Kickboxing E-Book

Justyn Billingham

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 271

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Kickboxing is practised all over the world and is one of the fastest growing sports today. Moreover, it is a martial art that can be enjoyed by almost everyone who is physically fit, regardless of age, size or ability. This detailed book will be of value to all those interested in kickboxing; whether they simply want to train for fun or have higher goals. Designed to take the student through the various levels of kickboxing training, from the very early stages right through to black belt, this book is an ideal aid for anyone wanting to train in the comfort of their own home, or to improve their kickboxing skills in the gym or the dojo.Topics covered: how to warm up correctly to reduce the risk of injury; how to achieve improved flexibility; how to develop the box [side] split and front split stretch; basic punches and associated training drills; advanced hand techniques; basic kicks and the training drills that are involved; advanced kicks including static kicks, spinning kicks, jumping kicks and jumping spinning kicks; sparring drills, conditioning exercises, individual training drills and partner training drills. Written in an easy to follow, step by step format and illustrated with over 550 colour photographs.

Leseprobe

KICKBOXING

FROM BEGINNER TO BLACK BELT

Justyn Billingham

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2008 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book published in 2015

© Justyn Billingham 2008

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 919 3

Disclaimer

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

Dedication

I would like to dedicate my very first book to my two children Harley and Isabella who, like the martial arts, have helped change my life.

Acknowledgements

A lot of people helped me to write this book, so I feel it’s only right to thank everyone that was either directly or indirectly involved in some way. My past and present instructors in the martial arts, without whom I certainly wouldn’t have written this book. Ian Healey for his design skill and his patience. Natalie Britchford for her expert knowledge of the human body. My very good friend Nigel Sleath for more than just his appearance in this book but for all the help, support and guidance he has given me over the years, and finally to my wife Sam for being my rock and putting up with so much. I couldn’t have done it without your help and support.

Contents

Foreword by Bob Sykes

1

Introduction

2

Warming Up

3

Stretching Techniques

4

Stances and Footwork

5

Hand Techniques

6

Static Kicks

7

Multiple Kicks

8

Spinning Kicks

9

Jumping Kicks

10

Jumping Spinning Kicks

11

Sparring Drills

Index

Foreword

During the time that I have known Justyn Billingham he has done a great deal to promote the fine art of kickboxing, both as a teacher and a former competitor.

During his years of training, research and teaching he has studied with teachers of the highest calibre, and throughout his competitive years Justyn had numerous opportunities to test his art in actual use. This makes him something of a rarity in present day martial arts – especially in dojos and academies, where theory is often loudly heard while actual practice sits quietly in the corner.

Now we are fortunate that he is sharing his vast knowledge and skill with a new generation of kickboxers. This book advances our knowledge of this remarkable martial art and I hope that it will introduce would-be kickboxers all over the world to the amazing kicking techniques of Justyn Billingham.

Bob Sykes (Editor of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine)

1 Introduction

As I sit here in my home office writing the introduction for this, my very first book, I glance over to the wall of certificates prominently displayed before me. There are not many things I keep on show from my past, as most of it has been boxed up and put in the loft to make way for the more important clutter that comes from running several martial arts schools and sharing a house with two young children. But I’m quite proud of my certificates, particularly my very first white belt one, as they are a constant reminder of where I have come from and the huge amount of time, dedication, money and hard work that has been invested to achieve those bits of paper.

Much to the amazement of people that get to see these certificates, it’s actually my white belt one that takes pride of place. Issued by the Tae kwon do Association of Great Britain (TAGB) on the 22 July 1986 and signed by my instructor at the time, Ian Ferguson, and the examiner for my very first ever grading, the highly respected Paul Donnelly, it sits surrounded by my many other dan certificates, which almost seem a little surreal now – particularly as my first one is dated 24 July 1990, over seventeen years ago. Nevertheless, I find them good motivational tools from an era that was hugely responsible in shaping my life into what it is today.

