The spinning back kick is usually used in combination with another strike - frequently a roundhouse kick or inward crescent kick - that first distracts the opponent. When beginning the spinning back kick, you should be perpendicular to the target, with your kicking leg on the opposite side. While pivoting your supporting foot approximately 180 degrees, lift your leg out to the side and kick across, with your leg and foot parallel to the floor. The kick should travel in a wide horizontal arc around your body. As you do the technique, extend your whole body, drive your hip outward and strike with the heel or sole of your foot. Your back will arch naturally. When performing at sufficient speed, the entire motion will generate a powerful whip-like action.

Remember that the positions described above are for optimal conditions in practice. In a fight, you should use whatever position is most effective. For example, you might opt to kick low instead of high. However, if you kick high in practice, you will know that your body is properly conditioned to kick at whatever height is most effective at a particular moment. Similarly, the foot positions I recommend when striking in practice provided optimal conditioning for your legs. In a fight, do not limit yourself to a single foot position for each kick. For example, while performing a side kick, you should be prepared to use the sole of your foot, the heel, the ball and/or the toes, depending on what is most expedient.

It is essential to use your entire body when kicking. You must fully extend it and drive your full force in the direction of your kick. Your whole body should form one uninterrupted line of power. Never try to generate force with only your legs. You must use your waist in every kick. It functions like an axle attached to a wheel: Power comes not from your legs, but from the twisting motion of your waist and the pivoting of your foot.

Your body should move like a whip: The power generated by the twisting and pivoting action travels through your leg and explodes into the target. The key to generating this explosive power is being relaxed until the moment of contact. Your technique should be as soft as cotton before striking and as hard as steel when it hits. Remember to strike all the way through the target, rather than merely aiming at it. Since all your power explodes outward at the moment of contact, your landing and recovery should be light and controlled. Strike with the force of a mountain, but land with the lightness of a feather. A heavy bag or wooden dummy can be useful in developing power, but beginners should start with a soft, padded bag to avoid injury. Once you have mastered the form of the basic kicks, you can attach light weights or resistance bands to your ankles to develop your strength. Bear in mind that even when using weights, you should train for speed. Slow movements will build bulky, short, slow-twitched muscles rather than the long, supple, fast-twitch muscles required for the martial arts.

Side kick: Shi Yan Ming (right) squares off with his opponent (1). He raises his kicking leg (2) and pivots on his supporting foot as he thrusts his right foot toward the target (3). To maximize his power, the Shaolin monk keeps his body sideways, his hips open and his toes pointed slightly upward (4).

Speed
Achieving optimal speed is the hardest part of learning how to kick. Many practitioners slow themselves down by using rear-leg kicking techniques in training. In a real fight, however, by the time you lift your rear leg, twist your body into position and pivot your foot, chances are you are have already lost the opportunity to kick. Rear-leg kicks should never be used in a fight - or in training.

If you are an advanced practitioner, you should be able to simply lift your front leg ad kick instantaneously. If you have not yet developed power in the basic kicks, you can use a small skip or step before executing a leg technique. When using a step, avoid stepping in front because it can lock your supporting leg and make it impossible to generate much power. You should either step behind or skip by simultaneously hopping forward on your supporting leg and lifting your kicking leg.

Once you have mastered this method, practice lifting your front leg and kicking without a jump, skip or step.

It is also important to lift your thigh as you kick. However, do not make lifting and kicking two separate movements. You must raise your leg and kick in one smooth, continuous motion. You should also ensure that your kick travels at full speed from beginning to end and back. Some practitioners raise their leg too slowly, then attempt to add speed during the extension. Others kick outward quickly but draw their leg in too slowly. Both errors will reduce your effectiveness.

Harmony, both external and internal, is essential in developing optimal kicking speed. The three major parts of the body - the head, torso and legs - must be fully coordinated to create the whip-like action that generates maximum speed. You must also coordinate your mind, body and chi. The more relaxed you are, the more speed you can generate, and more speed usually translates into more power. You must be able to move spontaneously, without stopping to think. Thinking too much hinders relaxation and slows you down. Once you begin to think, you have already lost the fight.

Timing The greatest obstacle to developing good timing is often the use of applications. I never teach applications because in a real fight, applications never work. Forms and basic movements are useful because they develop the strength, power, speed and reaction time that will help you achieve the ultimate goal: to immediately seize any opportunity to knock out your opponent. Clinging rigidly to applications will only slow you down by making your mind and body inflexible, hindering your ability to react spontaneously. As stated above, even basic kicks are never executed in a fight exactly the same way they are performed in practice. You must be able to kick from different positions and at different heights, using different parts of your feet and legs. You must be able to use your knees, elbows, shoulders, head, etc. You should learn the techniques as part of your training, but when the time comes to use them, you must empty your mind and act without thinking.

Front kick: Shi Yan Ming (right) shifts his weight to his rear leg as he prepares to strike (1). He then raises his knee and slides forward (2). Next, he thrusts his foot at his target, striking first with his heel (3) and then with the ball and toes of his foot (4).

Shaolin fighting philosophy holds that there is no dichotomy in fighting. Offense and defense, striking and blocking, action and reaction - they are all one and the same. There is also no distinction between internal and external power. Without one, you cannot have the other. The six harmonies (hands with feet, shoulders with hips, elbows with knees, heart with mind, mind with chi, and chi with power) must all be coordinated for you to maximize your power.