2026-05-11

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

We do a several exercises designed to increase toe flexion - the ability to bend the toes back out of the way so front kicks and roundhouse kicks make impact with the ball of the foot.

• Starting from a kneeling position, we curl the toes under and sit back on our heels, backs upright, keeping weight on our toes, to help improve flexibility.
• Laying on our stomachs with our weight on our arms (think of a low plank position, but with your waist on the ground) we alternate kicking the floor with both legs to teach the toes to bend out of the way on impact.

But unless you actually pull your toes out of the way when kicking, those drills aren’t worth doing. It’s easy to “kick air” without bending your toes out of the way. You’re not hitting anything, so there’s no instant (and painful) feedback when you do it wrong. That only happens when you actually kick something and, unless you do bag work or makiwara training, free-sparring is where it usually comes up. Even when kicking lightly to the body, it’s important to get those toes out of the way.

That’s why I recommend adding some kind of impact training, even if it’s only lightly kicking a wall, at ever-increasing heights, to train your toes to get out of the way. Breaking your toes during a kick isn’t only painful and embarrassing, it prevents you from running away.