FEET, KNEES, AND HIPS...

 by Phillip Starr

Watch a group of beginners practice basic punches in a forward stance sometime and pay attention to their back feet; which direction are they pointed? Where is the front foot pointed? Yes, it matters.

The direction in which the foot points is (or should be) the direction in which the knee points. So, the front foot (and hence, the knee) should point directy at the target. How about the back foot? Where is it (and the knee) pointed? If it is pointed off to the side too much (more than about 30 degrees from the front), that's a bad thing. I see you furrowing your brow and wondering about this...

First off, the knee should ALWAYS be pointed in the direction of the toes, lest you risk torquing the bejeezus out've your knee joint! You'll only do it once...then you'll understand how this is true. But there's one more thing. The hip is directed by the knee. That's just how our bodies are built. So, if the back foot – which is the foot from which your power is generated by pressing it against the floor as you punch or strike – is pointed sideways, you can't rotate your hip into the blow (in the case of striking or punching with your rear hand)! Your hip is pointed off to the side! And if you're striking with your rearward hand, that means you're hitting with only the power of your arm and chest! You can rotate your front hip, but not your rear hip.

Make sense? I hope so. Now consider...what about certain movements in your forms wherein the rearmost is turned sideways and you deliver a strike or thrust with the rearmost hand? The karate kata heian godan comes to mind. You first execute a forearm block with your leading hand from a back stance (which places the feet in an “L” shape with the rear foot pointed out 90 degrees from the front foot). Then you perform a reverse punch... Surely, our martial arts forefathers were well aware of the principle we've been discussing! WHY is the rear foot turned sideways like that?

Of course, they were aware of properly using the hips and how they relate to the position of the foot! Yet, these forms have remained unchanged for a very long time...in some cases, for hundreds of years. Those techniques are supposed to be performed from that stance just as they are because...much of the time, they're not actually strikes at all! Joint-twisting and throwing techniques are sometimes disguised in this way. Inscrutable.