Taekwondo is a physical art. Thus, not only a particular part of the physique, but the entire physique is used to undertake any movement, be it a stance, punch, kick or a block. For example, in any kick, the leg performs the kick, but during this process, the core muscles are tightened while the hip, the other leg, the arms and the neck are used to give speed, power, and maintain balance. Thus, a kick is not delivered only by the leg but rather it is delivered by the entire body. This implies that the body needs to be fit before one can deliver a kick, punch, block or a stance.
A fit body is a prime requisite to execute any kick
The body can be made fit by warming up, stretching, doing various physical exercises and cooling down, in a systematic and a regulated way.
Melissa Bender video “Total Body Tabata Workout: Body Weight, No Equipment, Great Burn”:
Purpose of kicking
Every martial art has hundreds or sometimes thousands of movements. The sole purpose of all these movements, in all martial arts, is to disarm and/or disable the opponent, in the shortest possible time, usually in one move only. Hence, the only purpose of kicking is to disarm and/or disable the opponent, preferably in one kick.
Olympics video “A Roundhouse Kick Knockout to Win Olympic Gold|Throwback Thursday”:
Heikki M video “Top 10 Muay Thai Knockouts”:
Accuracy, Speed, Power: Three determinants of a kick
To achieve the purpose of kicking, the kick has to be accurate, fast and powerful. Therefore, accuracy, speed and power are three determinants that determine the effectiveness of a kick.
— Kicking with speed and power, but without accuracy. Such a kick has zero effectiveness, because it misses its mark completely and thus, fails to disarm and/or disable the opponent.
— Kicking with accuracy and speed, but without power. Such a kick is somewhat effective, as it hits its mark but fails to disarm and/or disable the opponent.
—Kicking with accuracy and power, but without speed. Such a kick is more effective, as it hits its mark and somewhat succeeds to disarm and/or disable the opponent; however, without speed not much power can be gained.
—Kicking with accuracy, speed and power. Such a kick is the most effective, as it hits its mark and succeeds to disarm and/or disable the opponent, in the shortest possible time.
Warg, the 1st video “The Power of Do Mawashi Kaiten Geri (Kyokushin Wheel Kick – 胴廻し回転蹴り )”:
How to gain accuracy, speed and power in kicks?
22nd ITF Taekwon-Do Summer Camp Greece video “GM Vasilis Alexandris – Exercises to improve kicking (ITF Taekwon-Do Summer Camp Greece 2018)”:
Gaining Accuracy
Ginger Ninja Trickster video “How to Kick More Accurately?|Improve Kicking Accuracy|GNT Tutorial”:
Gaining Speed
Ando Mierzwa video “How to Kick Faster in Martial Arts”:
Alex Wong video “Speed Conditioning Drills | Faster Kicks & Footwork”:
Black Belt Samery video “5 Agility Drills to Help Improve Your Speed|Taekwondo/Martial Arts”:
Gaining Power
Law Of The Fist video “4 Plyometric Exercises To Increase Kicking Power-Kick Harder/Faster”:
jjssm video “The power kicks in Taekwondo”:
To get a deeper understanding of how power is generated in Taekwondo please see the Theory of Power in Taekwon-Do.
Conclusion
Mastering the technique paves the way for gaining accuracy, speed and power. The simultaneous application of accuracy, speed and power, results in the most effective kick.
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