Yesterday, our dojang held a weekend competitive team training with the athletes that plan to go to nationals. It was exhausting, but also the most fun I’ve had all week. I even had some moments that felt pretty great. We practiced sparring drills, and ran conditioning exercises, and did a little bit of full-contact fighting. I also walked away with a very purple, swollen, baby toe.
In a weird way, I am proud! Well, let me clarify. I’m not proud that I put my foot in a spot that got it jammed. I REALLY need to work on that. I AM proud that I kept going. As soon as I was sure it wasn’t serious, I kept training. Today, my toe (and foot) is purple, but it’s OK. I want to talk about it because I consider these things to be proof that I got in there and didn’t sit back or let the moment pass.
However, when my 15-year-old black belt daughter asked why that keeps happening to me (because it doesn’t seem to happen to her), I had to stop and think about that. I asked around, and here’s what I came up with:
Few people realize how important it is to strengthen your feet
In our gym, we’re lucky to have an expert in sports conditioning (Mrs. C), and she doesn’t skip the feet. This weekend’s mishap helped me to appreciate that even more. Since strength training my feet is something I only recently even considered, I asked myself whether there is research on the subject. Sure enough, one 2020 study showed that just 8 weeks of foot exercises had several positive outcomes in runners:
- Participants saw an increase in foot strength up to 22.3%
- Participants saw a positive effect on running biomechanics
- Runners improved their forward propulsion (which makes them faster)
While I think strengthening the feet is important for everyone, it is likely even more important as we age.
Strong feet are especially important for Taekwondo
In Taekwondo specifically, ankle injuries are the most common risk factor. While reading about this, I found it interesting that muscle imbalances not only within the ankle architecture but also the FEET are frequently cited as the primary reason for these injuries. Evidently, weak foot muscles can also lead to weak ankles (and then calves, and then knees, and then… you get the idea). Maybe it all does begin with our feet, as Mrs. C has said all along.
Oh, and BTW, martial artists DO have a sense of humor
After thinking about it, I asked a group of 40+ year-old martial artists about my purple toe. I wanted to know whether I am particularly clumsy or if this is a typical occurrence. While some of their responses didn’t really help my sore toe, I was most definitely entertained. Jokingly, I was told that my purple toe is officially called the “Tae kwon toe.” Others jested that I could “join the club,” or teased me about my “spatial awareness.” This was all in good humor, of course, and I appreciated the feeling of camaraderie. Despite the light-hearted responses, I also got a lot of feedback that confirmed what Mrs. C and the research has said all along: don’t ignore your feet!