Making some progress

         I've committed myself to doing 10,000 of each front thrust, side heel, roundhouse, and spinning back kick for the year.  Since beginning this I've seen improvement in both my front thrust and spinning back kick.  Side heel I'm currently working on some things, same as the roundhouse.

        How do I know I've made improvements?  For one, I'm using my punching bag as one base indicator; and yes, I know that is not everything, but it does show me my transfer of power more dynamically.  My goal for my front thrust kick was being able to transfer power through my kick like Sihing Csillag had demonstrated for us.  When he made contact he sent the bag back, almost toppling it over.  Through being able to achieve that, I have noticed how the mechanics of my kick have changed to support that transfer of power.  I'm nearing that snap of the hip near the end of the kick being led by my foot, instead of the push I was doing more before.  For my spinning back kick, it was the simple modification of changing my mindset to having my leg/foot in a chambered positioned before releasing it as I turn.  I know we've talked about fire hydrant and other analogies, but this was the thing that helped me piece together that bit.  As a result, I am making more solid contact with the back, and thus more power being transferred.

        My other indicator of improvement is the "feel".  When these kicks land, they are feeling better.  Feeling more solid.  I can feel the power being transferred, but I can still feel my connection rooted into the ground.  I'm not just transferring power and losing balance, the power is being transferred and I'm in a place to prepare for the next thing.

        As for my side heel, I'm working on not leaning so far back to get that hip engagement, rather keeping myself more upright.  I was definitely leaning to gain the height before.  So yeah, I've lost some height for now, but the kick is feeling better.  The height will come back as I build this skill.

        Lastly my roundhouse, I'm working on the speed of the kick, and focusing more on the positioning of my knee and the snap of the knee.  I have a tendency to throw some hip behind the technique for power.  I've got strong runner's glutes that I want to use, what can I say.

        I'm happy that I pushed myself to do this, I'm getting a lot more out of it than I thought.  My initial intent was pretty broad when I first began this exercise, basically just wanting to improve my kicks, but it's developed into something more.  A deeper understanding of my body mechanics has emerged, and how it translates into performing these techniques.  I still have a lot of reps to go, so I'll see where this ends up taking me.