Lol you watch kangaroo fights in your mma class? That's awesome. If I ever get to Florida remind me to visit your mma class. I have no idea about mma (well, I guess my mae geri looks alright lol) but that seems to be a fun class.
I never liked using a mae geri in a fight. Many do that and they do alright, but the ball of the foot has a lot of fragile bones. Kicking a static target in training or a partner that does a foreseeable defense move is another thing. But in an unpredictable fight situation using balls of the feet to kick seems like a very risky idea.
Just tried doing a front kick that hits the target with my heel, that ust feels wrong.
Plus isn't there some risk of overstretching your knee if you do it that way?