You may have noticed that the staff has been spending more time on plant foot placement recently.  Proper foot position aids in balance, the execution of movements, and just as important, injury prevention.  Too many beginning martial artists get hurt, get discouraged, and choose not to continue, so let's spend a few minutes talking about what happens when we kick...

We all eventually get comfortable with the fact that pushing off of our kicking foot is what gets the ball rolling.  Weight transfer is what it's all about.  From a fighting stance with the left foot forward, a back leg (RH) roundhouse kick begins by shifting the hips forward while simultaneously pushing off with the ball of the right foot.  This will naturally drive the right knee upward so that the right leg can extend, and the foot can contact the target.  The step that normally gets missed or minimized is that during the upward knee movement, the left foot must pivot in order for the right foot to make proper contact with the target.  Without this rotation, the right foot will continue in an upward arc.  A properly executed middle-section roundhouse kick creates a leg travel that is parallel to the ground.  In order for this to happen, the left foot must pivot a minimum of 90° for a middle-section kick and as much as 180° (foot pointing away from you) for a high-section kick.

Unfortunately, our tendency is to use momentum to simply swing the leg upward to contact the target.  This usually results in sore toes at best or sore knees.  If your foot makes contact with the target anywhere other than the instep (top of the foot), there's a good chance that your plant foot is not rotating to the correct position.  Some students will mistakenly compensate for this by rotating the hips forward while leaving the plant foot flat on the ground.  This is very dangerous because it causes the knee joint to rotate against itself - something it's not designed to do.  For this reason, the knee is the most commonly injured joint in Taekwondo training.

To illustrate that a change in technique is needed, our staff may have you execute and momentarily hold a roundhouse or side kick (different kick, same issue), and then take hold of your kicking foot and rotate it to the correct orientation.  This may cause you to lose balance, fall, or feel discomfort in the knee of the plant foot leg.  This is not to make you feel foolish.  It's done to force your plant foot to rotate, thereby helping you to get in tune with your individual body mechanics.  Remember that the foundation of any effective movement is technique, so ensuring your basics are sound is our greatest responsibility.  So if you see us coming, it's not to pick on you; we just want to be sure your Taekwondo skills continue to improve, while minimizing your risk of injury at the same time.  Happy training!