The Way of Least Resistance

A standard karate ball of foot kick.  When it comes to shoes, people fixate on the difficulty of  toes curling back  the toes to this extent.  But this fixation is misconceived.  This sort of toe "curl back" is only necessary in the first place because you don't have shoes on! Here's another myth that I keep seeing around the traps: "Ball of the foot kicking was invented for barefoot training in the dojo.  It doesn't work anywhere else." It's one of those myths that is particularly popular among younger, less-experienced martial artists, possibly because it seems so plausible. After all, if I'm having trouble learning the ball of foot kick, there must be a reason, mustn't there?  It can't be because I'm just a beginner and I'm still "unco".  It must be because they're asking me to do something that is: unnatural; and only useful in some artificial, formal Okinawan/Japanese setting. It can't b...

You will recall that I recently answered a question from Dave T about the chamber of the ankle in the front kick. Dave had a second question, which was as follows: "I was once showed a front kick where the body is leaned forward towards the target. The kick is similar to the karate version except for the deliberate forward leaning motion of the body. Some reasons for the forward leaning body: 1. Speed. The natural backward movement of the traditional front kick (due to the hip) slows the kick and telegraphs it. 2. Power. With the body in front, it supposedly adds more power to the kick due to the kicker’s bodyweight. 3. Balance. With the body in front towards the target, it helps the kicker keeps his balance especially if his kick is blocked or the opponent rushes forward during the kick. 4. Groin protection. With the body leaning forward, the groin is less exposed. 5. Lastly, related to point 3, with the bodyweight in front towards the target, it makes the kicker less vulnerable...

Introduction I recently received two queries from Dave T on my article " Back to basics: the front kick ". Because the queries raise quite important points I thought I'd canvas them more completely (and hopefully more clearly) as separate blog articles rather than as a reply in the comments section. Dave's first question: ankle chamber Dave's first question was as follows: "What is your opinion of the TKD style front kick where the ankle is fully locked so that the instep and shin are in one straight line and the toes curled up? At the chamber position, the feet points down except for the toes. For high targets, won’t this method give the maximum penetration? I find that when using the karate method of the feet parallel to the ground during chamber for high targets, the sole or heel hits the target instead of the ball, thus removing a lot of the power from the kick. The position of the feet during chambering has to be adjusted for targets at different height...

Introduction In a recent post I discussed a query from a Traditional Fighting Arts Forums member, Emero , about how to deal with circular kicks such as roundhouse kicks, spinning kicks and crescent kicks. In particular Emero wanted to know how he could improve his responses to his master’s use of those kicks in sparring. Clearly, the goal for a martial artist is to develop reflex reactions. Emero’s goal is to do better when sparring with his master. Specifically, he wants to move forward, at the right angle and at the right time, into his master’s circular kicks so as to negate their effect. He’s tired of “eating” them. How can he get his body to do this in sparring? Reflexive response Clearly, Emero doesn’t have time to “think” about each kick as it’s happening. He needs to act subconsciously, reflexively, automatically - pick your own adverb. There simply is no time for logical “planning”. In this regard Emero is no different to a tennis player who is trying to de...

Introduction Further to my recent articles on the front snap kick , I thought I’d go through some of the finer points of how to do it. I hope this will be especially useful to beginners since this is the sort of information I found very useful early in my career. In fact, I still have these points in the back of my mind every time I practice front kicks. I think it is important to keep trying to attain the unattainable - the perfect front kick, free of any extraneous movement before, during and after the technique. The importance of refining your techniques Why is technique refinement so important to the front snap kick? There are 2 reasons: to avoid telegraphing your kick; and to make your front kick as efficient and economical as it can be so as to maximize the force applied to your target. There is a high premium on both of these. First, you don’t want to telegraph your technique at the best of times. The issue only gets more urgent when you are standing on one leg - as is the ...

Introduction: the basic front kick Following my recent "back to basics" theme and my article " Enter the front snap kick ", I thought I'd discuss how to go about doing a basic front kick. Apart from discussing the basic form and some of the finer points (eg. hip use), I thought I'd also go into the differences between (and the relevant uses of) the front ball of foot kick vs. the heel kick. Step 1 Start by raising one knee (in this case the right) with your knee fully bent and the underside of your foot parallel to the ground. The most common mistake at this point is where the underside of the foot is not parallel to the ground; instead the ankle is pointing downwards. The consequence of this is that your kick effects a scooping action which can damage your toes and is generally ineffective. Make sure that you maintain your guard - ie. you should keep your arms up in a defensive posture. You should maintain the same guard throughout the kick. Step 2 Sna...