Footwork (martial arts)
Encyclopedia
Combat sport
A Combat sport, also known as a Fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement , typically with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat...
s term for the general usage of the legs and feet in stand-up fighting
Stand-up fighting
Stand-up fighting is hand-to-hand combat that takes place while the combatants are in a standing position. The term is commonly used in martial arts and combat sports to designate the set of techniques employed from a standing position, as opposed to techniques employed in ground fighting...
. Footwork involves keeping balance, closing or furthering the distance, controlling spatial positioning, and/or creating additional momentum
Momentum
In classical mechanics, linear momentum or translational momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object...
for strikes
Strike (attack)
A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...
.
Boxing Footwork
The characteristic footwork employed by most of the world's major boxing and kickboxing styles such as Western boxingBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
has changed little over the centuries, and has remained largely invariable between radically different cultures. The boxer relies on simplistic, economical "push stepping" in which the leading leg advances first in the desired direction, then upon setting down is followed by the rear, coming to rest in the exact relative position, forming the perfect boxer's stance.
Rear movement is a simple reversal of this scheme, and lateral movement involves push stepping in the same fashion, with the foot closest to the desired direction stepping laterally, followed by the opposite foot, which is used to move the body.
For the pugilist, footwork is to be deft and simplistic, allowing the fighter to maneuver into and out of striking range as quickly as possible. Proper footwork is also key to generating sufficient power and fluidity of technique in the basic strikes shared between the major boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
styles. During the jab, the lead foot can move forward to close distance or remain stationary. During the cross, the rear foot pivots inward to launch the rear shoulder forward, allowing the cross a good deal of its strength. During the left hook, the lead foot pivots in an inward manner to transfer bodyweight. The right hook's pivot is identical to the cross (assuming the boxer is orthodox). The lead uppercut, like the jab does not use any pivotal motion, the power comes from the on the transfer of bodyweight to the lead foot. The rear uppercut employs the same inward pivot as the cross. To maintain balance, both feet can step, pivot or slide as appropriate. Basically, only the jab may be thrown while moving forward or backward; for the other punches it is advisable not to throw while in motion.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
employs the same basic footwork pattern as the styles that focus only on the upper body, with the one key difference lying in the defense and positioning for lower body strikes. The kickboxer will often shift his weight backward onto his rear leg to allow his leading leg to react more quickly to an incoming blow as in a 'shield,'(right) http://news.axkickboxing.com/images/articles/135/4.jpg a defense used against a round kick, or to execute swift kicking maneuvers such as foot jabs and the Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
teep or stop kick.http://www.tawori.com/sport/teep.jpg Radical pivoting and sudden lead changes also accommodate the wider, more powerful movement of the knees and legs. In styles that allow for the clinch http://galleries.photographers.co.uk/data/531/100Muay_Thai_Boxers-med.jpg, the debased balance forces movement to be more squared, and footwork to be replaced by powerful thrusting or frenetic skipping movements with the sole purpose of keeping on one's feet.
In Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
fighters will often provoke attack by tapping their lead foot or by letting it rest in the air, both considered grievous insults within that nation.
Linear Footwork
Linear movement is common to a great deal of the martial arts world, and is predominant in arts of Japanese and Korean influence such as many forms of KarateKarate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
and Tae-Kwon-Do, as well as some grappling arts such as Jiu-Jitsu
Jujutsu
Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....
, Judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
, Sambo
Sambo (martial art)
Sambo is a Russian martial art and combat sport. The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMooborona Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand to hand...
and Shooto
Shooto
Shooto is a mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, as an organization and as a particular fighting system derived from shoot wrestling. Practitioners are referred to as shooters,...
, and few forms of Chinese martial arts, such as Wing Chun
Wing Chun
Wing Chun , also romanised as Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun, ; ; is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self-defense utilizing both striking and grappling while specializing in close-range combat.The alternative characters 永春 "eternal spring" are also...
and Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
's later incarnation, Jun Fan Gung Fu. Perhaps the most stark example of linear footwork, however, is that used in European fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
, especially within the modern sport aspect.
Dominated by the philosophy that the fastest and most economical way to an opponent is a straight line, arts that use linear movement as their focus adopt mostly rigid stances and behaviors, and focus primarily on the speed of advance and retreat to overcome an adversary. The striking arts of Japan and Korea utilize linear form quickly to overwhelm opponents with powerful, focused blows, whereas the Chinese arts primarily respect linear movement as a method of staying in reference to the opponent's centerline, and for its necessary use in trapping,http://www.granthammartialarts.com/classes%20GMA/WingChun/Rusty_Wang%20Jern.JPG or close-range grappling exchanges (See Chin Na
Chin Na
Chin Na or Qinna is a Chinese term describing techniques used in the Chinese martial arts that control or lock an opponent's joints or muscles/tendons so he cannot move, thus neutralizing the opponent's fighting ability...
