that relies heavily on having flexible hips. Without this, you will be in trouble.

The padahastasana for your thighs, calfs and glutes

The padahastasana may have a fancy name, but it is mostly commonly known as the forward bend. The point of this is to stand up straight and then try to touch your toes. Ideally, you should do this without bending your knees and maintain straight legs. For many, this sounds a lot easier than it actually is. The point of this is to really stretch your leg muscles which includes your thighs, calfs and even your glutes.

Yes, believe it or not but your glutes are actually very important when generating power in your kicks. As your glutes are attached to your thighs, they work in unison together. Put simply, if your glutes are too stiff, then this will flow down into the rest of your upper legs and beyond. By stretching your glutes, this will make life easier elsewhere, so it’s something to consider. The forward bend offers more obvious benefits to the legs and help your thighs and calf muscles. By doing the forward bend, you will activate most of the muscle groups in your legs. For all kinds of kicking methods, this is a broad way to workout your entire leg muscles.

Lunges and Squats for flexibility when kicking the lower body and using sweeps

Technically, these exercises aren’t from yoga yet still have many of the benefits. By lunges, we mean by performing a lunge and holding the position for 5-10 seconds. Similarly, we mean by squats – you should hold the squat at the bottom for as long as possible. Whilst doing this, you should also be on the flats of your feet to really get a proper stretch going.

The idea behind these methods are to stretch whilst getting low on the floor. In the case of squatting, this is especially important for performing scissor sweeps which involve not just getting low to the floor, but also by then performing dynamic movements with your legs. The vast majority of the moves and positions that have been shown previously are for upper body kicks in particular.

However, the point of holding lunges and squats is to stretch whilst getting your muscles comfortable with being low. This means, it’s ideal not just to train for flexibility when performing high kicks, but to also use flexibility when performing low kicks and foot sweeps. Too often, people focus on the upper body which is very different compared to performing kicks to the lower body.

Other benefits of increasing leg flexibility for Taekwondo

Apart from the obvious of improving the lengths and angles that your legs can kick towards, there are some other benefits that aren’t spoken about as much. The first of these is breathing. If you’ve some of the above yoga stretches, then you may have found yourself struggling to breathe properly. This is perfectly normal and is your bodies response to being put in a (literally) stressful position. Typically, most people associate this with heavy cardio work, but by stretching, your body may panic and breathe inefficiently.

This will only improve you when sparring or competing in Taekwondo. Further, if you do find yourself in a self defense scenario then it will be even more handy. By pushing your body by stretching, you will learn to breathe better under pressure which is a skill in itself. Without the correct breathing, you simply won’t perform as better when in combat and may gas out quicker.

The second benefit that comes with stretching is improving your balance. Again, this has numerous, clear benefits when training TKD and goes without saying. Imagine throwing a kick with awful balance. If it misses, you may get countered and potentially knocked out. Now, imagine throwing this kick with excellent balance, yet you still miss. This time however, because of your improved balance, you can rearrange your body in time. This is useful for defense and also comes in handy when fighting. In literal terms, imagine doing the forward bend. This mimics putting your body weight forward which may happen at times when striking. However, due to your newly found familiarity with this position, you should find it easier to return to a more neutral position.

By adding breathing with balance together, you will undoubtedly improve your athleticism and qualities as a Taekwondo practitioner. Combined with the other benefits that flexibility bring, you’d be a fool not to try out these exercises.