The irony of it all is I never really planned to study a martial art. I used to love watching martial-art films and would regularly kick and punch my way round the house afterwards (normally quite badly), but had I not experienced something that would change my life forever, I think this is probably the nearest I would have ever got.

As my parents divorced when I was five, I was brought up by my mother. A very loving and caring parent, she amazed me when she agreed to let me go to France for a daytrip with some friends. Some of the dads had hired a coach and along with their friends, planned to stock it up with beer from the hypermarkets in Boulogne and drive straight back again. My six friends and I thought it would be pretty cool to tag along for the ride, so we badgered the dads into letting us go.

As soon as the coach reached its destination, the dads started loading the coach, and my friends and I started exploring, excited by the fact that we were on foreign land. As we neared the town, two of the local residents, who, I would guess, were around eighteen years old, approached me and, in broken English, asked me for money. I politely explained that I didn’t have any and attempted to walk off and re-join my friends who were waiting for me down the road; however, the two youths obviously didn’t believe me and pulled me back.

They asked once more and when I again failed to hand over any money they decided to take it out on my face, punching, kicking and head butting me, before finally spraying me in the face with some kind of anti-mugging spray. I was actually quite relieved to get sprayed in the face as I honestly thought that one of the youths was going to pull out a knife instead. Almost as soon as it had begun it was over and the next thing I remember I was being helped up off the floor by my friends, who had watched the whole thing from down the road, along with the many adults that were passing by at the time. As I was unable to see for the rest of the trip and no one wanted to stop off at a French hospital, I had to endure the coach journey back to England and receive treatment almost twenty-four hours later. It was then I decided to start a martial art.

As somebody who appreciates a good kick, I feel that I was fortunate enough to study tae kwon do as my first martial art, under the expert tuition of Ian Ferguson. Although as a teenager I found the discipline hard and the patterns boring, Ian was a great motivator and his ability to get the best out of me helped to cement my future in the martial-arts world. Were it not for Ian, I’m sure I would have joined the ranks of all the other martial-art quitters, many years ago.

I remember spending hours at tae kwon do tournaments after my fights in the coloured belt sections were over, waiting for the black belt categories to start, just so I could watch these incredible fighters perform amazing spinning and jumping kicks, and I remember thinking to myself at the time, ‘I wish I could do that’. As I got more and more into my training, I started to discover something else was also developing as well as my physical skills – my self confidence. Having always been quite bad at sport as a kid, I actually began believing that if I put my mind to it, I could actually achieve the incredible levels I had been so used to watching only the best achieve; so I upped my training from twice a week to five nights a week and began to embark on a serious stretching and flexibility programme that still continues to this very day.

It soon became apparent to me that the harder I trained, the better I became, and the more I worked on my flexibility, the easier I found the kicks. Common sense really, but from my experiences as a martial arts instructor, not something that everybody gets. I still feel now, as I did then, that this was the secret formula anyone first starting a martial art is looking for, and the reason that people quit is because they either don’t find it or they don’t like the secret when they do find it. From then on it was a simple case of the harder I trained, the better I became, until such time that, as a teenager and one of the youngest and smallest students in an advanced class of fully grown adults, I soon began out-kicking and beating the higher grades. I felt I needed more…

Whilst studying tae kwon do, I also joined a local karate school run by Sensei John Kane. John Kane was quite a pioneer in his day and his revolutionary approach to the martial arts helped to build up one of the biggest full-time schools in the area. At its peak we had students travelling over a hundred miles to train with us on a weekly basis, due to our success on the tournament circuits.

As the eighties moved into the nineties, ‘freestyle’ started to become the buzz word of the time and the school broke away from its karate roots and started focusing more on kickboxing. Each to their own, I always say, but this change in approach suited me much better as it no longer meant kata or standing in line punching and kicking the air for hours at a time, which I really did not enjoy. All of a sudden we were working with focus pads, kick shields, punch bags, floor-to-ceiling balls, speedballs and doing hours of sparring and conditioning drills. When we weren’t training, we were fighting, and every Sunday we would take a 52-seater coach journey somewhere in the country to fight at one tournament or another. The coach was also a necessity as it was the only vehicle large enough to cope with all the trophies we would bring back.

