The Way of Least Resistance

My brother Nenad demonstrates his typically excellent form on the front heel kick.  Note the slight outward angle of the foot. Something that crops up every now and again is the debate about heel kicks vs ball of foot kicks. I hear practitioners of some arts (particularly certain Chinese systems) insisting that the heel kick is better.  (Sometimes this is based on the persistent myth that kicking with the ball of foot requires bare feet , which of course it doesn't, but usually this simply reflects a technical preference.) I hear other practitioners (particularly karateka) insisting that the ball of foot is better. (Sometimes this is based on the "snap kick non-issue" to which I refer below, but again, usually this reflects a mere technical preference.) As far as I'm concerned the truth of the matter is that both are excellent weapons: their applicability depends principally on range . The ball of foot kick is suitable for a longer range because it gives ...

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...

Introduction Recently I came across this video titled " A low block is not used to block a kick, that's ridiculous ". I couldn't disagree more, and I'll explain why. A video titled "A low block is not used to block a kick, that's ridiculous" I'll start with a fundamental observation that I have used low "blocks" successfully against kicks for more than 30 years. And yes, I mean full-force kicks that are in striking range (more on range in just a moment). Bear in mind that when I refer to "blocks" I principally mean deflections or parries, not "blocks" per se. As I've often said (see my article " Why blocks DO work "), I only use the term "block" out of habit. It is a bad translation of the Japanese term "uke" (which comes from the verb "ukeru" - to receive). "Blocks" in kata can indeed be literal "stops". But more often than not, they intercept and...

A correspondent recently wrote to me asking about our martial art. He made the comment that “It seems great but a bit lacking in power.” I told him that if by that he meant visible force — yes, he was right. However “visible force” and “applied force” are 2 different things. Some techniques don't look "powerful" because they have a lot less "push". [For a detailed explanation of "force", "power" and the role these play in "hitting hard" rather than "pushing" see my article " Hitting harder: physics made easy ".] The front kick is a case in point. If you do it against a heavy bag you'll be tempted to hit it with more push so as to "feel powerful". On the other hand, when you kick a kickshield you can give it a resounding "crack" that your partner feels right through the shield but which doesn't move him or her more than a foot or 2. As a rule, we don't let students kick or punch th...