It's simple really, whats your favourite method when going through the basics... Do you like to go up and down the dojo striking at unseen floating figures that might look like your boss. Or, test your technique on a bag?

For me, Its the bag. Especially when kicking. I find round kicks really hard to do, yet easier on a bag. Give me five minutes to warm up with some kicks; and wow. What a difference. Also, for me it is good so I know I'm using the right part of the foot to strike with.

Whats your choise?


I was going to make this a poll but I'm not sure how

Poll added.

Bag for me all the way. Or a person. Kicking air teaches you how to kick air. The balance, technique and targeting of the two are so totally different that to say kicking air will teach you the basics of kicking a solid target is just untrue. To transfer any kind of power into a target with a kick you have to lose your balance into the target. Do that into air and you fall over. That's not to say if you miss that you end up on your backside, but if you kick to maintain perfect balance then by definition your momentum isn't travelling into the target.

Kicks should be taught from day one by kicking something. That way you learn naturally where the best striking areas are and what does and doesn't work. to do otherwise is like learning to ride a bike by reading a book.

Have to go with the bag method here. If you spend years walloping thin air, when you come to kick something (or someone!) you will hurt yourself. I can attest to this as i've broken three toes along the way.

Have to agree with Mark about balance and momentum. Striking thin air teaches you to pull your strikes back.

I too must go with bag kicking...
During my karate training and spending class after class kicking the air it took me several years to develop my round kick to a satisfactory level. And it only really began developing when I began using a kick bag in my classes to teach my own students about balance and momentum (theory and practise i picked up from this forum and discussions/practise sessions with my co-instructor).

In my kung fu classes we are taught each individual kick in several stages. In the air for the first session learning the kick to develop foot shape and co-ordination and once you have an idea straight into the bag kicking under close guidance from your instructor. for strength and power. This may be during that same first session or in the next one depending on your natural co-ordination. Once you have an idea of all of these we do some kciking on a partner for aiming and conditioning.

Much as I'm an advocate of impact training I do think empty air training is also a necessity.

It can be useful to practice different aspects of a technique without worrying about pranging yourself during the impact phase. But I think, most importantly, if you only ever practice with impact then you can seriously overbalance if you miss the target, you need to be able to recover a technique that failed to hit its intended target.

But of course, these things are rarely an issue. Its much more likely that students are not exposed to enough impact training.

Mike

I think it's very difficult to check techniques if you practice entirely on a bag or empty air, both from the point of view of the person doing the technique and the point of view of an observer. You can use imaginary targets while developing the basics and use a bag so that you don't have to artificially stop a technique short. But you also need a live target for developing aim, awareness of where to strike for best effect and how to recover when a technique is blocked or misses entirely.

Most of our training is done with a partner since in the past I've found that after practicing over and over into air many people become completely flustered when they have someone standing in front of them who will respond in some way to whatever they do, and technique can suddenly go out the window.


Mick

I prefer both, Air and Bag. Air to get the basic technique and work on diff angles etc, then try them on the bag. The biggest problem with “air” training for beginners is the foot/eye co-ordination. Most people underestimate the reach of their legs and end up being to close to the target for an effective kick.

I can see your point anbout using empty air training to work on certain things without the distraction of the impending impact. Isolating certain components of a kick (or any technique) into air does have it's place, but I do believe you then have to quickly transfer that back into the 'full impact' version to make it worthwhile.

As for just hitting bags...



Transfering static impact work into 'live' scenarios for me is the natural progression. Learning how to recover from a shot that misses is as important as learning how to put the power in in the first place. A thigh kick that fells an opponent is useles if you end up on your arse if it misses.



But air technique is different to bag [impact] technique, unless you use the same for both, which will result in either you falling over doing 'multiple' air techniques 'to the count', or very weak impact on the bag. How do you compromise the two?

or not close enough

I don't think there's an easy answer, you just have to do plenty of both so that the right thing happens (whether you hit or miss) without you having to consciously think about it. Just plenty of variation and plenty of repetition in the drills that you practice.

Mike

Learning to defend against air doesn't necessarily teach you to pull the technique - the method of teaching does. If you practice round kicks without impact, and practice as if you had missed the target, wouldn't it teach you not to fall on your arse when you really miss?
I like both ways of training. The shape of the technique should be the same regardless of whether you contact or not, but hitting things is wonderful therapy!