).
Linear footwork's direct, sharp movements are natural for most grappling systems, which aim quickly to take an opponent to the floor with as little movement or adjustment as necessary. "Shooting," or rushing for the legs in order to execute a takedown, is a universal action that is an example of linear footwork's application.
Triangular Footwork
This unique and highly versatile footwork pattern is popular within the arts that populate many of the nations that once comprised the Majapahit EmpireMajapahit Empire
Majapahit was a vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by conquest which extended through Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime...
, including those of Malaysia, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
Principally Kali-Arnis-Escrima (see Escrima) , Silat
Silat
Silat Melayu is a blanket term for the types of silat created in peninsular Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Singapore. The silat tradition has deep roots in Malay culture and can trace its origin to the dawn of Malay civilization, 2000 years ago...
and Panantukan
Panantukan
Panantukan is the boxing component of Filipino martial arts, and is known in the Visayas as pangamot. It consists of upper-body striking techniques such as punches, elbows, headbutts and shoulder strikes...
. Linear or triangular footwork involves moving in triangular fashion as opposed to the direct forward or lateral movement present in boxing and other styles such as Karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
or Tae-Kwon-Do. For example, a user of triangular footwork will choose to advance or retreat at a diagonal to one's opponent, as to potentially set oneself into a superior position or attack or defense, and to disorient opponents that may not be familiar with this type of unconventional movement. Users of triangular footwork appear as if zigzagging along the points of many diamonds in randomized directions.
There are three types of triangular movement: The male triangle pattern with involves advancing in a triangular pattern that is facing away from the practitioner (terminology's connotation is obvious.), the female triangle pattern that has the practitioner retreating along an inverse triangle facing opposite of the fighter, and the lateral triangle, which involves moving in a triangular pattern to the right, and left of the practitioner.
Movement in a linear fashion is achieved, principally, by a "step and slide." The fighter will first move to the desired 'point' on the triangular matrix, then swiftly slide one's rear leg to meet his leading foot. From this position, the practitioner either rests one's foot to facilitate an attack or defense, or shoot his foot out to another point to complete another step and slide motion. Advanced users of triangular footwork literally "bounce" their rear feet off the ankle or heel area of their leading foot to jut out to another point as swiftly as possible, allowing for change of direction at incredible speed. The majority of the arts that utilize triangular footwork can effectively be practiced in either right or left leads interchangeably, so they are naturally suited for this manner of movement.
Panantukan
Panantukan
Panantukan is the boxing component of Filipino martial arts, and is known in the Visayas as pangamot. It consists of upper-body striking techniques such as punches, elbows, headbutts and shoulder strikes...
, Filipino boxing, is an exception to the standard step and slide, as it features a hybrid footwork pattern that combines triangular movement with a boxing stance, and boxing's close attention to body mechanics. A Panantukan fighter will use his unique footwork to attempt to zone his opponent to achieve the perfect striking position.
Circular Footwork
Circular movement patterns are an integral part of many forms of traditional Chinese martial arts, such as BaguazhangBaguazhang
Bāguàzhǎng is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being Taijiquan and Xingyiquan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice...
, Xingyiquan
Xingyiquan
Xingyiquan is one of the major "internal" or Wudang styles of Chinese martial arts. The word translates approximately to "Form/Intention Boxing", or "Shape/Will Boxing", and is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements and explosive power...
and Taijiquan, due principally to the strong influence of Tao
Tao
Dao or Tao is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle'...
philosophy. Circular footwork is also the basic method of movement in Ashihara karate and Enshin karate. Circular footwork functions in a way similar to triangular footwork, in that the martial artist advances towards his opponent at an angle in order to occupy the opponent's "blind spot." From here, the practitioner can strike more effectively while limiting his opponent's options for attack. Circular footwork is often considered more difficult to master than other types of footwork.
Unconventional Footwork
Many styles of martial arts the world over contain footwork patterns that defy categorization. Such arts include Malaysia's Harimau, and Mande Muda, aspects of SilatSilat
Silat Melayu is a blanket term for the types of silat created in peninsular Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Singapore. The silat tradition has deep roots in Malay culture and can trace its origin to the dawn of Malay civilization, 2000 years ago...
, and many Chinese Gung Fu styles that contain proliferant footwork methods that involve deep crouching, and closely mimic the movements and behaviors of animals, such as the tiger (harimau), monkey, or snake. The unique methods present within these arts make them philosophies unto themselves.