New to TKD

[DLopez]

Ahhh...

 

I wouldn't worry about those issue at this point in your training. Becoming flexible takes time. Don't measure yourself against others, rather, measure your progress against yourself.

 

In Kuk Sool Won, we have the "Two P's" that we must constantly remind ourselves as to what it takes to become a good martial artist - Patience and Perseverence!

 

Don't be in such a hurry, but stick with it, even though it feels painful now. Slowly, your body will begin to change and after a while you will become much more flexible.

[tommarker]

Flexibility will come with work. Some people come in with previous athletic experience that gives them great flexibility, but plenty of people come in who can barely touch their toes.

 

Don't sweat it

[Mc. Steve]

For harder feet I used to run around local streets barefoot for a while. Don't go too far to start with, coz then ya gotta get back, but watch out for glass an stuff :S

 

Steve

[embm]

We teach our students a quick rule of thumb when kicking, blade your foot or break your toes. Hitting with the flat of the foot is not a kick, it is a push. We don't have breaking for rank testing until blue belt, however, we do have breaking for demo purposes prior to that. We use 1 inch thick white pine for breaking and depending on the size strength of the person executing the technique, the board will be from 8 to 12 inches long. Our team was involved in a demo where another school was also doing breaks, but using 1/4 inch balsa wood with shavings on top. . . . what's the point of that???

[zerolimitii]

We teach our students a quick rule of thumb when kicking, blade your foot or break your toes. Hitting with the flat of the foot is not a kick, it is a push.

 

could u be a bit more specific on what ur saying, i dont really understand.

[embm]

Sit on the floor and point your toes, so that there is a horizontal plane going down from your knee to your toes. Now flex your toes back so that you are highlighting the ball of the foot (this is the area below your toes and above the arch of the foot). That is the kicking surface we use for front kicks and roundhouse kicks (except for courtesy rounds when sparring).

 

If you are striking with the entire surface of the foot, toes to heel, it is more of a push than a kick, since it does not effectively penetrate the target.

[specialk0783]

When doing a roundhouse your toes/ankle should be flexed downward to strike with the large bone on top of your foot/instep....using the ball of your foot on the roundhouse is asking to break toes, though it is good for the front kick because the simple direction of the front kick.