Exercises for being more light-footed?

[Gerry Seymour]

more light-footed

From a wrestler point of view, it's NO NO to be "light footed". My wrestling teacher doesn't event suggest me to train running. The words "float" and "poor rooting" are both bad terms in MA. It's always better to have your gravity center to be as lower to the ground as possible.

Not in all MA. Some practice being light on the feet and still being rooted. "Float" and "poor rooting" aren't antonyms in all styles.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I'm with Buka on this one. If you feel "top heavy", you probably emphasized your upper body to a point where you're out of balance. Building up those leg muscles in the right way (especially the lower leg - those are integral muscles for balance) makes it possible to be lighter on your feet. Build those support muscles up and practice using them in agility drills (like the agility ladder - I'm with you on that one, friend!).

I'm always surprised at how many people "build their houses" from the top down. It's such an unnatural way of development. I guess vanity drives the world (not saying that the OP is vain) just saying that sometimes we get caught up in how we want to look without realizing that our body functions as a whole. We aren't some kind of clay model where pieces can be added here and there. Everything on our body affect how other pieces of our body function.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I'm always surprised at how many people "build their houses" from the top down. It's such an unnatural way of development. I guess vanity drives the world (not saying that the OP is vain) just saying that sometimes we get caught up in how we want to look without realizing that our body functions as a whole. We aren't some kind of clay model where pieces can be added here and there. Everything on our body affect how other pieces of our body function.

I'm only surprised by it because I accidentally did it the other way. I was a scrawny kid who played soccer ("football" to most of the world) for 12 years and was a distance runner from the age of 10. In spite of working out like a fiend in high school, I was still pretty scrawny...except for my legs. To me, that's what's "natural", even now that I put very little effort into training my legs for strength.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Heavy Footwork is an understatement. If you like jumping high then don't do Hung Gar after a few years it'll make you feel like a walking tank and every time you walk it will be like you are in a continuous state of being rooted. Recently I've been trying to trying to balance out this level of being rooted so that I can move quickly when needed so that I'm not always feeling like an oak tree.

Doing Jow Ga, made me realized why the founder wanted to have the footwork of Choy Ga in the system. It balances out all of that Hung Ga rooting.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

As footwork is so foundational, ...

To have fast footwork is different from light footed. When you move around in fast speed, you still have to "bend your leg" to allow your center of gravity to be lower to the ground.

 

[FireSnake]

Just another word of thanks for some excellent suggestions, and a small update. I've seen some definite improvement on footwork (speed and more graceful flow) as I more focus on form and mechanics. My being top-heavy was more a genetic predisposition than anything else (which seems to work in my favour for grappling), but the legs are catching up quickly (different form of legwork as previously it was all uneven terrain hiking). Two things have improved footwork on top of the other suggestions: 1) bag-work where I sit on my punch, but keep feet moving without changing distance between feet; 2) Long periods of horse stance, and one-foot balancing drills. All told, I feel less like my bones are made of lead. Just wish I'd started all this 20 years ago!

 

[drop bear]

This is the opposite of "light footed".

Necro but.

No that is an example of being light footed

 

[jks9199]

Jump rope. "Fast feet" running in place drills. Lots of practice at moving. Become conscious of where your weight is on your feet; too far back towards the heels and you'll be heavy.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Exercises for being more light-footed?​

From the wrestling art point of view,

light foot = float = high gravity center = no rooting = bad

My Chinese wrestling teacher even told me that running is bad.

 

[drop bear]

Exercises for being more light-footed?​

From the wrestling art point of view,

light foot = float = high gravity center = no rooting = bad

My Chinese wrestling teacher even told me that running is bad.

No. You move to counter their mechanical advantage. They move to get that advantage. You have to out maneuver someone to be rooted to the ground.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

No. You move to counter their mechanical advantage. They move to get that advantage. You have to out maneuver someone to be rooted to the ground.

