turning the foot, heel vs. ball

[fazhou]

hello all,
I have a fairly major issue that I have to deal with when I practice Taijiquan (not as much in my daily life). I have what is called a peronial nerve palsy on my right leg which basically means that I can't dorsiflex (lift at the ankle) my right foot, aka "foot drop". This makes heel pivots on my right foot all but impossible. I have not the slightest intention of giving up my practice because I really enjoy all aspects of the art. But, I have some idiosyncrasies in my form that are challenging to deal with. A specific example: Yang 108 form, moving from the first grasp sparrows tail "push" to single whip, the right foot pivots on the heel. Well, because I can't do that I have to pivot on the ball of the right foot. I know that in Karate most pivots are done on the ball of the foot. What about other CMA? Can someone please explain the reasoning behind pivoting on the heel as opposed to the ball. I do know that one issue might be the widening of the stance. What else? I'll never be able to do it "properly" but if I know the "why" of it I can better adapt. Thanks so much and as usual any two cents will be put in the piggy bank.

[pete5770]

I think you're making more of this than it is. While what you're doing may not be "properly" executed in the conventional wisdom sense, it's what you can do and that makes it "properly" for you. You didn't mention whether you're turning your foot / feet weighted or unweighted. I can't see any problem with either. It's done both ways depending on what you were taught. I'm an unweighted turner and as I shift weight off the forward foot my toe tends to come up and I pivot on my heel. I have been trying to keep the toe more level with the ground, so as not to expose the bottom of my foot, but I'm nowhere near as flexible as I could be so I'm going back to having the toe come up. I would guess that doing a weighted turn, on your toe, could really torque the knee. Maybe even more so than a weighted heel turn. If I were you I would just do an unweighted turn and let it go at that.