In my dojo kicks are done with the toes squeezed together and the big toe as the weapon of impact. We are taught this way from the start and expected to use it to break a single board to be granted shodan. Just training to hold the toes properly took me over seven months! Hardening my toes enough to kick is another thing. How many here practise or teach this? Uechi ryu is the only one to still teach this method as well as some Chinese styles. According to my sensei it used to be the way on Okinawa but is now rare.
