Foot loose

[Bill Glasheen]

OK, so I'm finally going to put this thought to words.

Am I the only one who sees footwork as highly germane to what we do in martial arts? Am I one of a rare few who can watch a person either right on top of me or from a distance and see each and every nuance of their foot placement, internal vs. external rotation, and pelvic orientation?

Before I start sounding obnoxious (yea I know... too late ), let me start with where I'm coming from.

I've been teaching since 1978. At my level, I'm supposed to start considering myself a teacher of teachers. While I'm no Uechi Kanei or GEM, I'm getting there... One of the things that I have a student do with a piece of material after they can do it on a test is next to teach that material to a newer generation of students. Of course I guide them so I don't lose too many students, but... This IMO is where you make the big breakthroughs in their understanding.

That being said...

When doing prearranged work of ANY kind (yakusoku kumite, bunkai kumite, flow drills, etc.), teaching ultimately involves a more experienced student working with a less experienced one. I pride myself in "dragging someone through" an exercise. I believe it's important for them just to do it (Nike style...) w/o a lot of talking. The more they do, the more their body begins to feel and then understand it.

Fine...

But at some point I need my teachers to develop this skill. And so they try. And you know what? Uniformly I find that the teachers can't see (sense, feel) the footwork of the person they are working with. Take kyu kumite for example. The simple act of stepping vs. sliding would seem like teaching the theory of relativity to high school students. My newbie (or not so newbie) teachers will get students to "walk through" the prearranged kumites with all the hand movements right... and the footwork dramatically different from what the exercise teaches.

Is this footwork important? Does it really matter if the right foot or the left foot is forward on this vs. that hand technique? Well if you believe that power comes from the core... if you believe in compressive and rotational and flexion forces coming from core muscles... if you think that a sequence in a kata or a partner exercise has an energy flow to it that - if done differently - dramatically affects your ability to generate and maintain energy... if you "see" hidden finishing techniques all through your sequences... if you think understanding the line of force is important, well then HELL YEA!!!

So... why am I getting so frustrated seeing my teachers struggling with seeing their students f*** up their footwork? What am I missing? Am I maybe beginning to see things as obvious that maybe aren't so obvious without the understanding of theory?

Am I failing in getting my students to look at the moon rather than the finger pointing at it?

Perplexed...
Bill

[Stryke]

Its a tough one Bill , the mechanics the grounding/action starts at the feet , the first link in the chain .

theres just often too much rhetoric not enough understanding .

I like some of the chinese paradigms like the Harmonies to describe the structure , Im sure you can do a great western medicine analogy of kinetic functions and structure . Position of feet tells so much positionally and structurally .

but to me it always comes down to wether your examining principles or your mimicking technique .

[chef]

I do believe, Bill, that I was the moron who was missing the footwork of the student I was teaching last night. Thanks goodness, God gave you patience in training someone like me.

I think this would be due to several things, unfortunately:
- I don't multi-task well
- I may not be good teacher material and lack something necessary
- I am missing the outer awareness that is so necessary in the 'mental' self-defense we should have, the 'remaining mind' so to say, and it needs much more work
- Could be that my age is affecting my memory even more...or could be I'm pretty dense, the quintessential tortoise (oh no!).

You will get better people at this than I am, but now that you have pointed this out, I shall make it an essential aspect of my teaching.

In the future, may I not let my very capable, very amazing teacher down...and improve my own teaching...and I thought I might open a dojo...hmmmm???

Excellent point, Marcus: "but to me it always comes down to wether your examining principles or your mimicking technique."

I think I need to go back and work on my principles.

A humbled Vicki

[fivedragons]

I hear you Bill, foot placement can mean the difference between karate and weak crap that has no chance of affecting the outcome of a struggle.

Goddammit, people have to step like they mean it. Don't step around your opponent, step on them.

What, are we learning how to dance? Well, if we're dancing, we'll use our feet to lead the movement of our hands.

Let's take a moment to get serious here, and think about what we're doing.

This is no joke people, this is combat. Start moving like you ##### mean it.

[MikeK]

Am I maybe beginning to see things as obvious that maybe aren't so obvious without the understanding of theory?

Bill,
It could be too much theory and not enough doing. Don will talk about moving from center, being balanced, keeping hips low, knees bent, relaxed, etc, but then it goes from talking right to here...



