Teaching a 66 Year Old Taekwondo Student the Rear Leg Turning Kick with V Step Footwork (Martial Arts Cross-Training)
- jamie03066
- 1 hour ago
- 9 min read
Martial Arts Cross-Training for Taekwondo
Hour four of this course brought us to the point where the rear leg turning kick could no longer remain a general idea. It had to become a clear, repeatable action.
My client is 66 years old, trains in taekwondo, and originally took up martial arts to improve his balance after a head injury years ago. He is diligent, thoughtful and very willing to work. He came to me because he wanted help with the fine detail of a taekwondo-style turning kick, not just a rough version that looked close enough from a distance.
In previous sessions, we worked on balance, stance, chambering mechanics and the lead leg turning kick. His lead leg kick is improving, mainly because we have been stripping the movement down and removing unnecessary complications. In this fourth hour, the attention moved more fully to the rear leg turning kick, with the v-step used as a practical set-up.
This kind of work sits at the heart of Martial Arts Cross Training. The aim is not to replace his taekwondo practice, but to support it with movement analysis, safer progressions and clearer physical reference points.
Why the rear leg turning kick needed a different approach
The rear leg turning kick is often taught as if it is simply a bigger version of the lead leg kick. In practice, it asks for a different set of problems to be solved.
The lead leg turning kick starts closer to the target. It can be lifted, chambered and snapped out with less travel. The rear leg kick has more distance to cover. It needs the body to rotate, the standing foot to turn, the hip to come through and the kicking leg to arrive at the right angle.
For a younger or more physically confident student, some of this may be absorbed through repetition. For a 66 year-old student with a history of head injury and balance concerns, the same approach can create frustration. If the student does not understand where the body is meant to go, repeated kicking can become repeated compensation.
The main issues we had to account for were:
The rear leg needed a clear path to the target.
The supporting foot had to turn enough to free the hip.
The upper body needed to stay organised rather than lean away too early.
The kick had to be aimed at a realistic height.
The movement had to remain useful for taekwondo, not become a generic fitness drill.
This is where the v-step became useful.
Using the v-step to create the angle
The v-step is not just footwork for the sake of footwork. In this session, it gave my client a way to create an angle before asking the rear leg to kick.
Rather than standing square and trying to force the rear leg around, the v-step helped him place his body in a better relationship to the target. It gave the rear side a route to travel through. It also allowed him to feel how footwork can prepare a kick rather than simply precede it.
We looked at the v-step as a set-up for the rear leg turning kick in a controlled way. The aim was not speed. The aim was to make the movement legible.
A simple version of the sequence looked like this:
Begin in a comfortable fighting stance.
Use the v-step to adjust the line of attack.
Let the step place the hips at a clearer angle.
Turn the supporting foot as the rear leg begins to travel.
Chamber the rear leg before extending the kick.
Recover the kicking leg without falling into the target.
That sounds simple on paper. In movement, each part affects the next.
If the v-step is too large, the student has to recover balance before kicking. If it is too small, it does not change the angle enough to help. If the upper body moves first, the leg may lag behind. If the student tries to kick before the stance has settled, the movement becomes rushed and unstable.
So we treated the v-step as a positioning tool, not a flourish.
Breaking the rear leg kick into incremental stages
One of the biggest mistakes in teaching kicks is asking for the complete technique before the student has the pieces. The rear leg turning kick looks like one motion, but for learning purposes it can be broken down.
In this session, we worked through the kick in incremental stages. This suited the client well because he pays close attention to detail and responds well to logical explanation.
The stance had to feel stable before anything else
Before the kick, we checked his stance. I wanted him to feel grounded, but not stuck.
A stance that is too wide can make the rear leg slow to move. A stance that is too narrow can make the kick feel precarious. For this client, the goal was a stance that gave him enough balance to trust the first movement.
We also looked at where his weight sat. If too much weight settled heavily into the rear leg, he had to work harder to lift it. If he shifted too far forward, the rear leg became light but the upper body started to tip.
The right answer was not a fixed rule. It was a working position that allowed him to step, turn and kick without a fight.
The supporting foot had to turn for a reason
Many students are told to pivot the supporting foot, but they are not always told why.
With this client, the explanation mattered. I showed him that the supporting foot turn was not an extra action. It was what allowed the hip to open and the kicking leg to come across the target line without strain.
When the supporting foot remained too static, the rear leg had to swing around the body. That made the kick feel heavy and unclear. When the foot turned at the right time, the hip could contribute and the kick became more direct.
This was one of the moments where a logical explanation made a visible difference. Once he understood that the foot turn was there to let the hip move, he stopped treating it as a separate instruction and began to connect it to the kick.
A technical correction works better when the student understands the job that correction is meant to do.
