View Spanish translation. There are several topics of debate in martial arts that are perennially propagated and vociferously introduced to each new generation of practitioners, one of the most infamous of which is the apparent dilemma of whether the heel should be kept flush with the floor or allowed to rise up when moving or executing a technique. In this article, we examine the anatomy and functional application behind both dorsiflexion (heel down) and plantarflexion (heel up) in karate, to show that superiority of one to the other is context and intent dependent, and that each has its strengths and…