Good Footwork Drill

Hey guys,

This is a footwork drill that I've incorporated recently with a partner of mine that has really worked wonders. I'm sure most of you have seen this example before but I've never seen it used with inside triangle footwork, always outside triangle. The advantage of practicing it with inside triangle is that you optimize your leverage point on the opponent.

First thing you do is take some scotch tape(painter's tape) and make this design on the floor with the base of the triangle's being about the width of your stance.


You and a partner then get in this basic configuration. The colors represent your feet.


Now the 'Opponent' partner steps out towards you either utilizing an inside triangle step themselves or just a step out. Practice going to the inside first with an inside triangle step yourself and apply your pressure to the opposite corner of the opponents triangle represented by the green line. You will find that you can uproot your opponent rather easily at this angle


Now do the same inside triangle but to the outside of their lead foot with pressure being applied to that outside corner again. Once again you can uproot them rather easily.


After practicing both sides pretty good have your partner switch up his lead foot randomly on you. It should not matter which way you respond, your inside triangle will always have the advantage. Just remember to follow the basic outline of the scotch tape design when you do it. You may have to adjust slightly depending but remember that the opponent's weak point will always be the base of the opposite side of the triangle.

This drill comes from the basic concept of the dummy leg and how you move around it being the most advantageous position as the example shows below

 

That drill reminds me of some of the stepping in Lung Ying. Its good stuff, good post!

 

In the second example you're 50/50 - in identical positions.

In the first example even though you have the inside foot position you still have a weak angle (dead angle) to your rear which can still be taken advantage of. But yes your opponents front side is easier to get at than yours is.

However the fact that your opponent has a foot at your rear, makes you vulnerable to being tripped over it, or have a foot reap used against you.

 

You have to keep in mind that your opponent is stepping towards you and you're reacting at an angle so you're forcing them to face you. So you're not truly 50/50 in the second example and you really do have an advantage. The first example gives you the most advantage even though they could attack with their rear foot but the idea once again is to force them into a reaction. Footwork is just like a chess game, you set yourself up for an attack with it sometimes having to possibly risk losing a pawn in order to get checkmate. Plus this footwork is straight off the dummy so it's gotta be good.

 

Ok - if you are going second then you have an advantage in that you are countering, but I'm not sure i'd call it positional. But that's not really important. In terms of pure positional dominance, I don't believe there is any at all in the second example.

In the first, you may have an advantage in one place, but you may have a disadvantage in another. That's just my take on it. but i appreciate the explanation.

If you have any clips that would be a much clearer and better format to present this drill. I think it sounds like the basis of a good drill, which can also be added to, rather than only having stepping going on.

I see you have a youtube account. What you got on there (I'll take a look as soon as I hit the post button), and what style do you do?

Anyroad, thanks for sharing.

 

Here you go cloudz, watch Hawkins Cheung's footwork closely, he does it about 5 or 6 times and he does a nice powerful one right around 1:27

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMkVuhdXkp4"]YouTube - ‪hawkins.wmv‬‏[/ame]

 

I'm not saying you can't uproot, I'm saying that I don't think having those foot positions necessarily gives a dominant position for uprooting, (displacing or unbalancing) in various different ways.

Your first post description linked the uprooting directly to the foot positions. This is not the case with these positions, what determines off balancing and uprooting in these positions is much more about where and when you can push and pull on the other persons body coupled with nuetralizing skill.

Now decide which foot position you think is really an advantage or not ? Wouldn't that depend on what exactly it is you are trying to achieve and how ?

That's what this discussion hinges on - IOW the advantage or disadvantage of these foot positions largely depends on what offense or defence you are employing in my opinion. Your front foot position in the first pic gives you slightly better line and angle to push from front to back through the front side centre line. That's it. On the other hand the other persons foot position allows them to easier block off your foot from the outside or going to the rear which can be a slight aid for them. What's more important is having the upper body hand positions and timing to do what it is you want to do. Again (for me) it's more to do with your overall offense and defence techniques that will count much more than these foot positions - just my opinion, and the way I see it.

Good luck & happy training.

 

Sorry, nothing new under the sun here. This is basic MA theories that are learned early on. Don't attack where the opponent is strongest, use angles. Also, add some fists to this and see how your theory works.

 

Without the stimulus, without the danger, without the pressure, this drill is absolutely useless. You could do this every day for the rest of your life and you'd never be able to pull it off in a real situation.