Everyone knows that you cannot rely on a single kick or punch to win in a fight, but often times it is just that which will turn the tide in your favor, if the strike has sufficient power.

 

Power can be defined as speed times mass. To increase power, one can either increase mass or speed or a combination of both. Generally speaking, in the case of a strike, be it a kick, a punch or even a head butt, speed is the factor we want to increase. Speed kills for a couple of reasons.

 

Let's take the bullet as an example. The bullet has very little mass. I can throw bullets at you all day long and it will have no detrimental effect. Take the same bullet and shoot it out of a gun we have a whole different outcome. Speed kills. Now ask yourself this question, would you rather be hit by a train or a bullet? We can agree that both would ruin your day. The next question is what is easier to dodge, the train or a bullet? The bullets delivery system is much more lethal than the trains. The same can be said of the kick that relies on a massive body for power. It is going to do damage…if it ever hits you. Speed kills.

 

Let's apply this to your kick and try to give it more speed. I am talking some fast twitch training.

 

 

Most of you are familiar with the RKC Goblet Squat. If you are not, here is the standard version:

 

Hold a Kettlebell by the horns and focus on prying your knees apart, opening your hips, and maintain a nice tall extended spine. Hit a rock bottom squat. Pause a few seconds in the hole and come up.

 

It goes without saying that your knees should track over your toes. Work on this standard version until you are proficient at it and then we will super charge it to create more explosive speed.

 

The 3 Amped Factors

 

1st Change of direction

2nd Change of speed

3rd The changes must come as a surprise to the victim

 

Here is how it works:

 

Begin at the top and sloooowly start to lower yourself into the hole. You should be moving like a leaky hydraulic jack. Move artificially slow but steady through the eccentric phase of the squat. At any point during your descent, without warning, your training partner will give the command to go "UP". Instantly ascend as explosively as possible without leaving the ground.

 

The moment you hit the top of the squat start "leaking" down again. Your partner may have you change (go UP) mere inches into the squat, at rock bottom or anywhere in between.

 

Repeat for around 20 seconds. It is important that you end the set while your concentric squat is still explosive; this is not an endurance exercise.

 

You must maintain proper form. If you loose your back coming out of the hole you will get injuries and not results.

 

t is advisable to start with just bodyweight. When that looks good add a relatively light Kettlebell, maybe a size smaller than you would normally use for the regular goblet squat.

 

Keep the sets short, 20 seconds or less, but intense and take a long rests between sets, around 3 minutes. You may follow the PTTP format of 3 to 5 as far as sets and rest times.

 

Your training could look like this:

Monday 3 sets of Amped Goblet – Wednesday 3 sets of Pistols or regular Goblet Squats and Friday 3 sets of Amped Goblets. Add a set to your training every week until you have reached 5 sets.

 

Work on being faster with the direction changes rather then adding weight.

 

Feel free to use the same technique to amp up your pushups as well.

 

Plug the Amped Goblet into your Kettlebell practice and achieve bullet-like kicking power.

Jon Engum, Senior RKC, currently holds a 7th Dan in Taekwondo a 4th Dan in Hapkido and a 4th Dan in Kumdo. He owns and Operates Engum's Taekwondo Association. He teaches ongoing Kettlebell Classes in Brainerd, MN and Detroit Lakes, MN as well as Kettlebell and Flexibility Seminars worldwide. Contact info@extremetraining.net.