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The Core Elements of Kickboxing

One of the most popular combat sports around the world, kickboxing is a great way to lose weight and build muscles, but it also improves balance, flexibility, balance, coordination, and confidence. A striking style that incorporates punches and kicks, kickboxing is practised for competitive, fitness and recreational purposes by all ages, genders and abilities. For the best kickboxing classes, Lewisham, Peakhurst and Canterbury locals rely on ICC. A Sydney Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy that offers the unique opportunity to learn multiple martial arts styles, we welcome everyone from beginners to professional athletes to learn, train and grow under one roof. If you are considering kickboxing, here we will run through the three main elements so you can see if it sounds right for you.

Element 1 – Boxing

As the name suggests, boxing is a major part of kickboxing. Boxing involves turning your fists and your forearms into weapons and shields. Using your fists to generate force in order to strike your opponent, there are 6 fundamental punches that you will need to learn.

• Jab – a straight punch thrown with your left hand, directly to your opponent’s nose.
• Straight Right Hand – sometimes called a Cross, this is a punch thrown directly to your opponent’s nose and has tremendous power as you incorporate the rotation of your hips and shoulders.
• Left Hook – a punch thrown to the right side of your opponent’s face.
• Right Hook – an exceptionally powerful punch that is thrown to the left side of your opponent’s face.
• Left Uppercut – a punch thrown with your left hand that travels up from the floor.
• Right Uppercut – a powerful punch thrown with your right hand that has exceptional power due to the added rotation of your hips and shoulders.

Element 2 – Kicking

Kicking is where you are using your feet and your shins as spears and swords. Kicks are known as the long-range weapons of kickboxing and are thrown to the ribcage, arms, head, neck, legs and back.

The fighting stance is different for kicking than for boxing – you will lean back more so you can reach and extend with your legs, whereas the fighting stance for boxing has you leaning forward so you have more power for your punches. The 4 basic kicks in kickboxing are:

• Left Foot Jab – a straight kick thrown to your opponent’s chest. Here, you will lift your left knee up as high as possible so you can generate maximum power and strike with the ball of your foot.
• Right Foot Jab – a kick similar to the above however, it has significantly more power. This is due to the fact your right leg is farther away from the target, so there’s more distance to generate power. You will also rotate your hip, so there’s more power when you follow through.
• Left Hook Kick/Roundhouse Kick – this is where your shin is used to strike the right side of your opponent. With this kick, you can kick target your opponent’s right leg, the right side of their rib cage or the right side of their head.
• Right Hook Kick/Right Roundhouse Kick – a super powerful kick that swings at the left side of your opponent’s body. The has additional power as you rotate and follow through with your hip.

Element 3 – Combining Kicks and Punches

Another important aspect of kickboxing is the ability to combine your kicks with your punches in a smooth, seamless manner so that punches set up kicks, and kicks set up punches. Beginners typically start off by kicking and boxing, not necessarily kickboxing. It takes time and patience to master the ability of combining kicks and punches in a fluid and eloquent manner.

For Everything Martial Arts, Sydney’s Favourite Academy is ICC

If you are interested in kickboxing, Roselands and surrounding suburbs are just a short drive from ICC. We offer self-defence classes, Sydney’s best BJJ classes, as well as programs in MMA, kickboxing and karate. Kingsgrove, Hurstville, Padstow and Penshurst are just a few of the local suburbs from which we welcome students so if you want to train with the best, get in touch with us today and book a 2 weeks UNLIMITED trail.

Give our BJJ program a go and experience the improvements to all of these fields. It is considered to be an excellent first style where the skills are easily transferable.

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