How do I learn to keep my balance when doing a round house kick?

I have been taking MMA (mixed martial arts) for a long time now, and I have always had trouble doing a round-house kick with my right leg and keeping my left leg to balance myself. I do fine round house kicks with my left leg, because I can keep my balance very well on my right leg, while my other leg is in the air. I want to know how I could have my left leg balanced while I am kicking with the right leg. Any help?|||Sink your weight on your stable foot more. You may notice your weight shifting forward or in the direction of the kick. Try to rotate without leaning. Weight in the kick is fine, but weight falling over the kick is not. Sorry, hard to explain in text.|||you havnt been taught properley.|||I think there is only one answer.Keep doing it over and over.Some classes we do a thousand kicks a night.This will strengthen the right muscles and the ballence will get better with thim.|||First, kick softer. When your practicing, its much better to move gradually up the power level as doing slower, and softer kicks will first help develop proper form. When you get better, gradually increase the power you put into your kick and you'll get better.


Practice, practice, practice.


Good luck my friend, and stay safe.|||Back to basics. And be patient. The problem is you haven't developed your kicking technique properly and most likely starting fighting too early. It's likely that your left leg round kick needs work too.





Balance is integral to developing the proper technique.





This works and it is how I teach the round kick (Mawashi Geri in karate) and have been very successful with it over the years. It is also how I learned the kick, and how I practice it still today.





Assume a round kick with the right leg.





1. Start from a point of balance (either in fighting stance or with feet shoulder width apart) your hips (right side) at 45 degrees back.





2. Chamber your right leg (i.e. lift the knee straight up off the ground). Your hips should still be at 45 degrees and try to touch your buttocks with your heel (if you can't, it's ok. This creates a spring effect for the snap of the knee). Centre your weight over your left leg (slightly bent). Hold this position for several seconds while starting out. You will eventually develop speed and a flow in which it will appear to the untrained eye that you are not chambering your kick at all.





3. Rotate your hips anticlockwise (i.e. towards the left) while simultaneously counter rotating your shoulders - with full control of your upper body and arms (keep your hands in fighting position if you like or drop your right arm behind your right leg) and snap out the kick from your knee. Make sure that your right knee does not drop and that it remains in a fixed position in relation to your hips throughout the kick. Keep your head still and you should end up being able to see straight down/along your side to your kicking foot at the point of impact. I like to imagine that my supporting leg is a steel pylon and that my supporting foot is a large flat 3/4 inch steel plate. Your supporting foot should rotate approximately 135 degrees. Try not to lift the heel of your left foot too far off the floor and MAKE SURE that your left foot is in full contract with the floor at the point of impact (i.e. your left foot should be FLAT on the floor - or your kick will have no power - like TKD round kicks).





4. Try to bring the leg back faster (hikite in karate) than you sent it out.





5. Come back to a point of balance (i.e. to your original chamber). Hold for several seconds (while starting out). Eventually you will be doing this very quickly as well.





6. Gently place your right foot back on the floor.





Start slowly and gradually pick up the speed over time.


Start at a low height (not too low because the body alignment is different for low kicks) and gradually increase the height at which you kick.


Try not to lean too far back while kicking (people do this to generate height). It's a dangerous combat manoeuvre because you then have to try and get upright before you can continue with the bout. A fast opponent will clean you up at this point.


You will eventually find that your kicks are much faster and more powerful than they ever were with your current approach and you won't have the risk of being vulnerable if your kick fails to hit its target. You will be able to follow up immediately with another technique.


You must aim to be in full control of the technique from start to finish (i.e. you could pull out or change the technique at any time if you wanted to do so).


Remember to power the kick from your hips - NOT the torque of your upper body or by throwing your arms around.





Follow this regime diligently and you will see a lot of improvement fairly quickly.





If after a few weeks you are not seeing any improvement, then it could be a more serious issue.