Justyn Billingham - Martial Arts for Beginners: The Kicking Series Part 1 -- The Basic Kicks

Martial Arts for Beginners

The Kicking Series

Part 1 The Basic Kicks

By Justyn Billingham

Dedicated to all my students

Copyright 2015 Justyn Billingham

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical without permission in writing from the author.

Disclaimer

Please note that the author of this book is not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any damage or injury of any kind that may result from practicing, or applying , the principles, ideas, techniques and/or following the instructions/information described in this book. Since the physical activities in this book may be to strenuous in nature for some readers to engage in safely, it is essential that a doctor be consulted before undertaking training

Contents

Introduction

A (quick) word on stretching

How to use this book

The fundamentals of kicking

The first three basic (static) kicks

The final four (static) kicks

Final word

Introduction

A kick is not a kick.

Its a bit of a strange statement to make but I can assure you its true.

Let me explain.

You see, a kick as we know it is made up of a whole series of factors that all need to come together at exactly the right moment in order for that kick to actually work.

Now, I could double or even triple the size of this eBook by breaking down each factor, detailing it and then giving you specific drills to work in order to super develop each factor and then, once youve mastered them all, get you to then bring all those newly developed factors together in order for you to get just one of the kicks were going to cover in this book to work.

But I think if you are new to all of this it might blow your mind.

(And if youre not new to all of this then you probably dont need this book).

Plus, it will take you a lot longer to learn anything that you can really get stuck into.

And youd get bored.

And give up.

And personally I also dont think I need to as all these factors will naturally improve as you practice.

You dont need to understand how a mobile phone works in order to send a text message.

You just send the text message.

Or in this case just do the kick.

Plus, I also really want you to have some fun with this -- which is what its all about.

So instead, in these early stages of your martial arts development, I just need to show you how to do a kick and without knowing it, you will develop all those extra factors to a decent enough level naturally so theyll take care of themselves.

You can always break them down, isolate them and develop them to a much higher standard at a later stage if you really want to.

I recently started learning to windsurf.

Id always fancied it as Ive always thought it looks pretty cool (and challenging, which I like) so I had a go on a friends board with absolutely no tuition, other than listening to their fantastic advice, which was Dont fall off!

But as windsurfing is so difficult to do I just kept constantly falling off and consequently got frustrated, then bored and inevitably just gave up.

So, not to be beaten by this I decided to join a windsurfing school and they taught me the very basics (yes, I would have just bought a book or looked on YouTube but I also needed a lake to practice on so had to join their school) and they got me out on the water and after a very short amount of time I was able to stay stood up and have a bit of a sail around.

And I really enjoyed it -- which is ultimately what I was doing it for!

So, as far as I was concerned I was just having a go but in actual fact I was also developing all the (hidden) factors associated with windsurfing such as balance, footwork, weight distribution, movement etc and all by simply just doing it .

Had that same school just got me to practice balancing on the shore for several hours at a time, I doubt very much I would have stuck at it.

I, like you, just wanted to get on and do it.

Far better to just learn the minimum amount I needed to know at that stage in my development in order for me to gain the maximum amount from the teaching.

And it worked.

Teach me the absolute basics and then get me out there on the lake practicing it worked great.

And so thats what Im going to do for you.

But just before I do, I need you to read the next bit as it is quite important.

A (Quick) Word on Stretching

Having just spent that last bit telling you that we dont need to break down each of the factors of a kick and that I dont have to get you to develop each one etc, etc, I am going to throw this out there for your consideration.

If you cant touch your toes at the moment you may just struggle to kick all that high.

Now Im not suggesting you have to start a full on Flexibility Enhancement Programme as I dont want you to think that theres yet another thing you have to consider doing, but if you do decide to start developing your flexibility a tad more, not only will (should) it greatly enhance your overall general mobility and in turn massively (hopefully) improve your quality of life -- of course, but it will also mean youll start to find your kicking becomes a bit easier to do.

And that cant be a bad thing.

And please dont confuse developing your flexibility with just stretching out your legs as part of your warm up, which I am going to advise you to do before you start each training session -- of course as this is much different.

And if you dont currently have your own Flexibility Enhancement Programme or even remotely know what to do and / or how to do it, then check out my other eBook How To Develop The BOX Splits , also available on Amazon, and this will show you how ( with simple to follow exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home ).

And thats me on the front cover showing off by the way so you can clearly see that the Flexibility Enhancement Programme I designed does actually work!

Plus, I achieved my incredible level of flexibility while sitting watching TV.

Im not lying, its true!

How To Use This Book

Another quick bit you need to read so you know how to use this book.

My intentions with developing this training manual / programme / book (whatever you want to call it) was not to try and create a batch of home grown martial artists.

Or to try and stop people from heading down to their local sports centres and signing up with their community martial arts instructor because they now have the power to do it themselves without having to step a foot outside their front door.

No, instead my intention with this book was simply to do one of three things.

One -- to give people a taste of what its like to perform some proper martial arts techniques and see if they like it (and can do it) all before then committing to a regular training programme in a leisure centre with an instructor if you feel the need.

Two -- to impart my years (thirty to be exact) of study and knowledge and help anyone that is just starting out in the martial kicking arts improve their current kicking ability.

Three -- for those that do just want to throw a few kicks about for fun, like a ninja, and in the comfort of your own home (or back garden) instead of just doing it blind, or like I did (and still do), pause some cool combo on an action movie Im watching and move it forward frame by frame re-enacting the very same moves at the same time much to the frustration of my very understanding family who also just happen to be watching the movie with me as well.

I tend to complement my own personal training with a spot of lifting weights every now and again.

I dont do it because I want to enter this years Mr Universe.