Unathleticism

Your martial art, technique, and style should work for everyone regardless of strength, speed, stamina, size, or any other attribute. Intensive study of your martial art should refine technique, increasing your ability to defeat people of superior attributes.  Better attributes, i.e. better athletes, will obviously have better success, so the development of attributes is important but does not exclude improving technically.  The exclusion of skill for strength is as futile as thinking strength is not part of skill.

Today I worked on relaxing.  Which I think I do, but apparently I don't.  Ian and I worked on throwing the jab, without cocking but allowing the lead foot and hand to simultaneously land.  It is important to step without trying to jump off the rear foot.  And don't push, don't try to hit hard, just flick the hand out there as fast as it can, without trying to move it fast.

We worked two combination set-ups:

1. Jab-rear body kick/Jab-fake rear kick-lead kick: Short step "range finding" jab, then step laterally to throw the rear body kick.  Your partner catches and leg covers.  After this set-up, repeat the jab, then roll the rear knee medially, "showing the rear hip" to fake the kick.  Step the rear leg laterally to throw the lead kick to the body.
2. Jab-rear body kick/Jab-fake rear kick-cross-rear kick: Same set-up as above, but this time on the rear kick fake lift the knee, rotate the knee medially and rotate the rear shoulder through to throw the cross.  Then put the foot down to throw the rear kick.

This is the "Superman punch" but without leaping forward.  The advantage is that it is still a fake, but doesn't make you overcommit or get off balance.

We also worked some kicks, particularly obtaining height without sacrificing balance or speed.  A small lateral step is needed to permit hip rotation.  The knee rises to point at the target you wish to hit.  Rise up on the balls of the feet as the hips turn over, whipping the leg into the target.  Then recover rolling the base leg foot back to the mat and landing with the ball of the foot of the kicking leg in the rear position.