Martial arts: 4 exercises for toe strengthening

Master Kongling All, Conditioning, Exercises foot conditioning 6

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The improvement of toe performance

As we said in Why train fingers and toes, quite often the importance of the toes is underestimated but their contribution to the economy of a fight has not to be underestimated (for balance, to direct the body inertia, etc.).

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

To continue our toes strengthening path (started with Fortify toes: the first exercise), let’s now see other 4 exercises suitable for their development:

The first 2 exercises we are going to see are very simple and can also be performed during other activities
The other 2 exercises, instead, need a foot rather flexible and “trained” (if we have passed a certain age or we are particularly rigid it is better to perform for at least a couple of weeks the first 2)

The exercises

Let’s execute the subsequent exercises following these indications:

Let’s read How to train without risks [MINI-GUIDE]
Let’s read completely the instructions before trying to put them into practice
Let’s perform all the exercises without shoes
Let’s repeat each practice for at least 10 minutes
Let’s try to alternate as much as possible left and right sides (each time)
Especially in the beginning let’s never put too much weight on our toes (eventually we can lean our hands or forearms on a support)
If we feel unwell or hassles we must immediately stop the exercises

These movements (if executed wisely) in addition to improving flexibility and strength of the toes help to prevent the typical problems associated with the immobility of the foot.

A note by Master Kongling – For the Core Course practitioner: if we are already used to do it, while performing the exercises, we can also focus on the flow of our Qi read also Qi: meaning and application in Kung Fu.

Exercise 1

From a standing position, let’s slightly rise 1 foot
Let’s open the toes to their maximum extension (separating them as much as we can)
Let’s keep them open with strength for 3 seconds
Let’s then close them with all our strength (even pressing them to the ground)
Let’s keep them closed and under tension for 3 seconds

Exercise 2

From a standing position, let’s slightly rise 1 foot
Let’s open and close our toes
Let’s then widen and close our toes
Let’s alternate the 2 phases repeating the cycle
Let’s start with the idea of being only quick
After having acquired a certain familiarity we can also start to tighten (but without losing the initial speed)

Exercise 3

From a standing position, let’s start with feet and toes resting normally
Let’s raise the heel of 1 foot (eg. the right)
While the heel of the foot is moving let’s bend the toes frontally
The idea is to rotate the toes so that their upper part comes into contact with the ground
Let’s put our weight on them
When our feet are accustomed to the movement, we have to simulate with our knees a sort of standing run
Let’s run without advancing and always maintaining our feet in contact with the ground
The foot substantially rotates on the fingers back and forth
Let’s get moving as quickly as possible (distributing our weight)
Let’s remember to not keep the weight too long on our toes

Exercise 4

From a standing position, let’s make 2 normal forward steps
Let’s make other 2 steps but with the heel raised, only the (integral) lower part of the toes touches the ground
Let’s make other 2 steps but this time only with the tip of our toes
Let’s repeat this 6-step cycle without increasing the speed
Let’s gradually try to move as slowly as we can
In the beginning (especially if we are rather heavy) we will not be able to stand on our toes
As we improve, we can even start to carry weights (with our arms) of 15-50kg

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In-depth articles

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Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Do you feel pain while executing these practices?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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