roundhouse - instep or ball of foot

[Zanshin]

Great thread! Me personally, I can only strike using the instep or the shin. Whenever I try hitting with the ball of the foot, I always end up striking with my toes. Is there a trick to hitting with the ball of the foot?

I am glad that you brought this up, because it is a good point. When kicking with the ball of the foot, you have to make sure that your target is at the proper angle when striking with that area. Take a board break, for example. If I am kicking with my back leg, I line up at about a 45 degree angle to the board. That way, when I make contact, I am only making contact with the ball of the foot, and the toes are out of the way, maximizing the striking area.

That is why in sparring, you see so much instep striking. The surface is flat, and doesn't require any special angles to get to the target from. Same way with the shin. That is why the shin is so versatile as well; no angular restricitions, and it is a very hard tool, causing lots of damage.

That’s a very good observation. Range and available angles of attack are important factors.

As a practitioner of Wado, it has always puzzled me as to why roundhouse kicks are not featured in any of the Katas that we practice.

Not being totally familiar with Katas from other styles, I don’t know if they feature or not, but from most displays I have watched I don’t think feature heavily in any of the major Okinawan/Japanese styles.

Are there any Katas you know of that do have roundhouse, and if so what part of the foot is used? It could be a good insight!

[isshinryu5toforever]

The only Okinawan Karate kata I know with a round kick in it is Sunsu in Isshin-Ryu. I know that Taekwondo has one Taeguk form with round kick in it. As for the answer to the posted question, I use all different kinds of round kicks depending on the target I'm attacking and the situation.

[bushido_man96]

In TKD, Hwa-rang and Choong Moo forms have round kicks in them, as do some of the black belt forms (Ch'ang On system).

As for the Karate aspect, I think I saw somewhere on these forums that the round kick was not originally a Karate technique, but was adopted when a practitioner witnessed it in a Thai match. I can't vouge for that for certain, though; it is just what I had read.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

[pers]

I prefare to use the ball of the foot ,but once a long time ago I got dragged into a fight I had no choice but to tuk-in .

After softening my opponent with a couple of punches and as I saw him bending a bit I went for a roundhouse with the ball of my foot heading for his temple I realized the guy is in no way of defending against it so I changed it to instep , he was knocked out but I also broke the bone on top of my foot ! very painful .. !

looking back I still think I did the right thing not to hit him with the ball of the foot as I could have done a lot more damage than just knocking him out !

[Montana]

Styles vary of course, but we use the ball of the foot (we don't EVER head kick) primarily to get around your opponents arm (extra reach) that is being used to protect his ribcage. You come around behind the arm and penetrate into that area, and he'll go down either out of breath, and more likely with bruised, cracked, or broken ribs. He won't continue to fight like that.

[Montana]

...but I also broke the bone on top of my foot ! very painful .. !

Rule #1 when using a roundhouse kick with the instep...don't kick a hard target with it!

[pers]

Styles vary of course, but we use the ball of the foot (we don't EVER head kick) primarily to get around your opponents arm (extra reach) that is being used to protect his ribcage. You come around behind the arm and penetrate into that area, and he'll go down either out of breath, and more likely with bruised, cracked, or broken ribs. He won't continue to fight like that.

I agree with you , it is very effective and less risky .

[pers]

...but I also broke the bone on top of my foot ! very painful .. !

Rule #1 when using a roundhouse kick with the instep...don't kick a hard target with it!

I agree . We use the ball of the foot in shotokan ,

[straightblast]

Odds are we are not going to be in bare feet if we ever have to kick for self defense.

The type of boot/shoe that I may be wearing will dictate what part of the foot I am kicking with. If I am in my cowboy boots , I may use the toe as well if I have my work boots on wich are steel toed.

[Fish]

I find it much harder to kick with shoes on (except the lightweight MA type shoes)