This fellow in the picture is fairly new and I can see where he needs work with his grape vine, but more importantly he can also tell where he needs work by the feedback he's getting from the log. Once he gets that feedback he can use the principles to help correct a problem area. But the main thing is that he's experiencing the principles first hand by having to use them rather than be told to use them.

teachers will get students to "walk through" the prearranged kumites with all the hand movements right... and the footwork dramatically different from what the exercise teaches.

Could be too much emphasis on the hands too soon. One thing I've learned is that many times the hands are mostly along for the ride and most of the work is done from the hips down. What you may want to try is doing the kyu kumite moves without the arms and let the student see how much of the moves happen below the belt. Without the hands to distract them it shouldn't take long at all for them to pick up. Maybe one or two sessions to get the hang of a piece of movement.

Vickie,
Don't get down. We can compare notes, share some ideas and you can show me some things next time I see you.

[Bill Glasheen]

I do believe, Bill, that I was the moron who was missing the footwork of the student I was teaching last night. Thanks goodness, God gave you patience in training someone like me.

Vicki

I wish God would give me 100 more students like you.

No... it's a consistent and persistent phenomenon. At least with you I can get some change. Lots of folks will teach and teach and teach these little ditties and not ever get students through it right.

Lots of good ideas being expressed here. Keep 'em coming.

One of the things I'm wondering is the degree to which my outside-the-dojo training is helping me. My power lifts have really awakened my lower body and how it contributes to everything. I even corrected a very tall and athletic-looking fellow in the gym the other day. After watching him do a power clean (and seeing that his body didn't "get" it), I approached him by asking him what sport he played. Bingo - he was a basketball player. Then I went over the mechanics of a jump shot or jumping up for a rebound. We then went back to the power clean. You should have seen his eyes light up. (And he was probably surprised that a 54-year-old white boy could jump. ). Once that light goes on in the brain...

It's more complicated with martial movement, but then it's the exact same principles going on in 3 dimensions. I find myself going through whole stretches of kata not remembering what foot goes where, but easily "knowing" it because mechanically it's so obvious. To me...

So yea, we've got to get people walking on those logs. Or something...

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

For what it's worth... Raffi has been a rare treat on footwork knowledge and execution. I don't know if it's him, his FMA experience, or something else.

Larry Tan is another footwork genius whom I met 3 decades ago in New York. (He's been at quite a few Uechi camps.) To him it's the dragon in Chinese martial arts. He's a treat to watch. I just Googled him for kicks, and saw he has a new DVD out (The Universal Form). I have the one he did a while back on Wing Chun.

- Bill

[Stryke]

Active feedback is always a great way to learn .

And Vicky the problem with the forums are everyone always thinks your talking about them , when it comes to you I`m sure we can find more pleasant things to say

My point really being is we sometimes put the how before they why , when actually if we get the why , then the how is quite often open to many possiblitys .

I agree with Bill though with weight training and in fact most physical doing(load) activitys can create a lot of understanding .

we do a drill/game that evolves from push hands and ends up almost resembling sumo where you struggle for position and structure and disrupting others , great drill that programms real attributes and foot placement/body alignment .

[chef]

Thanks, Marcus, good comment and thoughts as well as Bill's.

I have to apologize to Bill and others, I have been in a really bad funk lately and waaaaaaay too verbal. Sorry, Bill.

Bill is most excellent at looking at the big picture and seeing all the working parts. He breaks them down and puts them back together in a most cool way.

As you said the why is crucial, thus the importance for seeing the application of a move.

I will try to pick Bill's brain and pay more attention...and take notes when I get home as follow-up.

All I can say is that if Bill can put up with me, I will make him proud.

Regards,
Vicki

PS I made a Yes promise to you, Bill, and intend on keeping it with all my heart...and let my yes be yes. I will stay focused and work toward the goal we have established. Thank you for training me.

[Bill Glasheen]

Vicki

What does it feel like when working with a beginner? Do you feel at your level that you can see the big picture and all the little details (like what stance someone is coming at you with), or is there too much information to take in at once? Is it a visual thing, a mind thing, the combination, or what?

As a trained art instructor, I'm thinking you can see what I see, but in a different way. An educated art instructor is able to look at a painting, and notice if someone changed the slightest detail. The average person would never see it.

I lived in my house for 13 years before a guy who's helping me redo the front (rotting wood) pointed out the stupid way they did my window treatments. Wooden keystones... Once he pointed it out, Aaarrrggghhh!

It's sort of this pattern above these doors.



But the shape is more like this.



