The Old Okinawan Karate Toe Kick:

Part 1 – Introduction & Execution

By Christopher Caile

Editor’s Note: This article is the first in a series on toe kicks as practiced in old Okinawan karate. Part 1 of this series introduces the subject and provides the basics of how this kick is performed. Part 2 will discuss some of the great masters who used this technique, their targets and some of the strategy of applications. Part 3 will discuss the conditioning and development of the toes that is necessary to use this kick effectively without injury to oneself.

The tip of the toe kick (tsuma saki)(1) was practiced as part of old Okinawan karate. Here it is used to target the floating ribs as the arm is captured and pulled back.

Not long ago after karate class I was practicing a special old Okinawan form of front kick. Another student was watching and after I finished he asked, “What kind of kick was that? It looks like you were kicking with your toes.”

“Yes, I replied. “It is the old form of front kick, not usually seen. In our style (Seido Juku Karate) it is only taught to a few senior students. It’s very powerful, but to make it work the toes need a lot of conditioning.”

The student’s response was not unusual. “Ouch, forget that. I try to avoid hitting my toes, not kicking with them.” This is an understandable response. Teaching toe kicks to most students would only result in broken toes and loss of these students.

Uechi ryu karate has its own unique method of toe kick using the tip of the big toe (called Sokusen). In this kick the toes are pulled back (in a bent position) and tightened into position. In this style it is the only kick used in the kata brought back from China. (Photo courtesy of Alan Dollar).

In the early 20th century in Okinawan karate the toe kick was common. Today, however, even in Okinawa many styles, such as Goju Ryu no longer actively teach this kick, although there are exceptions. (4) The kick is also recognized in Shotokan and some other Japanese styles including my own Seido Juku, but is very rarely taught. Only within the Uechi Ryu, some Shorin-ryu styles such as Kishiba Juku, Matsybashi and Matsumura Seito, does the toe kick play an important role in their teaching. (5)

Toe kicks using the tip of the toes as a striking surface can be very powerful, precise and penetrating. If they target weak points in an opponent’s body structure (pressure points), they can also disable. They are also perfectly suited to the modern world where people wear leather or hard tipped shoes – the toe of which can prove to be an effective pinpoint weapon.

Sensei Jeff Brooks, a Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu stylist (where the toe kick is taught as a primary weapon) (6) notes that it “is very valuable for all martial artists to know. Most confrontations happen outside the dojo and mostly you will be wearing shoes. With a toe tip kick you get the maximum penetration of the full wedge of the foot. And what’s more, with or without shoes, the entire force of the kick is delivered by and focused into a small area, for multiples of force per square area greater than the equivalent power behind a ball kick.”

Usually the front leg is used for toe-tip kicks. It is a fast offensive or defensive weapon (able to block a kick). The knee is lifted and the kick is snapped into the target, but without driving with the hips as is often used when the back leg is used for snap kicks. Execution is very fast. Since most targets are usually low, the distance traveled is short.

Many old Okinawan kata applications, te (old Okinawan indigenous fighting techniques) and torite (capturing and restraining techniques) (9) techniques combine blocks, grabs, and strikes along with off balancing or tripping. These will often be taught as one, two three combinations, but advanced practitioners will perform them simultaneously.

The rear leg can also be used for a toe kick in self-defense and in freefighting. Like a reverse punch, the back leg toe kick can produce more power by adding the hip and the body into the attack, but it is slower to target since it must travel a longer distance.

During the execution of both front and rear leg toe kicks the kicking leg can be quickly withdrawn. Greater effect is generated, however, if the kick is held on the target for a fraction of a second. Phillip Koeppel Sensei, who teacher Matsumura Seito Shorin ryu karate (head of the United States Karate-Do Kai) (11) stresses the importance of keeping the toe on target for a short period to maximize the neurological impact of the kick. Research has also shown that neurological target points have greater response if a strike continues to maintain contact for 3/10th of a second. (12)

Some teachers and styles of karate, however, teach to withdraw the kicking foot quickly. This prevents the leg from getting caught and allows execution of repeated kicks. In Uechi-ryu, for example, the front hand like the front foot is considered the first line of defense. Being closest to the opponent, both the front hand and front foot can be quickly executed toward an incoming attacker.

In kicking with the toes, remember to keep the foot flat when the knee is cocked if the kick is short and horizontal, such as to targets on the inside of the lower leg. The angle of the kick can also rise, such as when kicking into targets like the lower abdomen. But be careful, if the toes are angled to far upward the kick will slip off its target. When kicking vertically upward with the toes, the ankle is bent.

