LaurenW Posted September 7, 2017 Posted September 7, 2017 Hi all. Just want to send a quick thank you to everyone for their amazing work. I purchased a few of Kit's classes (and one of Dave's) and really love the high quality material! Frankly, just one go 'round with the boxing the compass stretch in Master the Squat and my heels were already brushing the ground...it felt amazing ;)! However, I have one question in particular if the title wasn't a dead give away. Bit of extra info--about fifteen years ago I was an avid practitioner of Tae Kwon Do...my hips were great and I was able to bend my big toe almost to where I could rest on the ball of my foot. Now...not so much. I didn't even think of this as a necessary ability until I moved to Japan. I've begun my martial arts practice once more (Iaido and Karate) and both pretty much necessitate my being able to rest on the ball of my foot, especially Iaido as that is how I push off to perform many strikes and sitting back on my heels is also crucial. Sadly, my big toe won't cooperate! A simple lunge becomes even more difficult because my lack of toe mobility causes my (already) tight ankle to tilt outward, which throws my knee off track, which really messes up my balance :(. Also, I'm spending a lot more time on the floor, and lacking that key bit of mobility, on top of tight hips, makes that harder than need be. I don't know what to do, basically, nor where to start really! I've tried doing a kneeling toe stretch (basically trying to tuck my toes under as I try to rest on the balls of my feet) but frankly it becomes excruciating and it's impossible to relax and breathe into it when my thighs are shaking from the effort. Honestly, I'm afraid I've made things worse as I immediately associate that movement with pain and sometimes I feel myself tense when attempting the stretch. I can't even really sit back into it, as I'm always leaning forward. Does anyone have any thoughts? My lower half is pretty tight, so would my toe dorsiflexion improve with that? I don't know. Regardless, thank you very much for any insight.
Nathan Posted September 7, 2017 Posted September 7, 2017 Hi Lauren, Welcome to the forums! Have you seen Kit's foot sequence? It's available for free on YouTube here. There are also many threads about the feet and toes on the forums, so I'd definitely recommend doing a search and reading through a few of those. Lots of gold to be found! You might also find something that helps in this article. I live in Japan, also, by the way. Did you move here just recently? What part are you located in? I'm in Fukuoka down south
LaurenW Posted September 7, 2017 Author Posted September 7, 2017 Hi Nathan! I have not seen the foot sequence! I'm terrible at searching, it seems! The article was very helpful as well, thank you. I'll try passive and active flexing as well. It looks like fixing my toes can't really be done in isolation... I moved here about a year ago, actually. I'm in the Aizu region in Fukushima prefecture, so towards the north and middle of the country. I love it. 1
Nathan Posted September 7, 2017 Posted September 7, 2017 It's true! We love the idea of isolation, but nothing about our body is isolated or works in isolation. But that's what makes us so robust, too! Please also spend some time reading through the flat foot thread if you have not already. At first glance, it may seem unrelated, but it is several pages long and explores several foot-related issues. The gold is almost always hidden in the comments! Glad you're enjoying Japan! I've only made it up to Tohoku once when I visited Sendai a couple of years ago for a conference. It was beautiful! I would love to visit more of the area, but just never really get the chance to go much further north than Tokyo. Are you on the JET program perhaps?
LaurenW Posted September 8, 2017 Author Posted September 8, 2017 Thank you! I am in the JET Program. I'm hoping to stick around afterward. Tohoku is truly lovely, especially in the fall. I'll take a look at the flat foot thread. I probably didn't give it the attention it needed, to be honest. It seems silly to have done so, in hindsight. I truly appreciate the help! 1
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now