Whats the deal with the Shotokan\ karate sidekick?

[Fat Donkey]

Ok, when I was doing Shotokan they taught the sidekick using the knife edge of the foot. Now i never understood this because it seems an unnatural way to kick! Why unnatural u ask? Because if u were to land on your foot at this angle from a one foot drop u would probably break or sprain your foot/ankle. In Muy Thai and TKD we use the sole or heel of the foot which is designed to take great stress. I want to understan the logic behind the knife edge side kick!

[Mart]

Didnt know they did that, i would be interested to hear the answer as well. I cant think of any reason to do it like this. Unless is relates to somekind of clothing or armour that was worn then that had a narrow gap, but then that would be some silly armour!

[stl_karateka]

I think I understand what you are talking about....IsshinRyu's side kick is done in that formation, but it is withi the SIDE of the HEEL, not so much the side of the foot. Is this what Shotokan is doing?

[Mart]

I just tried this is my living room and it seems to me as your foot is bent over sideways that if you landed the front part of you foot by accident you would do yourself some nasty damage.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

Over the years I've seen a number of systems, including some TKD, that use the "knife edge" of the foot to sidekick with, and I've always thought it was a good way to break an ankle, or tear tendons/ligaments. I suppose their philosophy is that because it's a smaller striking surface, that it will penetrate farther.

 

To me, I think the disadvantages and dangers of it far outweigh the advantages.

[blitzcraig]

We use the heal? dont know about the knife foot thing?

[stl_karateka]

SS, that is true about the small striking surface being an advantage, but I agree, unless you are in perfect alignment (and still not even guaranteed) that you can break something.

 

But ShorinRyu isnt this like the ShorinRyu front kick with the two-toes (are you Matsubayshi?)

 

I believe it was Anko Itosu that was famous for killing a man from internal bleeding with the penentration of the two-toe kick --- however, I am more a fan of the front kick with the ball of the foot.

[aefibird]

We practice both ways in my dojo - with the side of the foot and with the sole of the foot. Foot edge sidekicking we generally keep for kata and sometimes for solo drill work. When we're kicking in sparring we 99% of the time use the sole, the heel or the side of the heel.

 

I find that practicing with the knife edge is good for stretching and also looks a bit neater for kata. Plus, learning both ways of kicking is just another weapon in the arsenal. Karate has techniques that use many different parts of the body - eg blocking with the wrists is one of many techniques that are there in karate but don't tend to be used much. However, it's nice to have it, just in case!!

[returning_wave]

Ive never seen kickign with the knife edge, weve always kicked with the heal in our dojo, but i can see kicking with the knif edge if you were wearign heavy shoes - tried it in my raf boots and it gave more of an impact. Also harder to land awkwardly in big shoes.

[delta1]

AK kicks with the knife edge, primarily for scraping stomps or joints. I wouldn't think it would be god for apower kick against structure, though, since your foot would have to be turned sideways and down. Really poor allignment at the ankle, and a good way to get hurt (as already stated by others).

 

But I have another question. Some of you are talking about side kicking with the sole of the foot. This seems to me to be another bad way to kick. That is a soft area, as well as a large flat area (relatively speaking), so the effectiveness of the kick would be compromised. There are a lot of nerve endings there- you could hurt yourself, or even do yourself seriouse dammage. And there is no structural allignment with the striking surface and the major bones of the leg. Again, effectiveness is compromised while there is a very real chance of injuring yourself. What is the reasoning for kicking with the sole of the foot?