I have a vinyl siding home, with similar window treatments above the windows. The vinyl of course is supposed to look like wood siding. They have a trapezoidal piece of plywood above the window with real wooden crown molding on the top part of the trapezoid - interrupted by a wooden keystone. It makes no bloody sense. And not surprisingly, the decorative wooden keystones are splitting and rotting away.

The design now grates on my engineering sensibilities. WTF is a wooden keystone??? It's totally nonfunctional. THIS is a functional keystone in an arch.





I'll soon be changing the design to something I researched and settled on (matching the nice trim work around my overhanging front porch. But it took having him point that out before I now can't look at the front of my house without seeing the mish-mash wooden molding mixed with wooden keystone design.

Somebody shoot me!

- Bill

[chef]

That's funny, Bill, because the design they used bothered me too. I kept wondering why did they use that different looking shape...weird.

Interesting!

In answer to your question, it is a combination visual and mind thing. I am not sure if that is a male/female approach to evaluating. I am normally a detail person but get accused of not seeing the forest through the trees...yikes!

Not sure how to combat this inability.

Hmmm, will think on it.

Thanks,
Vicki

PS Good luck with the house renovations.

[MikeK]

...
Deleted

[Crystal.Sands.McKinney/Be]

Hey Guys!

Yes I agree I can not wait to see the completed renovations of this house, Provided Hurricane's can stay off track of her normal path. Bill showed me his idea and design of his Keystone and Molding he is going to set up. I need to call the contractors once they are completed with the rail work. There was a slight Boo-boo today on measurement that caused some slight stress. Hopefully things will be fine so we can finish the outside appearances. If I could stay well enough in time I could have it all done by Christmas.

I will not be in class for a few months have to get a third job to cover for health insurance, Somebody has to do it ya know. I miss all of you and will be off line for quite some time too. Maybe next year will be more promising for things. But as for now the white belt with green stripes I will stay till I can sneak back in. Take care everyone and have Happy, Safe, holidays!

Peace!

Crystal

[cxt]

Bill

The old time Chinese martial artist placed a high value on footwork......many of them anyway.

My read is that much of the "stance" work people do is actually meant to be "footwook" and might well have been back in the day.....got that from a Shotokan guy that noticed in his teachers notes--which he had copied from his teacher was that almost all the "stance" work had detailed movement notations with them......so at least somebody was looking at it from another POV.

[Rick Wilson]

Bill I am with you on this one.

Footwork and reading the aggressor is vital.

The question of how to teach this will have individuality for each person but I have a couple of drills that I use.

The first thing is to set a couple of general guidelines for the students to “check.”

The first point addresses their awareness of THEIR positioning: The student should always move so that their resulting position has their toes pointed directly at the aggressor’s toes (yes there are exceptions but this is a starting point).

There are three awareness points they should have of the aggressor:

1. The student should always move so that the aggressor’s toes are NOT pointed at their core.

2. They should know where the “voids” or triangle points of the aggressor are. (Explanation to follow).

3. They should know where the aggressor’s centre of gravity is.

Triangle Points or Voids:

As bipedal beings our base is the area between our two feet. We are constantly in a balancing state to remain over our base and upright.

Because we are bipedal there are always two major voids or two triangle points (also two minor voids but that is for another time):

Have a student stand and place a stick on the line between both feet. This is the line of their BASE.

To unbalance a person we should drive the force perpendicular to their BASE line. SO place another stick to form a “T” at the centre point of their BASE line.

If you then lay sticks from each end of the BASE line to the end of the stick creating the T you form a triangle. The tip of the triangle is the Triangle Point or the Major Void.

By moving a person towards the triangle point you unbalance them. There is more to a takedown but the awareness of where the triangle point is will do to start.

Step One:

Start very simple and have the aggressor step in with any straight line attack (punch or grab etc.)

The student steps off the line of attack.

Both parties FREEZE and the student take a look at their positioning. Have they moved so that their toes point at the aggressor’s core? Have they moved so the aggressor’s toes point away from them?

Step Two:

Start very simple and have the aggressor step in with any straight line attack (punch or grab etc.)

The student steps off the line of attack.

Both parties FREEZE and the student take a look at their positioning. Have they moved so that their toes point at the aggressor’s core? Have they moved so the aggressor’s toes point away from them?

AND

The student must point to where both the triangle points of the aggressor are.