These were the days when it was commonplace for kids to train alongside adults and John’s school had a huge number of loyal junior students. For the next ten years, or thereabouts, I would train and fight alongside many junior students, such as Matt Winsper, James Winsper and Drew Neal, who had a huge following as junior fighters and have since gone on to become world champions and incredible martial artists in their own right. Although sadly it no longer exists, Kippo’s Academy of Karate and Kickboxing was responsible for producing some of the greatest fighters in the country, as well as some equally great instructors, and thanks to the friends that I made throughout my many years training at this school, it is a time of my life that I shall never forget.

From here I started training with Steve Winsper, who had decided to start his own kickboxing school, opening his first one in Halesowen. As one of the greatest coaches I have ever known, Steve’s enthusiasm, dedication and ability to get the best out of anyone, helped to raise my level even further and it wasn’t very long before Steve was turning out some good fighters and his school was starting to grow. As Steve was only teaching twice a week at this early time in his career, I decided to start training with Dave Kane, John Kane’s younger brother. Dave ran a school on the other side of town and, although we had had a run-in at a tournament some years previously (I had cost his fighter the fight by awarding the deciding point to the other guy – a genuine decision, although not always seen that way by the losing team!), I had the utmost respect for Dave; so I decided to pay him a visit and see if I could start training with him.

Dave welcomed me into his school and before long I began teaching some of the classes for him. This was my first real taster of being a martial arts instructor and, with Dave’s help and support, I soon built up my confidence and embarked on another journey that was to change my life again, although not for several years to come. The one thing that I disagree with from my personal experience is students moving into the role of instructor too soon. I believe that in order to fully understand what you are teaching, you need to have lived it and, therefore, to have earned the right to teach it. Reality-based instructors talk about this all the time. How can you teach someone to survive on the streets when you haven’t ever set foot outside yourself? At this point I felt I was learning the trade and had great fun doing it, but it wasn’t until 11 June 2002 that I felt I was ready and confident enough to start my own school, a mere sixteen years after stepping into a martial art school for the first time.

Since that time I have continued my study of the martial arts, achieving my third dan in kickboxing on 21 June 2003 (I haven’t got round to taking my fourth dan just yet, although it is now due) and gaining my latest black belt in January 2005 with the Keysi Fighting Method, a reality-based fighting system developed by Justo Dieguez and Andy Norman, two of the greatest martial artists I have had the honour of studying under. Martial arts have been a way of life for me now for over twenty years, and the values and life lessons I have learnt from my study have been invaluable. Ever since that fateful day trip to France that changed my life forever, I have been developing and growing my mental and physical ability. I would be lying if I said it had all been easy, as there have been many times when I have wanted to quit and far too many times to remember when I have had to step outside of my comfort zone (that invisible box that prevents us from growing or achieving our dreams). Despite all this, I wouldn’t change anything I have done or achieved for the world – it’s all character-building, so they say.

Achieving my black belt gave me a new-found belief that I could achieve anything I wanted in my life (and this book is proof of that). The memories of the attack in France, combined with the excellent role models I have had through my martial arts instructors, have prevented me from quitting when the going got tough and instilled in me a quality not seen in many people in today’s society – the ability to never give up, no matter how tough something gets. As a result of my experiences in martial arts, kickboxing, flexibility training, dynamic kicking and tournament fighting, I hope you get as much out of reading this book as I did writing it.

Good luck in your training.

2 Warming Up

The warm-up is one of the most important aspects of any physical exercise, regardless of your chosen sport, hobby or activity. As such, great care and attention should be given to the warm-up stage to ensure that the risk of injury is minimized.

