Why point down the does when kneeing?

In muay thai, why is it so important that the toes point downwards when you are kneeing?

 

I've wondered this myself, I suppose in a sports context pointing your toe down can help avoid groin strikes.

 

It pulls the lower leg tight into the upper leg.

 

I've heard it helps lock your knee-cap in place as well.

 

I could toss 2 ideas out there if your refering to a straight knee.

One being obvouse, you get more power if your lower leg is tigher to your upper leg(you can feel the diffrence from trying both ways)

Second maybe a protective mesure? if your using the front of your knee, and your dont pull your lower leg tight with your upper leg your ACL and all those injury prone ligaments look to be on the front of your "weapon" more.

Again these are just speculations, when i started MT it just felt better to do it the proper way so i never had to ask why.

 

So I just tried throwing a knee with the toes pointed up, and it feels really awkward. Toes down has always felt more natural to me, I'm guessing it also aids with body mechanics.

 

It's to help you knee forward into your opponent rather than knee upwards.

 

Also, jammed toes suck even worse than jammed fingers. You get more of a thrust when you are able to keep your toes pointed down.

Toes up, if something happens and you get a kick, or even just awkward positioning and your toes catch them in the shin/knees on the way up, it can really screw up your day.

Anyone that has experienced Turf Toe knows the answer to this.

 

I teach ankle flexed (toes up) for blocking and ankle extended (toes down) for kneeing.

 

Yeah, you'll usually hear deviation between toe position when it comes to checking kicks, but toes down is pretty much the universal standard for throwing a straight knee.

 

wow if you do both you can feel the difference big time. i guess i dont really care "why" so much haha im not sure if this is the way i was doing it before but i sure as hell will now

 

also, i think alot of it has to do with the foot rolling up toward the toes as it leaves the ground, just like it does when you jump. The foot is like a spring and if you are using it properly to generate power, your toes should be pointed down.

 

when you point the toes down, the point of the knee is more pronounced.

 

Its also easier to break the toes when they are pointed up - I had a Martial Arts Instructor break one of his toes that way.

 

As others have said if you leave your toes up it leaves them out there to get caught and possibly broken or jammed if the other guys goes to block, kick, etc....

Also like someone else said it's probably the way the foot oushes off the floor. If you're generating the right amount of force the toes should end up pointing down...

 

i've always been taught that its to help against injuring your toe

having said that, i sparred back in december with a relative newb in muay thai who hadnt quite figured out the kicking aspect and i did a legcheck like this with toes pointed down, except his kicked ended up being more soccer styled so the kick came from below as opposed to the side.

so i took the whole kick on my big toe which broke vertically across the bone i.e right down the middle, as opposed to a clean horizontal break

fucker