When to use top of foot rather than shin when kicking

[Khongsittha_Keith]

Hey everyone,

So I've been diving into a lot of videos, and I've seen alot of knockout kicks with shins, but even more so with the top of the foot connecting rather than the shin. Can someone tell me when it's acceptable to practice kicks on the bag with the top of your foot rather than the shin and does learning overall technique suffer?

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

Hey everyone,

So I've been diving into a lot of videos, and I've seen alot of knockout kicks with shins, but even more so with the top of the foot connecting rather than the shin. Can someone tell me when it's acceptable to practice kicks on the bag with the top of your foot rather than the shin and does learning overall technique suffer?

Hey Keith, the only times I've seen the top of the foot be a factor (in a good way) in a KO is when a headkick wraps around the back of the head, behind the ear. That's a KO for sure. Other than that I can't think of a time when kicking with the top of the foot is a better idea than the shin, as the bones in the foot are pretty fragile.

[Fighting Frog]

In Taekwondo you strike with the top of the foot, and presumably a knockout can occur in the full contact sport.

I would be very very careful striking a heavy bag with the top of the foot - as Sylvie says, you can break the foot bones very easily (and I've cracked and chipped foot bones fighting in TKD). If you plan to deliberately kick a heavy bag like that I suggest you wear an instep guard and take it gently. You really do not want to smash up your foot, it can be a life changing injury, potentially far worse than breaking your shin. It's quite easy to actually kick the heavy bag with the top of the foot - just do your usual roundhouse with the shin but be a bit further away - the top of the foot strikes the back/side of the bag. I'm sure we've all done this by accident anyway!

[Fighting Frog]

I'd go further... this morning when working the heavy bag I thought I'd work a bit on my head kicks (as they are not too good). Somehow I managed a lovely high one - and my instep connected hard with the metal tag that holds the leather fold near the top of the bag. Ouchy. So far I just have a red lump, I expect by tomorrow it will be a nice shade of purple. So if you're going to deliberately kick with your instep - be careful!!!

[Jilly Mcculloch]

Hey, I would agree with the above & suggest shinnies anything with the top of the foot in training. Even focus pads. It's easy to damage your foot, esp if you are repeatedly drilling. If you  catch someone with a low guard flush to the lower side of the jaw, much like throwing a good hook, you can drop them using a more TKD style kick although accuracy is key and you really need the power on the lower leg to kick through. I favour this  type of head kick in sparring - chamber and snap - as it's easier to control the speed and power to ensure you land with a light tap. It's not strictly MT- more high kick or TKD style but I find it really useful as I am tall with a long reach.Maybe see if you can get your hands on a TKD style paddle which is really soft and designed for this style kicking or even use a noodle float wedged somewhere high. We have a rope hanging from the ceiling in the gym for conditioning - I like to tie the loose end to the ring to create a high floating target to practice high kick stuff :)