There’s a good chance that when you were younger you tried out a few Power Ranger moves, leaping round in your pyjamas in the back garden. Both you and the Power Rangers have changed a lot since the Nineties. The cult favourite TV series has been rebooted for a big-budget movie with some astonishing martial arts action.
In Saban’s Power Rangers, out March 24, a group of teenagers happen across a strange alien object that gives them special powers and thrusts them into an intergalactic war. To defeat some truly bizarre alien bad guys they unleash some extremely impressive martial arts moves, which you can learn too (you will have to supply your own outfit).
Meet our expert: Lutalo Muhammad
Lutalo Muhammad won medals in taekwando at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, very narrowly missing out on a gold in Rio, so there’s nobody better qualified to run you through an introduction to the sport.
As a lifelong Power Rangers fan – “I even had the curtains and duvet cover!” he says – he knows just the moves you need to learn to emulate the famous five.
“Taekwondo is so dynamic and varied,” says Muhammad. “We do all the high-flying jumping kicks. No other martial art does kicks like taekwondo.” To make sure you have the leg strength needed for all that kicking you’ll need to put some hours in at the gym. “I like the seated leg press, which is great for working my legs,” says Muhammad. “This really helps to improve the muscles I use to do explosive kicking.” The move he suggests starting with is the ‘Turning Kick’, or Dollyo Chagi if you’re showing off. “It’s the most popular kick in taekwondo because it is super-fast and powerful,” says Muhammad.
If you want to get started on the path to becoming a taekwondo master, click here to find your nearest taekwondo club. To book tickets in time for the release of Power Rangers on March 24, head to myvue.com.
