High kick effectiveness and form.

[aggrippa]

I'd like to start out by saying I'm only trained in TKD past the white belt.

My instructor never went over high kicks unless they were round house kicks, reverse round house kicks or side kicks.

So I've never been sure if i should use the ball of the foot, the top or the heel when throwing a front high kick.
I know if you use your toes as a point you risk black or missing toenails or a broken toe.

I've seen a variant of this attack in modern media used where an assailant grabs a person from behind and that person performs a high kick that hits the attacker in the face. Theres never a good enough angle to tell exactly which part of the foot is striking. I would assume the toes would be the the main mode of attack. that is if it landed at all.

You would need to hyper extend your leg to some degree to hit an opponent your height rather than overshooting.

This would also be necessary if you wanted to use the ball of your foot.
Does anyone know if this is an actual attack, or just another flashy move they use for comics and shows?

Note: the photo attached is purely as a point of reference and not exactly the same as what I'm describing.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

The best answer is go back and learn in person. We can't see what you're doing so we don't know if what we say will be misinterpreted, especially if you have a very minimal amount of experience. You very well might end up overextending and pullung something if you try it incorrevtly. Take up TKD again, or another striking/kick oriented art, and you'll learn their version of a high kick when the instructor feels it's appropriate to teach it to you.

And please never try kicking someone using your toes as the point of impact.

 

[aggrippa]

Yeah. Those are the two things I'm most worried about when trying something like that.
I'm planning on going back when i have enough cash, or I find a school that doesn't tie me into a contract.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Well until then, I'd suggest not attempting something that could injure yourself and just be patient

 

[Hanzou]

I'd like to start out by saying I'm only trained in TKD past the white belt.

My instructor never went over high kicks unless they were round house kicks, reverse round house kicks or side kicks.

So I've never been sure if i should use the ball of the foot, the top or the heel when throwing a front high kick.
I know if you use your toes as a point you risk black or missing toenails or a broken toe.

I've seen a variant of this attack in modern media used where an assailant grabs a person from behind and that person performs a high kick that hits the attacker in the face. Theres never a good enough angle to tell exactly which part of the foot is striking. I would assume the toes would be the the main mode of attack. that is if it landed at all.

You would need to hyper extend your leg to some degree to hit an opponent your height rather than overshooting.

This would also be necessary if you wanted to use the ball of your foot.
Does anyone know if this is an actual attack, or just another flashy move they use for comics and shows?

Note: the photo attached is purely as a point of reference and not exactly the same as what I'm describing.

I know what kick you're talking about and its movie nonsense.

There's better and more realistic counters for someone grabbing you from behind.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Does anyone know if this is an actual attack, or just another flashy move they use for comics and shows?

Movie magic. The picture that you posted shows the problem that you'll have, which is that you can't kick your own face. Anyone that is the same height won't be to make the foot reach the face. I think when they do it in the movies it's always a smaller woman fighting taller man.

You have to keep in mind that the higher that leg goes the weaker your root will be making it easy for someone to sweep you. Extreme TKD looks cool but it was never created for the purpose of fighting. You have to separate self-defense TKD from the TKD tricking that is so popular these days.

 

[Touch Of Death]

The best answer is go back and learn in person. We can't see what you're doing so we don't know if what we say will be misinterpreted, especially if you have a very minimal amount of experience. You very well might end up overextending and pullung something if you try it incorrevtly. Take up TKD again, or another striking/kick oriented art, and you'll learn their version of a high kick when the instructor feels it's appropriate to teach it to you.

And please never try kicking someone using your toes as the point of impact.

Why not? Some freak can spend all his free time running up and down stairwells, bare-foot, and on the tips of his toes, and make him self into a very mean toe kicker. Don't limit people with your well meaning, but flawed advice. Not to mention, steel toed boots!

 

[kuniggety]

The picture that you posted shows the problem that you'll have, which is that you can't kick your own face.

Unless you're a midget.
Own Face Kicking

 

[JowGaWolf]

Maybe kicking with the toes is also an alignment issue, where if the foot

Unless you're a midget.
Own Face Kicking

And to think. I actually searched the Internet to make sure something like this wouldn't pop up lol.

