How many of you out there.....that are JKD-ers.......work hard on the footwork.....and what type of footwork training are you being?...I thought we needed to change the pace here.....Don't you think? :bang: Take It Easy, John
I like the change of pace, since you started it, how about you kick off the discussion with what you normally train...just a thought. Mine just is all the footwork taught to me by the WNG and some of what I'm learning under Drew Pruhs.
side-step, quick-advance/quick-retreat, push step, shuffle, etc for me footwork is best practiced in sparring drills or punching drills. i never gained much from practicing footwork in front of a mirror. that style of training feels artificial, however, we practice that way every class.
step and slide,slide and step.pendulum,curving step,train thewm in a drill and sparring.the sparring soon helps u get it right
I do this when its summer so you can do outside -> instead of doing artifical as some1 said shuffle shuffle retreat left right, etc, do some joging outside, and practice shadow boxing while you run also change of pace and left to right stepping to one side, running backward etc i found this helpfull !
My best footwork training was from my boxing days, if you moved you got hit less, if you stood still you got hit. I don't concentrate so much on footwork drills, I tend to try to get everyone to move as naturally as possible. You learn to move you feet when you are a baby, the problem is as you get older you forget how to move naturally, and many people seem to think that because you are doing martial arts your movement has to consist of some kind of weird footwork. natural as nature intended is the best way to move as far as I am concerned. And if someone hit's you really hard several times, you learn to move Regards Pat
Pat, Hey what up Bro......I you knew you had the fighter mentality from all the talking we had and some of your post....take care Pat....Great post.
This is just my opinion! I've seen alot of people in the arts that are always concern with this foot that foot.....this leg here that leg here.....mean while the simplicity of self is lost in translation....Its very important to get you in the desire position for the hit what ever that my be.....to get you in and out...as ALi has said "Float Like a Butterfly Sting Like a Bee".....Bruce Lee had some of the best footwork out there.....but I'm smart enough to know that there are others......and I'm sure other arts....now that I have said that......As my friend says across the pond has.....At "the end of the Day" its just footwork.....now you need to have It or your punches or kicks will be slow....or your weapon.....but don't let it become your achilles heel......because if the mind is always worrying about footwork....guess who gets to eat a fist or foot.....I think the best thing that needs to be learn about footwork is to be balance in transition......reguardless what foot is forward......also if it isn't smooth in motion......Will your Hit be?......I don't think so......but this is just my opinion. Take It Easy, John
I do believe that you should not let your footwork become your burden in training so to speak, however it is not to be neglected! Your feet, legs are your mobility for your entire body, for all your strikes! When i first learnt the traditional way to stand in JKD it was very very uncomfortable, but i never worried about it much and it was never strictly trained on me, though through training it has become more and more comfortable and i am far more mobile than i was.. But always experiment with new footwork ideas and training drills because they might just suit you..
Sorry to be a pain but! The traditional way to stand in JKD???? I did not know there was one. Each person moves differently, each person stands differently. if it is uncomfortable then it will not be natural. As I said before you have to move naturally as nature intended and you will see the best results. You learn to walk when you are a child, you forget the minute you become an adult. Yes you need good footwork, but more importanlty you need to understand about putting yourself in the right possition so you can limit the damage to yourself and at the same time increase the damage to your opponent. And the more naturally you move the easier it will be. Regards Pat
To practise footwork, I stand in front of my heavy bag out of range, and practise getting into range and attacking as fast and as powerfully as possible. Then I move again. I also do ALOT of plyomectrics. One of the best is the lunge jump. Lunge Jump: You get into lunge position and jump as high as you can into the air, in midstride change into opposite leg lunge and asoon as you touch the ground leap up again. I also do alot of power squats to give me explosive power and speed. I skip ALOT I practise all my techniques and combos with special attention to detail, I practise hitting from all ranges with my attacks and practise moving the hell out the way with out getting hit. I do partner drills with footwork, one attacks, other dodges. Then you swap, then you both attack and dodge.
What many Jun Fan or JKD people don't know is that toward the end, Bruce Lee changed the traditional JKD stance (Bai Jong) in favor of these two more cooler looking stances. Centerline theory and footwork is mute when you look badass! The opponent is usually too frightened from your uber coolness that they freeze up and sometimes soil themselves. That's when you know that you've reached the highest level of JKD, the art of fighting without fighting.
If you refer to left side in front (stronger-right side in the back) then yes he experimented with both such stances, but the majority of his training and teaching is done in such way where the stronger side is in the front - and for a reason. And he always maintained center line theory he was just so fast that he allowed himself to literaly float and change stancs as he liked. But some basic rules still apply today - shortest distance between two lines is still a straight line.
a great way to practise gap closing is to stand about 4 feet away from your partner then attempt to close in and execute a choke. for this drill your partner should be attempting to punch you as you close. if you close explosively he will not be able to prevent you from choking him despite his punching and if you execute the move perfectly he will not even throw a single punch. i have been closing like this with great success lately.
Yeah sorry i meant Jun Fan Gung Fu , Bai Jong stance, ( ei. Powerside forward, closed center line..) I know there are differences between Jun Fan and JKD that people see, but to me its all JKD.
