Problems with the roundhouse kick

[Sokusen]

had to look up what "Sokusen" meant. All I have to say is.... ouch! I jammed one of my toes by kicking my instructor's knee the other day, and just the thought of kicking with the toes makes me wince.

I was just joking I do not suggest you start kicking with your toes. The time and effort it takes to get your feet to form the weapon for a sokusen would be about the same amount of time and effort it would take to form the weapon to kick with the ball of the foot. The difference is you then don't necessarily have to condition the ball of your foot. So stick with what makes sense to you. And understand with any strike you work on it will take time to teach the body to form the weapon so that it becomes almost second nature.