Targeting and Human Anatomy Part 4: Foot

As you can all see from my picture, the foot actually has two targets on it. One being the ankle, the other being the toes/top of foot.

I'm going to go ahead and roll these both into one part because they are too similar to spread between multiple posts.

I remember teaching self defense at another location, and they always wanted us to teach foot stomps. For whatever reason, this was considered a "go to" move. First thing you do, stomp the foot. The tried to sell the foot stomp as if it was something from a bugs bunny cartoon. Upon stomping a foot, they would have you believe that they attacker would lift the damaged foot up, hold it with both hands, and hop around on the other leg yelling "ouchy!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spz6foT1oSk

Here on planet earth, we know better. This is a strike that I think we are all familiar with. If you have ever been to a metal concert, a riot, or the mall of america, you know what it's like to have your foot stepped on.

Yes it hurts.

However, if you have ever tried to administer such a stomp, you know that a brief moment of bad tap dancing makes this very difficult to land. Additionally, there are many MANY documented incidents of the person having bones broken in their foot and not knowing about it, or just fighting through without hesitation.

So how do you do a foot stomp correctly? MAYBE crank it from a green to a blue? Here are some things to consider:

-Put on weight.
-Wear work boots. Tiny kung fu slippers won't cut it.

In my personal opinion, the foot stomp works best as a piece of a move, not A move.

Here's what I mean:

Stomping on the foot hurts. You could break some bones, you could even cause mechanical failure. However, if you step on a foot with a drop step, then deck the guy on a spot (like The Mark), it adds damage. We talk about this much with throws too. You all know what I mean!

So go ahead and use foot stomps, but just be aware that they are not fight enders!

See you all at class!