Striking point

[Dirty Dog]

I'm curious. Using bare feet, do you train side kicks to impact with the heel, the knife edge, or both?
How about the roundhouse: instep, ball , or both?

For me, the answer is BOTH to both.

In watching others at our dojang, I see most people doing sidekicks purely with the heel, but roundhouses are taught both ways.

 

[seasoned]

I'm curious. Using bare feet, do you train side kicks to impact with the heel, the knife edge, or both?
How about the roundhouse: instep, ball , or both?

For me, the answer is BOTH to both.

In watching others at our dojang, I see most people doing sidekicks purely with the heel, but roundhouses are taught both ways.

Knife edge, but, the edge of the foot that is in line with the kicking leg.
Roundhouse, both. The instep is good for plummeting, the ball is good for pinpointing a strike. I feel it is harder to block the ball because of the angle of the foot coming into the target.

 

[andyjeffries]

Side kicks with the knife edge of the foot.

Roundhouse with the instep. If we are doing destruction we'll switch to the ball of the foot, but aside from that instep in every case.

 

[Dirty Dog]

With roundhouses, we teach striking with the instep for sparring, but the ball of the foot for fighting or breaking (or breaking while fighting...).

Similarly, we teach the hook kick with the ball of the foot for sparring and the heel for fight/breaking.

 

[chrispillertkd]

Side piercing kicks are done with the foot-sword. Personally, I have found that using the heel of the foot puts me in a position that is more akin to that at the end of a back kick than an actual side kick (but done without any sort of spin or turn).

Turning kicks (roundhouse kicks) are done with either the ball of the foot or the instep when executed with no shoes on. The attacking tool used has more to do with what the target is than whether or not you're sparring or training for self-defense. Ball of the foot only for breaking. I've seen people break up to 3 boards with their instep; something I'd never try, personally. But then, I like to be able to walk

With shoes on a turning kick with the toes can be quite effective (provided the shoes are hard enough).

Pax,

Chris

 

[oftheherd1]

In the Hapkido I learned the heel for a mid-side kick, heel hook kick, front face/chin kick, knee after contact with the ridge edge. Back kick also is a heel kick, as is a heel down kick when an opponent is on the ground.

Instep for a face kick and some others. That may or may not be a classic roundhouse, since I was taught to try to raise the leg straight, and turn and kick to the face with the instep. I don't do that well. It's beautiful when done correctly since it is difficult to impossible to defend. Insteps can be used with inner and outer face kicks, but usually, the inner will favor the heel.

Leg strikes may be toe to the inner thigh, heel to the standing knee after the incoming kick is deflected with the instep, low ankle strike with the heel using a spinning kick droping to the floor, toe-ridge-heel, part or all to the shin in a outside to inside kick.

In the TKD I learned, most kicks were the toe or heel. Of course I only got to green belt, and I might have learned more later. I remember Mr. Rhee using a heel hook kick once that took us all by surprise since we had never seen it before.


All the above so say I think whatever works best is what to do, unless a form requires a certain part of the anatomy. Of course again, in the Hapkido I learned, making something work best was always the goal, if the normal way it was taught just didn't work for an individual.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

With roundhouses, we teach striking with the instep for sparring, but the ball of the foot for fighting or breaking (or breaking while fighting...).

Similarly, we teach the hook kick with the ball of the foot for sparring and the heel for fight/breaking.

Yeah, what he said :ultracool

 

[SahBumNimRush]

As for side kicks we use both the knife edge and the heel.

 

[sfs982000]

For side kicks I use both, it just depends on the situation, I tend to use the knife-edge more for sparring and the heel for breaking. The roundhouse kicks we're taught to use both the ball and the instep, the instep more for sparring and the ball for breaking and pin point strikes.

 

[dancingalone]

If you have time to practice with both surfaces, then do so. These day in my classes I teach the heel side kick and the instep roundhouse for the most part to free up practice time for other things.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

I'm curious, does anyone break with the instep for roundhouse kicks? We only use the ball of the foot, just curious what others do.

 

[dancingalone]

I'm curious, does anyone break with the instep for roundhouse kicks? We only use the ball of the foot, just curious what others do.

Not me. It already stings the ball of my foot quite a bit when I use a RH to break 3 boards. I can't imagine breaking the same number of boards with an instep kick would be fun.

I am curious if it is painful to break 1 board with RH instep kick. Might have to try it sometime.

 

[andyjeffries]

I'm curious, does anyone break with the instep for roundhouse kicks? We only use the ball of the foot, just curious what others do.

They certainly do for demos in Korea. Here's a picture I took of the KNSU demo team in London:

 

[Dirty Dog]

I'm curious, does anyone break with the instep for roundhouse kicks? We only use the ball of the foot, just curious what others do.

I have. I've done a max of 3 boards with the instep and the ball of the foot. Breaking with the ball of the foot felt more natural, but that be (at least in part) because that's the way I was taught the roundhouse as a kid. I didn't learn the instep kick until I was an adult.

As with any other break I've ever done, it only hurt if I failed to break.

 

[Manny]

I tend to use the heel of the foot when doing side kicks/back kick/spining back kick and I tend to use the instep for the roundhouse. I was taught to use the heel of my foot when performing any kind of side kick but I know of people trained to use the edge of the foot, personally I like the impact (trusting) of the heel the most.

Manny

 

[SahBumNimRush]

They certainly do for demos in Korea. Here's a picture I took of the KNSU demo team in London:

View attachment 16371

Yes, but I'm not really concerned by this, since those are "demo" boards. AKA 1/2 inch empress wood.

 

[RobinTKD]

Both for both. I was taught to use the ball of the foot for hook kicks and reverse turning kicks only in sparring, but when hitting the pads, breaking etc I use the heel, the ball of the foot is more like a hard slap to the face where as the heel should feel like a sledgehammer, or at least that's how it was described to me.

 

[ACJ]

Heel for side.
Shin or instep for roundhouse.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Sidekick = heel. Roundhouse = both.

 

[Jaeimseu]

I teach to hit primarily with the heel for sidekick, especially for breaking. For the roundkick, I almost always teach to use the instep for roundkick. If a student needs to break "real" materials (not demo boards) then I would teach the option to use the ball of the foot.