Basic Footwork

[Kung Fu Wang]

stand still on one leg, ... dynamic balance ...

If you can hop up (or down) stairs with single leg while you are holding some weight, you will have dynamic balance on single leg. If you just stand on single leg without moving, that's not enough IMO.

 

[First Action]

Agree that you should move your back foot before moving your leading foot.

This seems to be a popular school of thought. Whats the reasoning for it?

I've always moved my lead first to increase speed/decrease telegraphing when lunging for attack.

 

[Cyriacus]

This seems to be a popular school of thought. Whats the reasoning for it?

I've always moved my lead first to increase speed/decrease telegraphing when lunging for attack.

Try pushing hard off your back foot without letting that foot leave the ground. It increases speed and reduces telegraphing. Push off > Drop your weight > Step > Bring your rear leg up after setting your lead leg down.

If youre getting more speed 'walking' forward with just your front leg, well, thats fine too. Not all people 'move' the same way. It might actually be working for you

 

[Uncle]

Try pushing hard off your back foot without letting that foot leave the ground. It increases speed and reduces telegraphing. Push off > Drop your weight > Step > Bring your rear leg up after setting your lead leg down.

If youre getting more speed 'walking' forward with just your front leg, well, thats fine too. Not all people 'move' the same way. It might actually be working for you

Actually for wing chun if we're not taking a step forward with our back foot but rather doing a short step forward with the front we're always pushing off the back leg so the front leg comes forward first. It works well for us.

 

[Cyriacus]

Actually for wing chun if we're not taking a step forward with our back foot but rather doing a short step forward with the front we're always pushing off the back leg so the front leg comes forward first. It works well for us.

Im not sure if you think that isnt what i said, or if youre saying that thats how you do it in Wing Chun as well or if im misreading you?

 

[Uncle]

Im not sure if you think that isnt what i said, or if youre saying that thats how you do it in Wing Chun as well or if im misreading you?

First one, now the other now that I know what you meant.

 

[oftheherd1]

All the rest is fine - Ill agree with it all. Ill generally say that footwork taking time to learn but becoming natural is my point - Walking forward by moving your front leg then bringing your back leg up is basically walking in stance. Its questionable. Footwork that moves you around more serves a purpose.

I don't see it as questionable in the right circumstances. Of course as I am sure you would agree you need many tools in your bag for different circumstances.

Those sorts of brash controlled moves can work, if you can close alot of distance and do it quickly. Drop stepping, for example, tends to do that pretty well.

However, you did slightly misunderstand. My point was that trying to lunge or charge in dont work so good unless the format of competition permits it, or, as i often adore doing, if youre already in something of a medium range. Then the charge is just for momentum, and nothing else. You do plant your feet if you can, but you dont really need to in order to generate power. You just need to to generate more power. For what its worth, the thing about striking before the foot hit the ground came from the OP, not me

"Any type of advancing footwork can be used to increase power in a strike. Be sure that when your advancing for attack that your lead foot does not land before the strike."

Reference the bolded text, in the Hapkido I learned we didn't have competition. The only time we sparred was after tests. But we only sparred as a TaeKwonDo student would. The Hapkido I learned didn't lend itself to free sparring.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

This seems to be a popular school of thought. Whats the reasoning for it?

I've always moved my lead first to increase speed/decrease telegraphing when lunging for attack.

The moment that you move your front foot forward, the moment that the distance between you and your opponent has been reduced. Your opponent can sweep/scoop your leading leg and take you down at that moment.

When your front foot is outside of your opponent's kicking range, no matter where you may move your back letg, as long as it's not infront of your front foot, the distance between you and your opponent hasn't changed yet. When you move your back leg to touch your leading leg, you can then decide whether you should move in or still move back and wait for another opportunity. By moving your back leg 1st, it buys you some breathing room.

Again, you can always "hide" your intention by moving your leading (or back) foot inch by inch without your opponent notices it. When your feet is at the right spot, you can then jump in and attack.

 

[Cyriacus]

I don't see it as questionable in the right circumstances. Of course as I am sure you would agree you need many tools in your bag for different circumstances.

If thats how you feel - Though its purely personal preference, i just dont see why i need more than one or two ways of moving in a straight line with my front foot moving first using formal footwork.

Reference the bolded text, in the Hapkido I learned we didn't have competition. The only time we sparred was after tests. But we only sparred as a TaeKwonDo student would. The Hapkido I learned didn't lend itself to free sparring.

Thats... sorta my point. You arent doing a format of competition, let alone a format of competition that permits it. So it dont work so good.

 

[First Action]

Actually for wing chun if we're not taking a step forward with our back foot but rather doing a short step forward with the front we're always pushing off the back leg so the front leg comes forward first. It works well for us.

ahh, this is what I mean. I guess just because my front foot is the one that leaves the ground first I counted it as thats the one that moves first.. but in fact the muscles in my rear leg are activating before my lead.

 

[mook jong man]

ahh, this is what I mean. I guess just because my front foot is the one that leaves the ground first I counted it as thats the one that moves first.. but in fact the muscles in my rear leg are activating before my lead.

I don't think of moving either leg first , in our lineage the movement is initiated from the waist.