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Chikara Kan, Inc. :: Books :: Wheel Kick
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Author: Joseph L.
The newest publication in the "Achieving Kicking Excellence" series by author Shawn Kovacich, is a comprehensive study of skill, technique, and execution of martial arts kicks that only one who has mastered the "arts," is capable of divulging.
Shawn Kovacich has exposed in his newest book (Wheel Kick), the refined skills necessary to effectively use kicks in a pure and simplistic form of self-defense. Shawn's understanding of how to develop explosive martial arts kicks, is in the equivalent realm of Bruce Lee's "Tao of Jeet Kune Do."
After reading the finer points of this book, it is my humble opinion that every martial artist will benefit by Shawn's insightful interpretation and analogys.
It is a book every person interested in martial arts should own.
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Author: Jessica B.
A friend of mine had purchased Mr. Kovacich's book Wheel Kick. She told me how in depth it was and how it broke everything down. So, I thought I might as well try it. What could it hurt? When the book arrived, I sat down to flip through and ended up reading the entire thing. WOW! I can't believe that someone could take one kick and break it down to the smallest detail. With my classes we get shown the basics and go from there with any kick, but this book goes into minute detail over where your entire body should be, even your arms.
I started using the book in supplement to my classes and saw myself growing in leaps and bounds. Even my instructor noticed. He told me that he noticed that I was starting to perform kicks that were levels above me. He wanted to know what I was doing differently from the other students. I showed him Mr. Kovacich's book and he said the same thing I did, WOW! He borrowed it for a couple weeks to look it over. I had to fight to get the book back. Even he said that he has never seen anyone that has broken down a kick to the finest details. Now he is teaching some principles from the books in class.
I can't say it enough, Thank You Mr. Kovacich for the wonderful book that has help me and my dojo. Keep me posted on the new books.
Jessica
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Author: Joanna Daneman
Valuable set of volumes on kicking for the martial artist
If you are a novice martial artist, a kick-box exercise video nut, or someone who wants to advance their knowledge of martial art kicks, this book looks as if it would be very helpful.
The series of books is organized by type of kick: back, wheel, axe, crescent, reverse crescent, front, hook, hatchet, roundhouse, side kick. Ten books in all.
The volumes are absolutely loaded with pictures of not only kick technique but also of helpful strength-with-weight exercises, especially gym exercises with machines like the hack squat and leg press sled and of course the all-important lunge. So you get not only a discussion of how-to, but of what exercises can improve overall performance by gaining muscle strength. There are pictures with overlays of angles and axes, giving you an idea of proper form, though there is no substitute for a sensei giving you real-time feedback, of course. So these books are a good adjunct to martial arts class in the dojo; something to read and then take to practice and work on with real-time help.
There is a section on sparring--right and wrong. There is a suggested reading list in the back. A very complete series.
The only thing these volumes suffer from is slightly dark and low contrast black and white photograph reproduction due to pictures being on paper stock and not glazed plate stock, in order to keep costs reasonable for publishing. And the cover photo is wonderful but the graphic design (showing the title being shattered by the someone doing the title kick) was a GREAT concept but you can't read the title on the front cover (because it's being kicked to bits!) This is annoying; you have to read the spine to see which kick the book is about. If this bugs you, it's easily fixed: get some stickers or a Sharpie and mark the front cover with something like SIDE KICK VOL 10 or whatever works for you.
Author Kovacich is a black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do (which of course is one of the martial arts for which the kick is the premier technique.)
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Author: Alan D. Cranford
This is Volume Two of ten books devoted to mastering kicks. Shawn Kovacich devotes this book to the wheel kick: powerful and swift, hard to block but easy to parry. This review examines Shawn's book from a practical stand point--how well does this book enable me to learn the wheel kick?
I'm 50, 6'3" tall and 220 pounds, but I'm not an athlete--just healthy. I cannot perform the wheel kick higher than my own waist right now--I'll need to improve my flexibility. It isn't too much of a handicap for self defense--or active military service--but for those of you involved in karate matches, you need the high kicks for the match-winning points. Of course, if I fall to the ground or can hold onto something, my kick gains stability, height, and power--at the cost of being fixed in position for an instant. The wheel kick uses the heel bone--the back center of the heel bone. Target areas are the head and side of neck. For me, this is a specialized kick that I'd use only after putting an enemy on the ground--or otherwise gaining an altitude advantage. Unlike the dojo, street fights may take place on uneven surfaces--such as on a staircase.
I have training prejudices: I like to employ mirrors, a video camera or two, a minimum of one sparring partner, and at least one referee when I train. Multiple sparring partners are to keep me from getting stuck kicking at the same height each time, and because in the real world, my problems usually come in bunches. Often, I must train alone or not train at all, so I have to limit my training intensity for safety. A second set of eyes can help spot flaws--and prevent injuries. It is very hard to dial 911 when one's back is thrown out. These kicking techniques can injure the practitioner if done incorrectly. I like both mirrors and video because when I initially practice, I can watch myself in the mirror. For realistic practice, I need to concentrate on technique and the target instead of watching my own reflection--instant video playback aids me in spotting what happened. I can even figure out if my kick was in the right place or not! Shawn wrote about the "crawl, walk, and run" phases of training and the basic and advanced kicking techniques are covered in detail. Exact detail. Train at your own risk. I perform a risk reduction prior to training--assess the risk level and employ risk reduction techniques to make training safe. Remember that training is synthetic reality, intended to be less expensive than gaining real-world experience.