The role of the warm-up is quite simply to prepare the body for the physical work that is about to take place and it does this in the following ways:

By raising the core-body temperature and in turn the heart rate for the start of the exercise.

Warming up the muscles and loosening off the joints, allowing for greater all-round movement.

Increasing oxygen utilization throughout the muscles, which is key in feeding the muscles with oxygenated blood during training, increasing blood flow throughout the body.

Reducing muscle stiffness and thus eliminating, or reducing, the potential for muscle injury.

Think of a muscle like an elastic band. If you contract and relax the elastic band while cold, the movement will be a lot more resistant and will probably result in the band breaking under extreme pressure. However, if you warm the band up first and then place it under the same amount of stress, it is likely to stretch further and the potential for it to break is considerably reduced.

Warm-Up Drills

Most experienced martial artists will have a particular warm-up routine, which they follow prior to their specific training programme, and you will probably find that once you have a routine that suits you, you will stick to it for many years. However, many people don’t actually understand how to warm the body up correctly and, in most cases, warm up with as much energy and vigour as the actual exercise they are about to undergo. The key rule with a good warm-up is to start off very gently and build up slowly. You also need to gear the warm-up to the same pace as the training that you are about to do. For example, if you are about to train ten rounds of heavy bag work, focusing predominately on kicking drills, then the warm-up will need to prepare the body to train at this pace. However, if you are just planning to work some light shadow sparring for a few rounds, then the warm-up doesn’t need to be done to the same degree as it would for the bag workout example.

There are literally thousands of possible warmup drills and routines you can follow, and to attempt to list them all would take up the whole of this book and probably leave you no time for your training. So, for now, the following warm-up exercises are an ideal starting point for the less experienced student and will set you up for the training you are about to do.

Warm-Up Routines

It will help if you have a timer (a digital kitchen countdown timer is ideal) or a large clock with a moving second hand for this part of your training. Be aware that the targets stated in this chapter are to be used as a guideline only and you may find it necessary to increase or reduce the suggested amount, based on your current level of fitness.

Get the Blood Pumping

Start off by bouncing from foot to foot on the balls of your feet for around thirty seconds. Be sure to keep your heels off the floor, as this will keep you light and agile, which is, of course, a trait that you need in kickboxing. Breathe in deeply through your nose and out through your mouth to fill the whole body with oxygen and help feed the muscles. Continue breathing in this way for the whole of the warm-up routine.

Warm Up the Arms and Shoulders

Continue bouncing and, as you do, start rotating your wrists in a clockwise and anti-clockwise motion for a further thirty seconds – right hand, clockwise and left hand, anti-clockwise – for thirty seconds and then reverse the rotation on each hand for thirty seconds. Follow this by circling the lower arms from the elbow joint, in the same way as you did for the wrists, for a further thirty seconds, and finally circle both arms from the shoulder joint forwards for thirty seconds, backwards for thirty seconds and across the body for thirty seconds.

Warm Up the Lower Body

Now start jogging on the spot and, as you do, flick your heels up behind you as high as you can. Ideally you are looking to touch your body with the heels each time you bring them up. Continue at a relaxed pace for about a minute.

Continue jogging and, this time, bring the knees up so that they are at least level with your waist. Feel free to hold your hands out at waist height and touch each knee to the appropriate hand each time it comes up. Continue at a relaxed pace for about a minute.

Skipping

From here you can introduce some skipping into your warm-up. Skipping is a great cardio exercise and also helps with agility and timing. However, it does take a little practice if you’ve never skipped before. Ideally, forget how you used to skip when you were at school and try skipping like the boxers do. You can skip one-footed, on both feet or alternating between feet, but whichever way you choose, you just want to jump high enough for the rope to pass under you. Spin the rope using your wrists, as opposed to your arms, and stay light on your feet. To start with try skipping for a few minutes while you get used to it and as you get better, try increasing the length of time you skip in durations of one minute. You will also notice that as you improve you won’t get as tired, so you will need to increase your intensity as well as your time in order to feel the benefits that this incredible exercise brings.