The chamber made the kick easier to aim
The chamber was another key stage. Without it, the rear leg turning kick can become a broad swing. That may produce force, but it is harder to control and harder to repeat.
We slowed the action down so he could feel the rear knee travelling through before the lower leg extended. The chamber gave him a checkpoint. It also reduced the temptation to throw the leg from the floor directly at the target.
For him, this was especially helpful because balance and direction were more important than height or power. The chamber gave his brain and body a moment to organise the technique.
We did not hold the chamber for long or turn it into a static pose. We used it as a brief reference point inside the kick.
The value of a realistic target
A major improvement came when I gave him a realistic target.
This may sound obvious, but it is easy to underestimate. If the target is too high, too far away or too vague, the student starts guessing. Guessing creates extra tension. Tension affects balance. Balance affects the quality of the kick.
For this client, the right target allowed him to complete the movement without feeling that he had to chase it.
We used a target that matched the current stage of his ability. It was not placed to flatter him, and it was not placed to test him unfairly. It was placed so that the mechanics we wanted could emerge.
Once the target was set correctly, several things improved:
His line of attack became clearer.
His rear leg lifted with less hesitation.
His supporting foot turned with better timing.
He recovered his balance more cleanly after the kick.
He looked more confident because the task made sense.
The target gave the kick a purpose. It also gave immediate feedback. If the kick landed badly, we could ask why. Was the step too big? Did the foot fail to turn? Did the knee miss the chamber? Did the upper body pull away?
A target turns a technical idea into a problem the body can solve.
Why explanation mattered as much as repetition
Some students learn by copying. Some learn by feeling. Some need the reason behind the movement before they can perform it well. Most need a mixture.
This client does very well when the movement has a clear logic. He is not resistant to instruction, but he does want to understand what the instruction is for. That is a strength, not a problem.
When I explained the relationship between the v-step, the supporting foot and the hip, the kick improved. The explanation did not replace practice. It made the practice more useful.
For example, telling him to “turn more” would have been too vague. Telling him that the supporting foot turn allowed the hip to open gave him a physical reason to act. Telling him to “kick across” would have been incomplete. Showing him how the v-step created the line made the kick more accessible.
This is a central part of Personal Training for Senior Clients. The session needs to respect the person in front of you. Age alone does not define the work, but it does affect how much care should go into pacing, explanation, recovery and confidence.
A senior student may have decades of movement habits, past injuries, fear of falling, or a strong desire to get things right. The coach’s job is to find a route that honours those realities while still teaching proper technique.
What improved during the session
By the end of the hour, the rear leg turning kick was not finished. That would be the wrong expectation. It was clearer.
The biggest improvements were in the set-up and the student’s understanding of the task. He began to see the v-step as part of the kick rather than a separate piece of footwork. He also started to connect the supporting foot turn with the hip action.
The kick showed better shape when three things were present:
The v-step placed him at a useful angle.
The target sat at a realistic height and distance.
The chamber was treated as a checkpoint, not an afterthought.
His lead leg turning kick is already improving, and that progress helped give context to the rear leg version. He could compare the two kicks and feel why the rear leg needed more preparation.
There were still things to develop. The timing between step, pivot and chamber needs more repetition. The recovery after the kick still requires attention. The height should stay modest while the mechanics settle. Power can wait.
That last point matters. With a student working on balance, the search for power too early can undo the lesson. A strong kick that pulls the student off balance is not yet a reliable kick. A controlled kick that can be repeated gives us something to build on.
Lessons from hour four
This session reinforced several coaching points that apply well beyond this individual student.
The first lesson is that footwork can simplify kicking when it is taught with purpose. The v-step helped create the angle for the rear leg turning kick, rather than forcing the leg to solve everything on its own.
The second lesson is that realistic targets matter. A target should invite the desired movement. If the student has to distort the technique to reach it, the target is teaching the wrong lesson.
The third lesson is that explanation can unlock movement. A student who understands why the supporting foot turns, why the hip must come through and why the chamber matters will often practise with more intent.
The fourth lesson is that progress should be measured by quality, not drama. For this client, a better rear leg turning kick does not have to be high, fast or powerful yet. It has to be clearer, safer and more repeatable.
The next step for the rear leg turning kick
The next stage will be to keep refining the v-step and connect it more smoothly to the chamber. I want the movement to become less segmented without losing the clarity that helped him in this session.
We will keep using realistic targets. We will also keep the kick at a sensible height while the base mechanics become more reliable. As confidence grows, we can adjust distance, timing and power.
Hour four showed that the rear leg turning kick is within reach for this student. The key is not to rush the finished version. The key is to build the kick from the ground up, with the footwork, pivot, hip and target all making sense together.
For a 66 year-old taekwondo student who began martial arts to improve balance, that is meaningful progress. Not just because the kick looked better, but because the movement became more understandable. That understanding is what gives the technique a future.
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