Chuck Norris, took 25 years to do full splits

[twentee]

but he GOT there. I never did progress that far for the sideways splits. but in 7 months, I got to where I could do full front and back splits. The front foot is rocked back on the heel, the rear foot is fully flat on the floor, toes to the rear. I can still, at the age of 60, do a good front snap kick at a height that is over my head, with no stretching or warmups. Since nobody's jewels are that high off of the ground, I dont worry about having lost a foot or so of my original kicking height.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I never met Chuck Norris, but one of the refs I've worked with knows him pretty well; he was a ref for him when Chuck was a fight promoter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Combat_League

I saw my trainer use the 'snap-kick to nuts' once on a drunk mma fighter at a party. The kid hit the ground with an audible thump; it was like a knockout blow. And it wasn't like he was trying to hurt him, either.

 

[Aristippus]

Although I personally don't believe it is necessary to learn how to kick that high, so I never pursued it, it can open up new tools for you to use and I respect people that have a great deal of flexibility through focused training.

If used correctly, high kicking can be very effective. Here's a good example.

Part 1 (approximately 3 minutes) http://youtu.be/tb6BbwKiPHQ

Part 2 (3 minutes) http://youtu.be/S4NcTQWX7Rc

 

[twentee]

yep, the best mma fighter at the time, ol' Fedor, got knocked out by a head kick, once. Bruce Lee was kicked in the head, too. If you "think" that nobody can kick you in the head, and I mean mid-fight, you aware, etc, you are SO wrong! It's risky against a trained man, but EASY to do vs the untrained, and man is it EFFECTIVE. that foot and leg are SO much heavier than a fist and arm, that you will think that you have been hit by a TRUCK. that is, IF the kicker has the balance, flexibility,. speed, etc, required for such a kick. Such kicks can EASILY break your neck, cave-in your temple or your face, and so on.

 

[Reyaj]

you mean like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQdC8oxhDWY

 

[twentee]

I was thinking more of ol' "Superfoot" Wallace or the Hapkido guy, Bong Soo Han, who did the stunt work for the old 70's movies about the Indian guy, Billy Jack. Man, that guy could JUMP and kick. Interviewed in Black Belt mag, he said that as a 5 year old boy, he was told to jump into and out of a hole in his instructor's back yard. It started out being knee deep on the kid. He did this 10x a day. By the time that he was 17, the hole depth was over his head and he could STILL jump out!

 

[VladPatton]

Back in the late 80's in Tae Kwon Do school, everyone would aim for the head. The whole place was obsessed with flexibility. I must of gotten nailed in the head 20 times in 7 years. You should, so it doesn't feel like a shock in a real fight. This of course was a small Korean place with no insurance, no protective equipment and no political correctness. You, now, a REAL martial arts school lol.

But yeah, definitely do flexibility exercises every day. You will thank yourself for it.

 

[twentee]

I'd normally never consider the head for a kick in a fight, but sometimes, it's just so OBVIOUSLY the thing to do, IF you have the balance, speed, flexibiity, and experience to see and sieze the moment.