NOTE for Step Three: A person’s centre of gravity can be high or low based on body position. It can also be located differently in relation to their base based on body position. Learning to identify where the aggressor’s centre of gravity can aid numerous body manipulations.

Step Three:

Start very simple and have the aggressor step in with any straight line attack (punch or grab etc.)

The student steps off the line of attack.

Both parties FREEZE and the student take a look at their positioning. Have they moved so that their toes point at the aggressor’s core? Have they moved so the aggressor’s toes point away from them?

AND

The student must point to where both the triangle points of the aggressor are.

AND

The student must point to the aggressor’s centre of gravity.

Step Four:

Now we introduce more movement.

The student and aggressor begin a SLOW motion exchange of blows as they continually move.

This will be artificially continuous. Note and recognize the artificiality of this portion of the drill.

The Instructor will shout FREEZE at any moment and “both parties” must immediately freeze and take note of their position.

Who has their toes pointed at the other person’s centre?

Where are the triangle points on each party?

Where is the centre of gravity on each party?


NOTE: We are introducing a number of factors here. Positioning is vital and understanding that positioning is often NOT changing the position of the aggressor but changing YOUR position in relation to the aggressor. To do this you must be aware of both your position and theirs.


Step Six

For step six we introduce a reason for knowing where the aggressor’s Triangle Points are and to introduce this we simplify the attack and entry.

BUT FIRST:

The principles of a takedown based on my reading learning training and some excellent points from Scott Sonnon’s “Immoveable Object Unstoppable Force” DVD.

A takedown is simple to perform if you follow these four principles:

1. Unbalance the aggressor.
2. Obtain two or more contact points on the aggressor’s body.
3. Move these two points in a circle – moving the aggressor in a “hyper-function” rather than a dysfunction.
4. The top of the circle must drop the aggressor into a triangle point (void).

NOTE: What is hyper-function vs. dysfunction?

Dysfunction: If I grip their head with one hand on the back and the other on the front (chin, face or forehead) and I try to crank their head down into the shoulder you will find the person immediately tightens and fights the movement. This is because that movement is a dysfunctional one and the body knows it may create injury so it reacts.

Function: Take the same grip and gently move the head back and forth as if shaking to indicate “no.” You do not find any tensing or fight response this time because that movement is a natural function of the head and neck and therefore does not set off the “protect me” alarm system.

Hyper-function: Take the same grip and gently move the head back and forth as if shaking to indicate “no” only now as you turn add a pressing backwards and upwards of the head. You will find this unbalances the person but still there isn’t that immediate tightening fight response exactly like when you move it in a dysfunction.

NOTE: ANY time you are manipulating the head/neck care must be taken not to injure your partner and they MUST be able to turn their bodies to alleviate the pressure on the neck.

BACK TO STEP SIX:

The simple assault is a looping sucker punch. I like using this as a base because it is common in the street and very easily addressed.

As the aggressor loops the sucker punch the student moves in using a modified version of the Seisan move where we place one hand on top of the other for a double strike forward at head height. The modification is the hands are not evenly on top of each other so one slides to the back of the head and the other strikes the chin, face or forehead.

This entry meets steps one and two of the takedown principles:

1. Unbalance the aggressor. The strike to the head unbalances them
2. Obtain two or more contact points on the aggressor’s body. The hand position obtained gives you two points on the head – front and back.

Now you will use the two points of your hands on their head to draw a circle moving the head in the sideways “no” movement and then back and up to hyper-function that movement.

Also from Scott Sonnon think of drawing a question mark “?”.

You have drawn the circle of the question mark now draw the “tail” dropping the aggressor’s head into the triangle point (void) the dot of the question mark.

This meets the last two principles of a takedown:

3. Move these two points in a circle – moving the aggressor in a “hyper-function” rather than a dysfunction. Turning the head in the sideways motion and then back and up is a hyper-function of the natural movement and avoids that immediate “fight” response.
4. The top of the circle must drop the aggressor into a triangle point (void). Drawing that tail of the question mark drops the person to the triangle point.


What you will see from the success or failure of the takedown is the student’s awareness of body position and relationship.

If they are poorly placed themselves they will not be balanced or aligned properly to perform the takedown.

If they do are not aware of the aggressor’s position then they will be unaware of their triangle point and the will be moving them into a brace instead of a void which not only will not work but creates a compression or dysfunction engaging the fight response.

Anyway this is just a few simple step drills to bring body awareness to students who may not have it or perhaps do not understand how vital it is.