Being a Taekwon-do practitioner for 14 years, I have found another possible useful benefit for the training. Due to the muscles in the foot that are used for creating certain kicking positions, there is a possibility that the training in Taekwon-do has positive benefits in restoring a normal arch in flat footed people.

There are many factors to consider, including the following:
-- Is the benefit of the muscular conditioning in the foot and ankle contradicted by the impact of the foot on a target or the floor?

-- Is the muscular conditioning actually fatiguing certain muscles that may make it detrimental to the arch of the foot?

There are many people who warn about orthotics saying that they may actually make the muscles of the foot and ankle weak as the device itself holds the foot in a certain proper position for you rather than the muscles doing the correction. My hypothesis is that an activity or sport that involves very specific muscular control in the ankle and especially the foot (e.g. some martial arts, ballet, dance, etc.) may better condition the person to maintain a certain arch in the foot more subconsciously rather than having to do as much conscious conditioning for arch maintenance outside of the training involved in the sport itself.

More thoughts on this in the future...