General Mobility Exercises

By now, you should be feeling slightly warmer and have loosened off the joints. As I previously mentioned, there are many things you can do to warm the body up but if you follow the previous routines to begin with, this will be a great start. Now we’re going to loosen off the mid-section using some trunk twists and side-bend exercises. If you have a broom handle or something similar for this next part, you will find it advantageous. If not, then I will explain how to do the exercise without a broom handle.

Take your broom handle and rest it across the shoulders behind the neck. Now, instead of holding on to the ends of the broom handle as you would expect, roll your arms over the top so that your inner forearms rest on the handle and your arms hang down loosely. Stand with your feet just past shoulder-width apart and, with slightly bent knees, look straight ahead while you twist in a slow, deliberate movement from side to side. Repeat each twist twenty times off each side and then move on to the next exercise. Be sure to breathe out as you twist and in as you return to your start position.

If you don’t have access to a broom handle, then simply interlock your fingers in front of your chest so that your arms are parallel to the floor and work the exercise this way instead.

Next, take hold of the broom handle at each end and, with slow, deliberate movements, bend as far to the side as you can. A good measure for this is to try and touch your elbow to your body each time you bend. Again aim for twenty per side, breathing out as you bend to the side and breathing in as you return to your start position.

If you don’t have access to a broom handle, then simply rest your hands on your hips and slide your hand down the side of your body as you bend.

Warm-Up and Conditioning Exercises

This is the start of your basic warm-up routine and by now you should have started to loosen off the joints, warm the muscles up and raise the heart beat. A good test for this is to check your breathing. If you are breathing just slightly heavier than you would at rest, then you have been successful with this part of your warm-up. If not, then next time try increasing the intensity of each exercise slightly so you can achieve that correct state. If you are breathing very heavily at this point, however, then you need to relax a little more and reduce some of the timings the next time you do this series of exercises.

Now move on to the following exercises, which will not only complete the warm-up but help to condition the body at the same time. Once you complete one exercise, move straight on to the next one.

The Star Jump – Jumping Jacks

As a complete beginner, aim for around ten star jumps to begin with and then, as your fitness develops, you can increase this number in multiples of five. Figure 1 shows the start point for the star jump and Figure 2 shows the finish point. The star jump will give you a total body workout.

Fig 1 Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart and hands by your side.

Fig 2 Jump in the air, opening your legs wider and bringing your arms out to form a star.

The Push-Up

As a complete beginner, try aiming for around ten push-ups to start with and, as with the star jump, increase the number gradually as your fitness improves. Due to the nature of the push-up, you may find you are only able to increase the number by just one or two repetitions; this is completely normal, as your resistance for this exercise is of course your body weight. Unlike weight-training, where the weight can be increased or decreased in very small increments to allow for more repetitions, when your body is the weight, this is impossible.

There are many variations of push-up and the perfect push-up is a big debate among many sports people. However, to start with, try working the standard push-up that you will probably be more familiar with: Figure 3 shows the start point for the push-up; Figure 4 shows the finish point. Be sure to work the full push-up by bringing your body low to the ground and avoid the common ‘cheat’ characterized by only performing a half push-up, i.e. bringing the body only half-way down before pushing back up again. Figure 5 shows the muscles used when working the push-up.

Fig 3 Balance on the ball of one foot and place your arms out level with your shoulders at roughly double the width, keeping your body straight.

Fig 4 Slowly lower your chest to the floor, inhaling and looking down as you do, and push back to the start position exhaling and keeping your body rigid.

Fig 5 Muscles used for the push-up.

