Valor Taekwondo Lesson 10: Explosiveness
/A common misconception is that to be explosive, one has to do a lot of strength and/or speed training. The truth is that it’s a bit of a combination of both. The muscles used to produce explosive movements are the same small muscles that enable fast, sudden movements of the body. On the other hand, these speed producing muscles also need the assistance of the bigger, slower, but stronger muscles to exert power.
If one trains speed, they will lack the power needed for strong kicks, high jumps etc. If one trains power, then they will be strong, but lack the bodily reflexes to be fast. In other words, their bodies will not be able to keep up with their brains.
Whether you are a sparring athlete or a poomsae athlete, training explosiveness is key to your success in your chosen area of Taekwondo. Explosiveness enables you to kick your opponent’s quickly, yet hard. It will also assist in certain jumping kicks so that your chances of landing a headshot becomes higher. You can prevent yourself from falling on the ground with higher jumping kicks as well. For poomsae athletes, specifically Freestyle poomsae, it is essential to be able to jump high so I hope these exercises assist in your training as well.
Good luck!
- Joseph