One More Time...

The first half of today’s class time was devoted entirely to spin kicks, which are not my strong point. I was paired with “Carla,” a twenty-something Red Belt who is preparing for testing this month. As the senior member of our duo, she would execute the kick first, and I would respond as best I could.

We started with a spin hook kick, in which you spin backward in the direction of the kicking leg; the leg is straight until you near the target and then hooks so that the sole of the foot strikes the head-high target. Carla made it appear effortless. I couldn’t seem to get anywhere near the rotation that I needed, even though I tried to “wind up” first, and I definitely was not kicking high enough. I found that I did slightly better kicking with the right leg than the left, but even after 25 or 30 repetitions I didn’t see much improvement.

The next kick was the long wheel kick, which is similar to the spin hook kick except that the leg is kept straight throughout so that the blade edge of the foot strikes the target. Sa Bom Nim showed me a better way to set up for the kick, and I began to achieve more complete rotation – but now instead of keeping my leg straight I was hooking it. Once again I was more successful with the right leg.

Finally we moved on to the short wheel kick, in which the leg is kept straight, but the foot strikes downward instead of across. Wonder of wonders, this one started to work for me. I managed to get some lift as I pivoted, which reduced the stress on my knees and gave me more complete rotation. By the end of the 30-minute rotation I was actually throwing a few good kicks. But it’s going to take a lot more repetitions before I can do these kicks correctly with consistency.

You can’t learn a technique like this just by watching and analyzing what someone else is doing. You have to just do it, over and over, taking note of what you are doing right and wrong each time and trying to make corrections, until your body begins to get the idea. My body, with its limitations, may never be able to execute a spin hook kick with the same height and power as a younger person, but I can keep trying – just one more time.