This is actually relating to stage combat, but I suspect that traditional martial arts hold an answer to the problem. During a production of To Kill a Mockingbird, I need to fake stomping someone's elbow. I of course don't hit them with the stomp, but I need to strike the floor with some force to create sufficient noise and seeming impact. The problem is that I've been finding that the repeated impacts are causing a pain in my calf, specifically at the back near the knee. Normally, in a fight, some of the impact would no doubt be absorbed by my target, but I can't do that here. I've done the stomp with sandals, barefoot, and in the boots I'm wearing for the show, and it seems the same with all of them. Is there a trick to avoiding injury when the stomp doesn't hit a soft target, but rather the ground?
Solutions which I've tried so far are:
- Doing the professional wrestling method of adding lateral movement to avoid it all being downward strain — it works to a degree, but it still hurts a bit, and it creates more of a scuff noise than a stomp.
- Letting my foot rebound more from the impact — I was told that it looked unrealistic
- Hitting with the ball of my foot and letting the impact spread itself down as I move to the heel — creates a double sound due to how my boots are.
I suppose that I can continue as I am — we open this upcoming weekend, so I've only got to do it about nine more times — but it bothers me that I apparently seem to be messing something up in the line of martial arts. Stomping a downed opponent was just something I never covered when studying, so I don't know much about technique.