If you have been born and bred on the standard ball of the foot front or roundhouse kick, however, you will at first find the toe kick hard to execute. Your toes will seem to rise when you lift your foot. And if you are trained to keep your ankle straight (toes up) and you lift your foot for a front kick, trying to keep the ankle bent (the foot flat) and toes down too will prove to be a daunting task. It takes practice.

Watch for the next article in this series which will discuss a variety of subjects including: famous masters who used toe kicks, targets, combinations techniques, and strategy.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. The intent of this article is to provide information on the historical roots of the technique and practices related to the development and methods of early karate and related arts. It is not the intent for the content of this article, or techniques demonstrated or discussed herein to be practiced or adopted within the curriculum of present day martial arts practice. The techniques described and illustrated may seriously harm an opponent or training partner and readers are not encouraged to use or practice them. If the reader wants to perform any martial art technique he or she is advised to do so only with proper supervision and training of a qualified instructor or teacher certified within the art to be practiced.

Footnotes:

(1) The toe kick is also alternately called tsumakasaki geri, ashi no yuba (toes), or ashi nukite (foot spear). In Uechi Ryu karate it is known as sokusen.

(2) I started practicing toe kicks in earnest when I was allowed into a small Chinese family martial arts system in Toronto. Of course in most Chinese systems shoes were worn, although they were flexible. In China this tradition of using toe kicks is widespread. One Chinese system specializes in them, Tam Tuie (Tam Toy, Tom Toy, et al). This system consists of one form (versions from 10 to 12 to more rows of techniques). A row is a series of techniques done in an east-west axis, and then the row reverses in the opposite direction for the next series (often found in Northern systems of Shaolin, Tai Chi, N. Mantis, N. Eagle Claw, etc). One form is a complete system in its own right. The kicks are delivered with great force and at toe, ankle and lower shin heights as well as into the mid leg range. The kicks are practiced with a lock out focus, and there are layers of delivery. One advanced variation has the toes dragged across the floor to slingshot off the floor at the end for a very different angle of delivery, where the first variations are thrust kicks out parallel to the floor. The famous Jing Mo (Ching mo, et al) association used it as one of the dozen basic forms all members first studied (all of which are very complex in their own rights). Jing Mo members would then study their instructor’s primary arts, such as Northern Eagle Claw, after those forms for basics. The art of Faan Tai Ying Jow Pai, utilizes the entire range of Chinese kicking technique (including aerial and ground technique) and in the most advanced forms, Tam Tuie kicking is most definitely a part of the study. (I want to thank Victor Smith for supplying some of the above information.)

(3) This is the preferred toe kick position in many styles of Okinawan karate. Many old masters, however, used the natural toe position, including Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura of my own Seido Juku Karate. I have also seen photos of feet where the toes are wrapped down and balled (like a karate fist) so the striking surface is the first and second big knuckle of the foot. This is very unnatural for most people, however. It takes training from birth and is virtually unseen today.

(4) While training in Miyazato Ei’ichi’s Jundokan (Goju-Ryu) in Naha, Okinawa in 1994, for example, I never saw the toe kick used (Miyazato is one of several Okinawan teachers who were senior students of Chojun Miyagi, founder of Goju-Ryu karate. Miyazato is considered one of the inheritors of Miyagi’s system) . According to Glenn Cunningham (Jundokan for NYC), he asked Masaji Taira (a leading teacher in the Naha Jundokan headquarters, who is known for his innovative kata applications) about toe kicks and was told that toe kicks were still used occasionally, but were taught primarily to kick up under the groin when you had captured an opponent’s kicking leg.

(5) It is perhaps understandable that many aspects of old Okinawan karate were changed when teaching changed from small groups of dedicated students, to a larger class structure in Okinawan schools, to GI’s (on Okinawa) or in Japan, to the general public and university students. Emphasis changed. The goal of karate was no longer life-and-death self-defense and personal protection. In the Okinawan school system in the early 1900’s karate was used as a means of physical development. When it was transplanted to Japan karate eventually joined judo and kendo as a means of personal discipline and spiritual development. In its new role painful body conditioning, and especially toe conditioning, were seen as irrelevant. Why take years conditioning the toes when by simply bending them up and kicking with the ball of the foot a student could quickly learn to do an effective front kick?

(6) Many readers of FightingArts.com will recognize Jeff’s name. He is a frequent contributor who writes articles about Zen. He also writes a column under the name of the Zen Mirror. Jeff’s new book “Tje Rhinoceros’s Tale” can be found in FightingArts.com’s e-store under “Books”, in the category “Zen And The Martial Arts.”

