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 Technical Forum

This kick is generally a low kick and used for horizontal targets. It is named such because you are kicking with the ball of the foot.

From the neutral bow position, the lead foot pivots to face forward and the rear leg/foot will execute the kick. The lead leg will stay bent at the knee and the weight will become centered over it for the duration of the kick. The back alignment should be straight, the knee of the rear leg raises to a level perhaps just above the height of the target and the kick should be delivered with a ‘snap’. The toes of the foot should be pulled back as far as possible and the foot should be fully flexed, presenting the ball of the foot as the striking surface.

• The power from this kick comes from the snap created by the muscles in the kicking leg. The stability is created from the bend in the knee of the other leg. The placement of the kick is determined almost solely by the placement of the knee on the kicking leg. When these items brought together, the kick becomes very solid.
• Sifu spent a fair amount of time describing the elements of this kick. He had me stand on one foot with my leg locked straight and after a few moments he pointed out that I should be having a harder time balancing like that. The reason was because the muscles in my foot and ankle were making the adjustments required to maintain my balance. Without putting my other foot down, he told me to simply bend my knee. Immediately, my foot relaxed and the larger muscles in my leg took over the chore of making those adjustments for balance. My one legged position felt all at once quite solid and it is from a similar position that the ball kick is executed from.
• The next part of this kick is the placement or “aiming”. The snap is very important because that is where the power of this kick is coming from. If the knee is too low for the target you are kicking, the natural correction is to lift the leg during the kick. This action completely counters the power created by the snap and the result is a much weaker “pushing” action instead of a kick. Positioning the knee so that it is elevated just above the height of the target allows for the full snap of the kick and ensures that you won’t be pushing the kick instead.
• The final key ingredient is the position of the foot. Bill stated that I should imagine a “string” that I could pull from my toes so that they will point back up toward me when I kick. This exposes the ball of the foot and gets the toes out harms way. Kicking with the toes could conceivably do more damage to you than the attacker. When the kick properly connects, it will be the ball of the foot snapping at the end of the kick.