 

[geezer]

Unless you're a midget.
Own Face Kicking

Wow. That's one athletic little guy!

So I went onto youtube and found several clips of dwarves kicking themselves in the forehead for laughs. ....er not really funny in my opinion, but whatever.

Then I found this. Dwarf self defense against high kicks. I like this guys moves!

Tell ya what. Don't underestimate little people. My big brother is a little guy. Not quite a dwarf, but under 5'3" at his physical prime some 45 years ago. Back then he was a state wrestling champ and serious mountaineer, now he's 65 years old and still as dangerous as a berserk chimpanzee if sufficiently annoyed.

Oh, and he's also a top ranked marksman at 1,000 yards with iron sights (no scope). He's competed internationally ...even as far away as Oz. And for fun he shoots targets at a full mile away with something called a Lapua .338 magnum. Somehow my Wing Chun just doesn't work so well at that range!

 

[ballen0351]

And please never try kicking someone using your toes as the point of impact.

That makes me cringe just thinking about it. Like hitting you toes on a coffee table at night or something

 

[Touch Of Death]

That makes me cringe just thinking about it. Like hitting you toes on a coffee table at night or something

There is a story of some famous Japanese guy, breaking the knee cap of a Dutch sailor, with the tip of his toe, but it is a lot of work, for a parlor trick.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

That makes me cringe just thinking about it. Like hitting you toes on a coffee table at night or something

I just imagine stubbing my toe on something hard and sharp, then imagine doing it intentionally, with as much force as possible. Pretty sure I'd be crying like a baby doing that.

 

[ballen0351]

There is a story of some famous Japanese guy, breaking the knee cap of a Dutch sailor, with the tip of his toe, but it is a lot of work, for a parlor trick.

Im sure its possible to build up your toes to do that but OUCH no thanks Im good

 

[Touch Of Death]

I just imagine stubbing my toe on something hard and sharp, then imagine doing it intentionally, with as much force as possible. I have a high pain tolerance, pretty sure I'd be crying like a baby doing that.

It would be a hit just hard enough thing.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I'd like to start out by saying I'm only trained in TKD past the white belt.

My instructor never went over high kicks unless they were round house kicks, reverse round house kicks or side kicks.

So I've never been sure if i should use the ball of the foot, the top or the heel when throwing a front high kick.

The TKD front kick is typically done with the ball of the foot when barefoot. Things are quite different when you're wearing shoes.

I know if you use your toes as a point you risk black or missing toenails or a broken toe.

A broken toe is at least as likely.

I've seen a variant of this attack in modern media used where an assailant grabs a person from behind and that person performs a high kick that hits the attacker in the face. Theres never a good enough angle to tell exactly which part of the foot is striking. I would assume the toes would be the the main mode of attack. that is if it landed at all.

I wouldn't do that unless I was wearing shoes, in which case I'd strike with the toes. And I probably wouldn't do it then, as it's not exactly a high percentage move...

 

[aggrippa]

I'm going to ignore the post about Yoda (and the 2 worst minutes in cinematic history it just dredged up).

Its worth noting that steel toes only lower damage from punctures, slashes and all out crushing. to get rid of the impact, you'd need to add a lot more padding than just one or two layers of socks. same as any metal armor. Otherwise your just going to jam your toes against steel instead of flesh or bone.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I'm going to ignore the post about Yoda (and the 2 worst minutes in cinematic history it just dredged up).[/QUOTE ]
Hey! Yoda would never do something that stupid!

Its worth noting that steel toes only lower damage from punctures, slashes and all out crushing. to get rid of the impact, you'd need to add a lot more padding than just one or two layers of socks. same as any metal armor. Otherwise your just going to jam your toes against steel instead of flesh or bone.

If you realize that, why would you even ask if the strike was based on using your toes??

 

[aggrippa]

because steel toes are useless for martial arts and I was curious if it was even possible.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

because steel toes are useless for martial arts and I was curious if it was even possible.

No.