(7) This is a very vulnerable point, which some texts consider a death point (known as “perineum” in Traditional Chinese Medicine).

(8) This type of technique is also seen in many styles of jujutsu. In diato-ryu aikijujutsu, for example, this kick is also the finish to the basic technique of Ippon Dori. The technique starts where an opponent’s downward sword cut is stopped and redirected down and to the side by dropping the body forward and down toward the technique while intercepting the opponent’s arm (under the elbow) with your left open hand (catching the impact with the little finger side of the lower palm). The attack is then further redirected down and to the side. Arm bar is applied with a kick to the neck or face, and then body weight is applied to the arm bar to break the elbow. Of course practice is much gentler.

(9) This point is sometimes referred to as the “The Blood Point” because a sharp blow can also effect a major vein running through this area (great saphenous vein) causing the inside of the thigh to turn black and blue.

(10) Te and torite techniques were often taught by some old masters, such as Hohan Soken along with karate and kata. They were often practiced side by side and seen as complementary. Te means hand and it refers to a category of old Okinawan open hand and weapon techniques that existed prior to the development of modern karate. Many historians believe that “te (also known a “ti”)” techniques were combined with Chinese fighting methods during the development of karate (which originally too had different names). Many torite techniques, however, are also embedded within kata, but difficult to recognize. Torite techniques are in some styles referred to a “karamiti” or “kakushu”. They are complementary to what some call “muchini” (drapping and sticky hand movements) used as part of the above.

(11) Koeppel is a 10 dan, and head of a large international karate organization that teaches traditional Okianwan karate based on the teachings of the legendary karate master Hohan Soken. Koeppel has 40 + years of karate experience under the tutelage of some of Okinawan great teachers including Fusei Kise, Yuichi Kuda and Kousai Nishihira– all inheritors of Hohan Soken’s White Crane influenced old-style karate system passed down from Bushi Matsumura, the great Okinawan master and fountainhead of Okinawan karate practice. Koeppel was this author’s first teacher (1959). On my travels to Peoria, Illinois where he is based (a former family business) I was able to continue my relationship with Koeppel. He is very knowledgeable.

(12) Research done by the PPCT Management Systems, Inc. in the early 1980’s, a company specializing in teaching defensive tactics to law enforcement personnel, included the use of specific pressure points to assist in gaining compliance when necessary. Their research found that different types of strikes seem to elicit different muscular reactions. The most reliable motor (muscular) dysfunction (which inhibits secretion of the neural transmitter acetylcholine which acts to fire resistive muscle action) for targets identified to be struck was when the target received maximum kinetic energy transfer. This was achieved with what they called, “the fluid shock wave” strike which “sticks” to the target for one third of a second. This allows weight and forward momentum to dissipate into the target (thick muscle mass), which maximizes kinetic energy transfer. The results included motor dysfunction and mental stunning.

About the Author Christopher Caile

Christopher Caile

Christopher Caile is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of FightingArts.com. He has been a student of the martial arts for over 65 years.

He first started in judo while in college. Then he added karate as a student of Phil Koeppel in 1959 studying Kempo and Wado-Ryu karate. He later added Shotokan Karate where he was promoted to brown belt and taught beginner classes. In 1960 while living in Finland, Caile introduced karate to that country and placed fourth in that nation’s first national judo tournament.

Wanting to further his karate studies, Caile then hitch hiked from Finland to Japan traveling through Scandinavia, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia — living on 25 cents a day and often sleeping outside.

Arriving in Japan (1962), Caile was introduced to Mas Oyama and his fledgling full contact Kyokushinkai Karate by Donn Draeger, the famous martial artist and historian. Donn also housed him with several other senior international judo practitioners. Donn became Caile’s martial arts mentor, coaching him in judo and introducing him to Shinto Muso-ryu under Takaji Shimizu.

Caile studied at Oyama’s honbu dojo and also at Kenji Kurosaki’s second Tokyo Kyokushinkai dojo. In his first day in class Oyama asked Caile to teach English to his chief instructor, Tadashi Nakamura. They have been friends ever since. Caile also participated in Oyama’s masterwork book, “This Is Karate.”

Caile left Japan with his black belt and designation as Branch Chief, the first in the US to have had extensive training in Japan directly under Oyama Sensei. As such, Oyama Sensei asked him to be his representative on visits to his US dojos to report on their status.

A little over a year later, Nakamura, Kusosaki and Akio Fujihira won an epic David vs. Goliath challenge match against Thailand’s professional Muay Thai Boxers in Bangkok, Thailand, thrusting Kyolushinkai and Nakamura into national prominence.

