These images are from Thomas Myer’s book, Anatomy Trains. Some dancers refer to a ‘toe foot’ and a ‘heel foot.’ The medial arch supports the ‘toe foot’ and the lateral arch supports the ‘heel foot.’

See where the larger tibia bone connects with the toe side of the foot and the fibula bone connects more over the heel side? The image below is a front view of the tibia and fibula. It’s reversed, but it shows where the tibia joins the foot. Can you connect the dots?

In terms of function, the medial arch bones can be seen to be the major weight-bearing ‘canoe’, while the outer arch bones act like an ‘outrigger’, balancing and stabilizing but not bearing so much weight.

If you were paddling across the ocean, would you sit in the canoe or on the outrigger? This image makes a great case for using the ‘toe foot’ to bear weight and the ‘heel foot’ to refine balance and stabilize.

Next we’ll look at the 3 points of healthy contact of the foot and how they relate to the three arches.