SW Portland Martial Arts Blog

Learning to kick is a daunting skill in martial arts, particularly if you’re not a young and limber child. Like most of the work to be done in training, it should be approached with the long game in mind. Take your time. Learn your basic kicks before you move on to the fancy stuff. Kick low with accuracy and strength before you bother messing with head kicks.

With all that preamble, what if you want to learn a hook kick? Well, you should probably already be somewhat proficient with the front, side, and roundhouse kick before you venture near the hook kick. This doesn’t mean you need perfection in those other kicks first, no way! Perfect is the enemy of the good. Don’t wait until you’ve “mastered” a skill to move on to the next one because if you do that, you’ll never move on. Instead, press gently at the margins of your competency.

The hook kick is basically a side kick that is thrown about 45 degrees off target and then pulled through at the hip. The big thing to avoid is simply “flippering” the shin. This is what happens when you try to kick too high too soon. Watch the video for the “wall” drill and practice kicking low for a few weeks until you feel comfortable, then gradually lift it up.

Good luck on your kick journey, and if you get past this one, it’s onward to the spin hook kick! Fun times.

If you’re planning on learning martial arts, you’ll want to know how to fall and roll safely. Even if you’re not doing a grappling or throwing focused martial art, at some point, you’ll throw a high kick and fall, or someone will hit you and knock you over. It happens. Like all things, it’s better to have prepared in advance rather than face the situation with no idea how to keep yourself safe.
The shoulder roll is, in my opinion, the easiest entry point when it comes to learning how to tumble safely. Watch the video and see which, if any, of the three rolls comes easiest to you. If none of them are easy, pick the least difficult one.