Back in the US Caile taught Kyokushinkai karate in Peoria, Il while in college and later in Washington, DC. while in graduate school. Durimg this time Shihan Nakamura had moved to New York City to head Kyokushinkai’s North American Operation.

In 1976 when Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura formed the World Seido Karate organization, Caile followed. Living then in Buffalo, NY, Caile taught Seido karate and self-defense at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) for over 15 years where he also frequently lectured on martial arts and Zen in courses on Japanese culture.

Caile moved to New York City in 1999 to marry Jackie Veit. He is now an 8th degree black belt, Hanshi, training in Seido Karate’s Westchester, NY Johshin Honzan (Spiritual Center) dojo. In Seido Caile is known for his teaching of and seminars on kata applications. He also produced a 14 segment video series on Pinan kata Bunkai currently available to Seido members.

Caile is also a long-time student and Shihan in Aikido. He studied in Buffalo, under Mike Hawley Shihan, and then under Wadokai Aikido’s founder, the late Roy Suenaka (uchi deshi under Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido and was Shihan under Tohei Sensei). In karate, Suenaka (8thdan) was also an in-house student of the Okinawan karate master Hohan Soken.

Having moved to New York City, Caile in 2000 founded this martial arts educational website, FightingArts.com. Twenty-five years later, in 2025, it underwent a major update and revision.

For FightingArts.com and other publications Caile wrote hundreds of articles on karate, martial arts, Japanese art, Chinese Medicine and edited a book on Zen. He also developed relationships with a cross section of leading martial arts teachers. Over the last four decades he has conducted extensive private research into karate and martial arts including private translations of the once secret Okinawan hand copied and passed on Kung Fu book, the Bubishi, as well as an early karate book by the karate master Kenwa Mabuni. He periodically returns to Japan and Okinawa to continue his studies and participate Seido karate events. In Tokyo he practiced (with Roy Suenaka Sensei) in a variety of aikido organizations with their founders – including private interviews and practices at the Aiki-kai Aikido Honbu dojo with the son and grandson of aikido’s founder, Doshu (headmaster) Kisshomaru (an old uchi-deshi friend) and his son, Moriteru Ueshiba and in Iwama with Morihiro Saito. On Okinawa he studied Goju Ryu karate under Eiichi Miyazato, 10th dan founder of Naha’s Jundokan, and also with Yoshitaka Taira (who later formed his own organization, who specialized in kata Bunkai. While there Caile also trained with Hohan Soken’s senior student, Master Fusei Kise, 10 dan as well as with the grandson of the legendary karate master Anko Itosu.

Caile’s other martial arts experience includes: Diato-ryu Aikijujitsu and Kenjitsu, kobudo, boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, Kali (empty hand, knife and bolo), study of old Okinawan Shoran-ryu & Tomari body mechanics, study of old Okinawan kata under Richard Kim, study of close quarter defense and combat, including knife and gun defenses, Kyusho Jitsu and several Chinese fighting arts including 8 Star Praying Mantis, Pak Mei (White Eyebrow), and a private family system of Kung Fu.

Caile is also a student of Zen as well as a long-term student of one branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chi Kung (Qigong). As one of two senior disciples of Chi Kung master Dr. Shen (M.D., Ph.D.) Caile was certified to teach and practice. This led to Caile’s founding of the The Chi Kung Healing Institute on Grand Island, NY. In Western NY, he also frequently held Chi Kung seminars, including at SUNY Buffalo and at the famous Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. His articles on Chi Kung also appeared in the Holistic Health Journal and in several books on alternative medicine.

Caile holds a BA in International Studies from Bradley University and MA in International Relations with a specialty in South and Southeast Asia from American University in Washington, D.C. While in Buffalo, NY he also studied digital and analog electronics.

In his professional life Caile also worked in public relations and as a newspaper reporter and photographer. Earlier he worked in the field of telecommunications including Managing a Buffalo, NY sales and service branch for ITT. He then founded his own private telephone company. This was followed by creation of an electrical engineering company that designed and patented his concept for a new type of low-cost small business telephone system (which was eventually sold to Bell South). The company also did contract work for Kodak and the US space program. Simultaneously Caile designed and manufactured a unique break-apart portable pontoon boat.

Most recently Caile co-founded an internet software company. Its products include software suites with AI capability for control and management of streaming media, such as video and music, an all-in-one book publishing software product for hardcover, eBook and audio book creation and security software for buildings and government use.

For more details about Christopher Caile’s martial arts, work experience and life profile, see the About section in the footer of this site.