I think that "Achieving Kicking Excellence: Wheel Kick" is well organized. There are ten chapters. The introduction defines the kick and advises how to use the book. Chapter One is kick anatomy: bones and muscles. Chapter Two recommends warm up and stretching exercises. Chapter Three is Basic Principles: striking surface, target areas, and 11 other key points. Clear graphics left me with little doubt about what part of the foot to apply and where to hit my opponent. Chapter Four covered the primary kick technique. Again, the graphics are very clear. They include "dance step diagrams" showing where the feet go--footwork is critical to effective kicking. The photos have numbered labels stressing correct positioning of each part of the body. Chapter Five is variations of the primary technique. Chapter Six covers training and practice techniques to achieve skill, strength, speed, and power. Chapter Seven is a trouble-shooting guide. Chapter Eight is applications: how to use this in competition or combat. Chapter Nine is Shawn's awards and accomplishments. Chapter Ten previews the next volume in the series. There are a table of contents, a recommended reading list, and an index.
This is an excellent study guide. I can train some now, on my own, and when I find training partners (sparring partners and a referee) I might even get proficient!
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Author: D. Buxman
The technical accuracy and detail of this book is phenomenal. In my experience, most training books that detail technique are too vague to be of practical importance, but this book is the exception. Some of the movements are broken down into forty or fifty elements so that you can go right down the line to correct problems in a logical and sequential manner. There are ample progressive photographs, diagrams and illustrations to effectively guide your training and foster great improvement. I can't think of anything that is missing here from discussions of anatomy and biomechanics, all the way through troubleshooting and Q and A. The writing style is concise and quite lucid. If I could have just one training series to help me with my kicking technique, this would be it.
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Author: Jeffrey Peter A. Hauck
Author Shawn Kovacich has exploited an important niche in his "Achieving Kicking Excellence" series of martial arts instructional texts.
Shawn is quoted as saying "In an unarmed self-defense encounter, your kicking skills or lack thereof, can be the deciding factor between victory and defeat. In today's society, kicking is not only used more frequently, but it also ranks as perhaps the most versatile and underrated weapon that you have in your arsenal." I agree with him.
I found "Wheel Kick" (volume 2 of 10 in the series) to be so highly detail oriented that it overcame any presupposition of dryness and boredom to which I initially attributed to it. In short, I was "hooked." Laid out in terms that the novice can easily follow and the practicing martial artist can incorporate into his or her regimen, Shawn starts out with the historical background of the Wheel Kick and then introduces the reader to the physical and physiological body movements and mechanics associated with the kick.
Providing tips on conditioning and training, Shawn demonstrates foot movement by foot movement the Wheel Kick's basic principles and then introduces the primary Turning Wheel Kick to his audience and follows with eleven variations; (some of which I have never even heard of!).
Shawn demonstrates the principles of each kick with clear photographs that leave nothing to the imagination. Fortifying the text with chapters on "Warm Up and Stretching," "Training and Practice Methods," "Trouble Shooting Guide," and "Kicking Applications," to name a few, Shawn provides the reader with more than a full understanding of what could and mistakenly be known as a "simple kick."
Totally complete at 220 pages, and chocked with all sorts of valuable information from the "nuts and bolts" of technique description and demonstration to body dynamics, this is without a doubt the "gold standard" by which any examplar of martial arts kicking should be judged by.
This book can stand alone or be incorporated within the series. I rate it at five stars without hesitation or reservation. Well done!
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Author: K.H.
Shawn Kovacich's next book in the "Achieving Kicking Excellence" is on the wheel kick (also known as the spinning heel kick in some styles). Kovacich is outstanding at explaining precise detail, not only about the performance of the kick, but the many factors and layers that buttress a strong kick: i.e., what muscles accomplish what, base and support, and how to turn. I did disagree with his foot positions for advance and beginner, as someone who operated dojos for nine years (90-99), I felt it always best to teach feet positions on spinning kicks the same way unless someone has a medical problem or other difficulties. Therefore, I would have only shown the "advance" feet positions as the only proper position. After all, most people who start learning spinning kicks have been involved in the martial arts a few months and have probably passed the novice stage (p.36).
Besides that criticism, I found his control and knowledge with/of the kick to be excellent. The photos in black and white, while lacking a photo-finish quality, do show a quality of martial technique superiority. The nine photos on page 72 displays his control, not just of the kick, but also when he and the photographer (probably at Shawn's suggestions) show the stages of the kick. Many books show this kick, but I think Shawn nailed the stages that should have been shown in the book or any other book purporting to tecah this kick- Quite impressive.
In his section on "Training and Practice Method", Shawn discusses skills training and shown learning the kick by using a chair. Chair, partner, and wall training can be useful tools that aid in someone learning and perfecting a kicking technique. Shawn's attention to detail is spectacular.
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Author: Aaron Hoopes
Like all the titles in Shawn Kovacich's Achieving Kicking Excellence series, book 2 Wheel Kick is a comprehensive study of one of the important kicks used in modern martial arts today. The book is incredibly thorough with numerous photos demonstrating the every aspect of the kick in minute detail. Mr. Kovacich knows his stuff and it is obvious that he has spent many hours honing his technique. The book provides an in-depth study of the bones, muscles and mechanics involved in the kicking technique.
In addition, the book contains a wealth of supplemental information on strength, speed and power generating exercises to enhance the technique. There is also a section on stretching as well as the application of the technique.
This book is ideal for any martial artist who wishes to perfect their wheel kicking ability. The beginner will find a wealth of information to assist in developing proper mechanics while the advanced practitioner will glean some vital knowledge from an accomplished teacher.
Be sure to check out the other books in this series. You are sure to find one that addresses the specific kick that you need work on.
Be sure to check out the other books in this series. You are sure to find one that addresses the specific kick that you need work on.
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