What exactly to you mean by grounding? I've not heard of it, but it sounds like a good idea as far as fighting situations go Sarah
No, in fact I try to avoid it, prefering to stay light on my feet and able to move around, I find grounding is only useful when someone's got a grip and is going for a throw.
Other terms you may have heard are "sink" and "root". Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is done in Push Hands. Relax and and sink your energy and weight downward. People who are grounded are very hard to displace.
Yep, it can be used in Push Hands, and is very effective then, both for fixing yourself and unbalancing your opponent. During actual fighting or sparring (striking, not stand-up grappling, and its kind of irrelevant to lie-down grappling) dynamic balance is often more effective.
Hmmm, Unbalancing your opponent. I was concentrating on my grounding, I forgot about Kuzuchi-Balance breaking. Here's a couple of good sites I found recently while researching Balance Points. http://www.ste-m.clara.net/martial/jitsu/kuzuchi.html Make sure you click the link to go to the next page on this one. http://judoinfo.com/kuzushi.htm
I suppose you could call our attack stance "grounding" as we take a monstrous step forward as we attack with our hands, this gives good balance, an easy way to get out of the way of an incoming strike and is VERY good for closing the distance between me and my opponent (you think because we are two metres apart that I can't punch you?). Also gives you some new line of attack and a wierd perspective from the other person's P.O.V. I've found that doing this if someone is trying to throw you is useful as they won't be able to get the throw off. When grappling if you mistakenly let the other person get into position to break your balance just drop your weight and relax, this makes the throw ALOT harder to do (pretty much inpossible until you start to fight out). Gives you an oppourtunity to strike them in the moment of hesitation/shock when it doesn't come off. And when grappling on the ground keeping your weight low and centered is key to not being tossed onto your back and then put into a very bad position. Also having someone just lie back and not try to do anything makes for a rather difficult time in applying a lock to them. If you are "mounted" on your opponents chest them unless you want to find yourself in pain very quickly you stay low and balanced otherwise it is too easy to flip you in some rather nasty ways.
Wide stances in sparring are usually vulnerable, yes you are well grounded, but you won't have the ability to move around as fast as someone in a dynamic stance. Quite simply yes. If you're two metres away and I see you starting to step in, I'm going to either step back or counter. By taking such a large step you're telegraphing your intention, giving me the edge.
Being well balanced and stable is important but it is equally important to be quick on your feet. Like all technigues, grounding is not appropriate for every situation. I personally would rather avoid standing my ground and being meet with a full force impact. I agree with ckd that it may be best used as a defense against throws.
LOL! It just dawned on me that this thread is in the joke catagory. That's what happens when something pops to mind and you hit new thread without paying attention to where you are at the moment.
Hmm, something that just occured to me. Different ways to deal with rugby tackle attack: without grounding: side-step and kick or punch, or pull through into a throw semi-grounded: meet the charge and allow yourself to move, absorbing the impact, then use knee strikes, elbows, or a throw, or lock fully grounded: drop under the charge and raise up under their waist, refusing to move, lifting and throwing I guess they just work in different ways and suit different people.
Dar, have you started practicing any drawing techniques yet? The method of punching leaves you open to a drawing ankle/sweep, very easy to be put off balance. You should view grounding as a weapon in your arsenal, sometimes you'll need it, others you won't. When I started Judo I grounded myself a lot so I could never be thrown, the problem with this is that I couldn't throw anyone either beacuse they'd see me coming a mile off! Groundings good for throwing and generating loads of power, its also very good at rooting you to one spot and you'll have someone like Jimmy B bouncing around and punching you in the head. Its a weapon, learn the right time to use it. Thanx
I think you are refering to what we call "spooning ankle". The principle is taught in a mankey situation but is real useful. The thrower is standing normally with the attacker standing off to one side (left). The attcker attacks with a right lunge (knife strike) as if attacking someone standing on the other side of the thrower (right). As the attack comes in, just as the foot touches the ground the thrower grabs the extended arm, lifts up and through(in the same direction as the attack) then with the bottom of the foot catches the ankle and "spoons" it out from under the attacker. this is hard to get the timing right at first and hurt both people's feet if a big "soccer kick" is used on the achilles tendon. Very little force is need to perform the throw and to improve your timing the attacker should be trying to plant their foot down quickly. Later we learn other techniques similar to this where an attack is evaded and blocked then the attack is pulled off balance and the supporting foot is removed. There are type basic types of these throws - the spooning ankle and the sweeping calf. The spooning ankle uses the underside of the foot and uses minimal force. The sweeping calf uses more of a kick action and uses much more force, the force of the kick creates a pivot action with the force applied by the hands and the person being thrown hits the mat with an incredible force. These fundamentals are used whilst doing stand up grappling and sparring where you have a hold of your opponent are trying to put them on the ground with a "trip". Most of these techniques require good timing and understanding of body mechanics to perform properly. Back to grounding. As part of my current syallabus I am learning combination techniques where one throw is countered and the thrower goes stright into another throw. When the first throw is a body throw the person being thrown merely drops their weight and it is almost impossible to complete the throw and that is why we move on to the next throw. Going straight from one throw to another is a practise to have as when if you are really fighting and someone counters a throw where you have your back to them then they have a good opportunity to apply a choke where you will quickly die.
