Batoning wood with a knife is a great way to kindling at the campsite. Before I talk about how to do it, let me talk about when you don't want to step on wood. It is not designed for splitting firewood. If there is unsplit wood, you can never use a knife to split it. You can use a divider maul. Batoning wood with a knife is for a very specific purpose: kindling.
99% of the time at the campground, you will have pre-sorted firewood from either the gas station or the campsite office. In this scenario, all you need to make a pile of kindling is a sturdy, fixed-blade knife. You can leave the ax at home.
Start with a smaller, straight-grained piece of wood and place your knife about an inch from the edge. Take another piece of wood and start tapping the tip of the knife into the wood. This second piece of wood acts as a "hammer". With a sharp knife this would be quick and shouldn't require a lot of force. Strike more as you get closer to the bottom, so you can have more control.
Batoning wood with a knife is a handy skill to master. The best way to start a campfire quickly is to use plenty of kindling. In a well-used campground, kindling is often difficult to find around. In other cases, you are not allowed to collect any wood in the forest. Learning how to turn a piece of firewood into a pile of kindling will help you improve your knife handling skills, and in return, anyone will be able to fry marshmallows in record time.