If you’ve ever seen MMA footage of people trying to throw kicks, you’ll routinely see people stumbling over, dropping their guard, throwing out sloppy kicks, or failing to return their leg fast enough to prevent grab attempts. Kicks aren’t easy to pull off at all. I don’t mean the flashy taekwondo or kung fu spinning kicks. I mean just an ordinary round kick or straight kick can make even professionals get humbled by how hard it is to pull off.
For it to work, first your body has to have highly developed calves and ankles and a strong core to support your body weight on one leg to begin with—mind you, the calves and ankles are some of the hardest muscles to grow and train because they’re endurance type 1 muscles—then you need to have the flexibility to even extend your hamstrings and waist that high to begin with, then you need to have the neuromuscular control required to hold a kicking position, then you have to go through the processes of lifting your leg *and then* flicking your waist towards your non kicking leg and back again the same way you would flick your waist in a perfect jab (this entire flick motion has to be timed correctly if that wasn’t enough), and then after all that shit you have to pull your kicking leg back towards it’s starting position without leaning your back in any way that could mess up your posture.