Published: 7/22/2023

By Spencer Sensei

My uncle was a carpenter. When I was a teen, I watched a group of men build a church from the ground up. It all started with the foundation. Nothing could be done until the foundation of the building was right. In my religious teaching we were taught the fundamentals of our faith. This was called the foundational teaching. Nothing can stand unless the foundation is strong. This also applies to personal combat. My son recently broke his foot, or to be more exact a bone in his ankle. His mobility has been greatly reduced, and his ability to defend himself is next to zero. This is because his foundation has been compromised.

I have had several injuries in the forty or so years of my training and teaching. Most memorable were a boxer’s fracture and a dislocated rib. The hand was from improper bag work and the rib was a sparring accident. We played a little harder in the old days. The hand in a cast was problematic, but it did not disrupt my everyday routine. The rib injury, however, cost me several nights of sound sleep, but it too did not slow me down. In the mid-eighties I was sparring in a tournament and threw a high hard roundhouse kick that my opponent stopped with the point of his elbow. It landed perfectly on my ankle joint and dropped me to the floor. I could not stand up. Two black belts lifted me to my feet so I could bow out of the match. My foundation was compromised, and the fight was over.

There are over thirty small bones in the foot. Break one or two of these bones and your mobility is compromised. You basically become a punching bag. I recently was reviewing an old training video that my first Isshin-ryu instructor made in the nineties over how to shin kick an opponent’s ankle. When this video was made, I didn’t see the value in this technique. In 2021 Conor McGregor was injured with the same technique I saw on that video. It shut down his career for two years. Another technique I was taught was the stomp to the top of the foot. Again, when I was taught this technique, I didn’t see the value.

In the AOKK we stress kicking with the shin and not the foot. Many schools teach striking with the top of the foot. This exposes all the small bones of the foot to injury. Arguably, on the street you will be wearing shoes, so you have some protection, but that thin layer of leather is not as protective as the padding worn on the feet while sparring. Side kicking with the sole of the shoe is your best bet. Other schools teach striking with the ball of the foot. This is safer, but harder to do in street shoes. Still, you can strike with the toe of the shoe because most footwear manufacturers reinforce this area of the footwear. Again, if you damage the bones in your foot you are at a disadvantage, so use the larger bones of the leg as your kicking weapons.

Today I reviewed a few UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) matches on television to see if the competitors ever purposely attacked the opposition’s feet. Often, I saw two competitors lock-up in an attempt to throw their opponent, but neither of them stomped the other’s foot or side of the knee. This should be the first area they attack given the opportunity. Break and opponent’s foot and you control his or her mobility. This also makes throwing the adversary easier. Breakdown the foundation and the house will fall. Even a mighty oak will fall if you chop it down at its base.

Women that are attacked should utilized the stomp. Drive the heel of your shoe into the attacker’s shin and scrape down the shin driving your heel into the top of their foot. Claw at their face, stick your fingers in their eyes, knee their groin, and repeatedly stomp on the aggressor’s foot because if you get the opportunity to run you will need the advantage.

Even the mythological mighty Achilles was brough down by an injury to the foot. Do not do as I did and neglect this part of your training. Remember if you cannot walk you cannot fight. Learn from my mistakes.