Will being able to do full splits mean I can kick high? What if I just practice daily kicking of a heavy bag?

Question

Will being able to do full splits mean I can kick high? What if I just practice daily kicking of a heavy bag?

Answer 1

Practicing kicking will help you. Just remember to warm up and stretch all the time. If not you could easily strain or tear the soft tissue. I would just work on both.

Answer 2

To my knowledge, splits would DEFINETELY help with kicking high, but i dont believe that it would also give you the strength to do some damage with that kick. Obviously if u wish to kick for the head, if ur in competition you want to hit them, and hit them HARD.

Kicking a bag i believe adds strength to the kick, i would worry more about power than kicking high. Good kicks to the knees do wonders =P

Answer 3

There are a lot of kids in my class that can do full splits that kick horribly- they think that the only thing you need for a good kick is height. The problem is two fold- 1) if you kick high but you're off-balanced you can easily be countered 2) high kicks take longer to complete and are often telegraphed. I believe it's not necessary to kick high at all. A good-placed kick in the back of the knee works just  as well as a kick to the head.

I think power is a good thing to practice on the heavy bag, but I'm reluctant to say it's the only thing that matters. It should be part of a bigger picture- in other words, it's good technique that makes for a good kick. Speed and proper mechanics along with power works wonders.