roundhouse - instep or ball of foot

[turbo wrx]

Hi. We recently learned the roundhouse kick, and it's challenging for me right now because my lack of flexibility. We practiced in class by holding our partner's arm. I have to get good at picking up my kicking leg high and pivoting. I guess then I'll work on low kicks and at least try to get the proper form, until I can increase flexibility and kick higher.

Anyway, my original question was going to be...

When performing roundhouse kicks, do you strike with the ball of your foot or instep? My teacher showed us by using the ball of his foot, but I definitely feel more comfortable using the instep.

P.S. On a separate note, I'm also having difficulty with side snap kicks because of the flexibility problem. Obviously I need to keep stretching. I can start it off okay, but swinging my leg up with my foot in that knife position is hard. Oh well. Practice, practice, practice...

[BlahuKahuna]

My class teaches instep, but I'm okay using either.

[cross]

When performing roundhouse kicks, do you strike with the ball of your foot or instep?

Neither. Shin.

[Menjo]

A proper shotokan roundhouse kick is performed with the ball of the foot... from JKA Shotokan.

Instep and shin kicks are taught but I think its more of a U.S. karate trait, possibly by being influenced by styles like Tae Kwon Do or Muay Thai.

About the sidekick: Thats interesting, flexibility probably does play a major role in your technique, however, almost everyone can kick to about knee level with proper supervision, and thats all youll probably need in terms of kicks in self defense.

Think of your posture, knee position, foot position, hip action, and you should be all set.

[Kieran-Lilith]

Shin and instep, always. You are Shotokan, though, and I am not, so perhaps the other Shotokan people are more qualified to answer. However, in my three years, I've only ever seen shin and instep.

[cross]

This is where Attachment to style comes into play.

Instead of looking at what part of the body will cause the most damage to the person being kicked and the least damage to the person doing the kicking. People are more concerned with "how does shotokan do it?" regardless of any reasoning behind the chosen method.

If you take a look at a couple of pictures, firstly the bones of the foot. You will notice many relatively small bones that could be easily injured if you perform a kick with even the slightest flaw in technique.

Then look at the bones of the leg and you will see the main striking surface (the tibia) is a relatively large bone that doesnt required pin-point accuracy to make the kick effective.

Just looking at that which one makes more sense to use?

Obviously if we are talking self defense you will likely be wearing shoes which will cushion the foot somewhat depending on the type of shoes. But a strong shin kick is something you will always have, footwear or not.

If your goal is to be good at shotokan then by all means use the ball of the foot or instep(or whatever your teacher tells you to). But if you ever intend to use the kick for self defense you may want to do some research and consider all your options.

[karatekid1975]

I was taught all three (shin, ball of the foot, and instep). To me, it depends on what I'm doing or happening at the time. I spar using the instep (per TKD rules), break with the ball of my foot, and in SD or bag work, the shin. When I'm working out at home on B.O.B, I use my shin (or if someone is holding an airshield bag).

[Montana]

All three--instep, ball and shin. Each has it's own purpose and targets, depending on what is open and what your objective is .

Oh, almost forgot...kicking the same as you would with the ball of your foot, but using your big toe as the striking point.

[TraditionalDan]

It can be either, but generally in karate it's the ball of the foot.

Although it is easier to use the shin, or instep, you can project a great amount of force/shock in a round kick using this method.

With the ball of the foot, it is all this force concentrated on a smaller surface area, so as for a more 'damaging' and penetrating technique.

Which is why people use the ball of the feet to break with, if you practice with the ball of the foot, the shin/instep will become easy.

[P.A.L]

i use toe and shin.