The Sit-Up

As with the push-up there is more than one way to perform a sit-up. The key with this exercise is to isolate the abdominal muscles and not the hips, and only use those muscles to move the body: Figure 6 shows the start point of a sit-up that isolates the abdominal muscles; Figure 7 shows the finishing point. Aim for ten sit-ups and increase the number gradually as your fitness improves. Be sure to work the correct technique for this exercise and avoid the common ‘cheat’ of swinging the arms towards the feet to assist with the upward movement or worse, holding on to the legs to make it easier. Figure 8 shows the muscles used when working the sit-up.

Fig 6 Keep your feet and shoulders off the floor and place your fingers on your temples.

Fig 7 Bring the elbows and the knees together, exhaling as you contract your body and inhaling on your return to the start point.

Fig 8 Muscles used for the sit-up.

The Tuck Jump

This particular exercise is great for all-round conditioning but, in its full form, might be a little tough for the complete beginner: Figure 9 shows the start point for the tuck jump; Figure 10 shows the halfway point; Figure 11 shows the finish point. If you find this particular exercise a little tough, then miss out the half-way point (i.e. the bending of the legs) until your fitness improves. Aim for five to start with and increase the number gradually as your fitness improves. Figure 12 shows the muscles used when working the tuck jump.

Fig 9 From standing, place your fingers on your temples.

Fig 10 Keeping the back as straight as possible, bend the legs so the elbows touch the knees and take a deep breath in.

Fig 11 Jump from this squat position, bringing the knees up to the elbows and exhale as you do.

Fig 12 Muscles used for the tuck jump.

Alternate Leg-Squat Thrust

Start off in a push-up style position but with your left knee touching your left elbow: Figure 13 shows the start point for this exercise. Change legs with a slight jumping motion and at the same time bring your head up towards the ceiling as you do: Figure 14 shows the finish point for this exercise. Each time your left knee touches your left elbow, count one. When you reach ten, change to the next exercise. Increase this exercise gradually as your fitness improves. Figure 15 shows the muscles used when working this exercise.

Fig 13 The start point for the alternate leg squat thrust.

Fig 14 Rapidly change legs, keeping your upper body still and bringing your head up with each change.

Fig 15 Muscles used for the alternate leg squat thrust.

The Burpee

This is the final exercise in this warm-up routine. It is probably the hardest of all the exercises so far but is definitely worth persevering with as it is the one that will fully challenge you and is one of the best complete body-conditioning exercises around: Figures 16 to 20 show the full range of movement required in order to perform the full burpee correctly. If you find this exercise tough to start with, miss out the middle stage and, instead, from the upright position simply bend forwards as if touching your toes and then straighten back up and jump in the air in one movement. This shortened version is known as a half-burpee. Try for five full-burpees or ten half-burpees as a starting point and, as with all the exercises covered so far, increase the number of repetitions you do as your fitness improves. Figure 21 shows the muscles used when working this exercise.

Fig 16 Start off in an upright position.

Fig 17 Bend the knees, bringing the hands to the floor.

Fig 18 Kick the legs back, as if performing a full squat thrust, and extend the body.

Fig 19 Bring the legs back in again.

Fig 20 From the squat position, jump up as high as you can in a similar motion to the star jump.

Fig 21 Muscles used for the burpee.

3 Stretching Techniques

As with a good warm-up routine prior to exercise, stretching also forms an essential part of any martial art, sport or physical activity, and never has stretching and flexibility training been more important than for the kickboxer. Having good upper-body movement is definitely essential in the world of martial arts; however, due to the huge part that kicking plays in kickboxing, and other arts that include kicking in their programme, flexibility of the lower body is of the utmost importance.

In order to become a successful kicker you need to build and develop muscles in the leg that are rarely used in everyday activities. These muscles and the tendons that surround them then need to be lengthened and stretched in order to increase their overall flexibility and movement. This in turn will improve the range of motion of the joints, allowing for greater overall ability and speed of movement all round. Even the most skilled kicker will require a good warm-up and stretching routine that they adhere to prior to their workout, and anyone that fails to warm up and stretch properly, runs the risk of straining and tearing muscles and ligaments that could result in long-term or even permanent damage.