The Complete Master's Jumping Kick

Rating:
Summary: A kick to read
Review: As far martial arts instructions manuals go, I must say that this is one of the best. Master Hee Il Cho shows off acrobatic kicks as well as their combat applications and which muscle groups need to be developed in order to perform these kicks. The only downside I see to this book is due to the advanced nature of the kicks described; they seem to be beyond the reach of most mortal beings and certainly the average martial artist.

Rating:
Summary: Jump kick technical aspects explained and shown
Review: I teach WTF-style TKD, but when I was a student, learning
to perform most of the kicks in this book was a major
obstacle, both physically and psychologically. Others in
my class could perform the kicks, so I could _see_ them,
but no one seemed able to explain to me _how_ to do them.

This book helped; it was almost like the skeleton key I
needed to unlock the intricacies of executing the kicks.
For the jumping spinning versions of the hook and the
wheel kicks, Hee Il Cho's way of breaking things down gave
me exactly what I needed. I learned to do the kicks, passed
the tests, and now use the information gleaned here
to help my students. So this book has been valuable.

The pictures illustrating the techniques are better than
average for a TKD book. (TKD books are often deplorable
in this respect.) The explanatory text, although written
in "interesting" English is understandable and (for me)
to the point.

The exercise sections for improving each kick are more
than adequate and reasonably well thought out.

The only (mild) complaint I have is that the book doesn't
illustrate the narabam (jumping spinning roundhouse) kick.
I suppose I shouldn't complain, but it would have been
nice from a completeness standpoint if that kick had been
included. Still, this omission isn't incredibly heinous.