This little tip regarding throwing a front kick should help your balance, power, coordination, fluidity and over-all skill:
Lifting the heal off the ground is an easy habit to acquire but a difficult one to get rid of. When kicking with a front kick it is important to keep the entire foot planted on the ground. The toes and heel both, remain on the ground until just after impact and when it becomes necessary to move for follow up techniques. That is the key.
Often newer students do not have much stretch. So they might add to the height of their kick by pushing up onto their base foot toes. Students who are in a rush to “follow through” with another move from the front kick often lift their heel up as well. However, if that is done at the moment of impact, it can cause a slip and fall scenario for them – in particular, if the resistance to the kick is very strong.
For example: many malls have tiling and are slippery surfaces. It becomes very dangerous for the kicker in that environment. It is already easy to fall from being on only one foot. But, it is even easier for that to happen if the heel picks up and remains up in an unstable foot position at the moment of impact. It’s almost a sure thing that the kicker will slip.
To correct this bad habit, train your kick slowly, keep the base foot planted solidly and repeat 10,000 times! That should do it. (and have a fellow student watch to see that you’re doing it correctly. You might not actually know by feel, for a while)
Remember: do not rush your follow up at the expense of quality technique. Rushing doesn’t make you a better martial artist, faster or a stronger fighter. Each move you make has its place. It’s like pearls on a necklace: they are all there in a beautiful row but none actually take the place of another — that’s impossible. The fluidity of our techniques work like that. They’re connected and congruent but each one stands on its own without interrupting any of the others in the sequence you are performing. Without controlling this situation, your techniques can easily become counter productive.
Thank you for the lesson. So far, I have not been aware of whether or not I lift my foot when doing a front kick but I am going to go start on those 10,000 kicks right now and see if I am.
Thank you again!
I am going to have to practice my 10,000 front kicks for I do not know if my heel lifts up or not. I do know I give away which kick I am going to throw by lifting up that foot before I throw my kicking foot. Do you have any suggestions other than 10,000 times?
🙂 I think “ten thousand” times pretty much cures everything! Great seeing you both come by. Thanks! See ya in class.
I know I’m still working on this, and I think I’ve done about 10,000 front kicks (or so) in 8 years. It also goes back to the saying- practice does not necessarily make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. So, if I’m training a front kick, trying to get more height out of it but I’m not careful of my heel coming off the ground, this will eventually feel natural and I’ll end up kicking the wrong way and not feeling a thing. I need to be aware of this tendency. As PGMB mentions in the article, having a partner to train with- another set of eyes- helps tremendously as well.
Awesome, I see what you are explaining. I am starting my 10,000 kicks per leg today. I should be done with those by my next visit:)
I really enjoy this philosophy of the pearls on a necklace…..each one is connected but also each one is different and unique. Lots of layers!!!