The Importance Of Incorporating Drills Into Your Training With Ernesto Hoost
When it comes to being a good martial artist, so much goes into perfecting your game. It is a combination of sparring, drilling, strength and conditioning, mindset, and so much more. Spending too much time in one of these areas may cause you to neglect another, and they are all important.
Sparring is usually everyone's favorite way to train. It offers a good cardio workout and it allows for practical application of all the techniques you have been practicing. While good sparring sessions are extremely necessary, it is important to remember how far the simple fundamental drills will take you.
Drilling the fundamentals keeps you sharp, and can also serve as a good warm up. When it comes to kicks, hip mobility is one of the most important factors. Beginning your training session with head kicks is not always feasible for the average trainer, as your hips definitely need to open up a bit at the beginning of training. Getting the legs moving at the beginning of class is a great way to keep your kicking mechanics sharp and to warm your hips up for a hard sparring session later on.
In this video, Ernesto Hoost demonstrates a great drill to get the blood flowing and open up the hips while keeping your fundamentals sharp. Check it out below!
The Technique
The technique itself in this video is fairly simple and does not need much explaining. It needs to be done with a partner, and you will be trading a series of kicks back and forth. Even though this drill is simple you should really pay close attention to every kick you throw, making sure it is done correctly and you are maximizing all of your effort.
Learn The Dutch Kickboxing Blueprint With Ernesto Hoost! Click Learn More!
Start by throwing one kick with each leg at your partner's body. You can choose to switch your stance and throw roundhouse kicks from each stance, or throw one roundhouse kick and one switch kick. After you throw one of each kick, your partner will throw one of each back at you.
Next you throw two of each and your partner throws the same back, and continue this pattern until you get to five kicks on each side. Continue this cycle back and forth for three minutes, and notice your heart rate and how your hips feel at the end. You can obviously do this by yourself as well on the bag, and you will end up throwing many more kicks that you would have with a partner.
Depending on the general flexibility of your hips, you can also choose to throw leg kicks instead of body kicks. Or, perhaps you start out with leg kicks for the first few rounds and then build the height up to body kicks. The point of this drill is to get the heart moving, start opening the hips, and work on proper kicking technique; so do whatever you need to do to achieve that.
Maybe your intention for this drill is to do it super fast to get your heart rate going, or maybe it is to do it slowly and really focus on your stance, how you lift the leg, and how you put momentum behind the kick and drive into your opponent's body. There is not a wrong way to do this. However, don’t get sloppy and just do it to do it, really be mindful of what exactly you are doing.
It is drills like these that are sometimes neglected by those who have been training for a while. Sometimes we get so deep into advanced technique that we don’t think we need drills like this anymore. Doing something like this can have so many benefits, and should be paired properly with all the other sparring and advanced techniques in your practice.
About Ernesto Hoost
Ernesto Hoost is a retired Dutch kickboxer who is widely considered one of the best kickboxers of all time. Ernesto is a four-time K-1 World Champion, and has a long list of wins against some of the other biggest names in the sport. His career really began to accelerate in 1988 after winning several world titles in Savate and Muay Thai, and he made his impressive professional debut at the 1993 K-1 World Grand Prix.
Thirteen years later in 2006 he announced his retirement, and transitioned into the role of coaching. He has trained a long list of high level fighters such as Paul Slowinksi, and was a cornerman for UFC fighter Antoni Hardonk. Even in his retirement, Ernesto remains an active member of the sport to which he has dedicated his life.
About Ernesto’s Instructional
Ernesto has devoted this instructional to the blueprint for Dutch style kickboxing. Included you will find other techniques such as connecting punches with low and middle kicks, a variety of counters to hooks and kicks, advanced combinations, numerous other effective drills with a partner, and so much more.
It is not often that practitioners get the opportunity to learn from someone who is considered one of the best to ever do it. Even after an extremely successful career, Ernesto has dedicated his time and knowledge to sharing the techniques of his success with those who are willing to learn. From the basics to the advanced techniques, continue to shape your game as a whole. Check out his instructional here!