I suspect some uses of "rooting" are a static technique. There's something similar that might be in Daito-ryu (we don't get into it much in NGA, at least not that I ever saw). A training partner ahd some Daito-ryu background (and some other stuff, which is why I'm not sure where this came from), but he explained some of the exercises he'd used. If Daniel didn't want to be moved, you needed a hell of a mechanical advantage to make him. I don't understand the mechanics of it, but seems like a more advanced development of some of the principles I was taught (which I use more the way you describe).

 

[JowGaWolf]

light foot = float = high gravity center = no rooting = bad

This is what I told my son last night during training. He's too heavy in is stance and he doesn't have a lot of mobility. I told him that the stance he uses is for when he thinks someone will try to take him down. I used wrestlers as an example and how there stance is less mobile. Than a stance that is tall.

When we want to move fast across a distance then we stand up tall. (A person running)
When we want to be rooted to the ground and difficult to move then we take a lower stance (A person crouching or in a low horse stance, bow stance or cross stance.)

There's a different between quick mobility and light mobility. A stance can be low, heavy, and quick but travels very little distance. This is good for the majority of cases.

A stance can be light, fast and a lot of distance this can be good too for jumping back. But it's not good for most of the situations a person will find themselves in. In general a person doesn't want to have light footwork. They want to have fast footwork that isn't light. In fighting, if your footwork takes you too far away from your opponent then you will be at a disadvantage of always having to reset and trying to close the gap.

You move to counter their mechanical advantage. They move to get that advantage. You have to out maneuver someone to be rooted to the ground.

Outmaneuvering someone doesn't require light feet. That's a misconception that people make. Sometimes outmaneuvering someone is only a matter of inches. I will try to remember to record it, but I can show you fast movement to a target while in a horse stance. The gap will be a 6 inch gap. I will close that gap by shuffling forward a couple of inches. It will be fast movement with a heavy stance. It will be fast but only over a short distance. To avoid a punch one may only need to move just a few inches. It's the same for landing one.

This isn't a disagreement to what you are saying, I'm just highlighting that there is a difference between footwork that is fast and footwork that is light. Many times people think that you have to be "light on your feet" in order to be fast or quick and that's not true. When people speak of being fast or being quick, it should be put into the context of moving across a distance. The more distance that needs to be covered the lighter the footwork will need to be. If people keep that in mind, then they can determine how far to they need to move and then choose the correct footwork for it.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

This is what I told my son last night during training. He's too heavy in is stance and he doesn't have a lot of mobility.

The key is to develop the "sink" ability. The sink is the opposite of the light-footed. When you train sink, you are not training light-footed. When you train light-footed, you are not training sink.

What's "sink"? It's the ability not to be taken down.

 

[JowGaWolf]

The key is to develop the "sink" ability. The sink is the opposite of the light-footed. When you train sink, you are not training light-footed. When you train light-footed, you are not training sink.

What's "sink"? It's the ability not to be taken down.

does boxing train it? I'm not sure what is the equivalent of sink for them

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

does boxing train it? I'm not sure what is the equivalent of sink for them

Sink has to do with static power generation.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Sink has to do with static power generation.

I know what it is. I just don't know if boxers train it. or if they train it as something else.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I know what it is. I just don't know if boxers train it. or if they train it as something else.

There is a good reason that boxers train "jumping rope", but no CMA systems train that.

If you try foot sweep against those who train jumping rope and those who don't, you can tell a big difference.

 

[JowGaWolf]

There is a good reason that boxers train "jumping rope", but no CMA systems train that.

CMA trains jumping

 

[drop bear]

does boxing train it? I'm not sure what is the equivalent of sink for them

Yeah. They call it footwork.

 

[drop bear]

This is what I told my son last night during training. He's too heavy in is stance and he doesn't have a lot of mobility. I told him that the stance he uses is for when he thinks someone will try to take him down. I used wrestlers as an example and how there stance is less mobile. Than a stance that is tall.

When we want to move fast across a distance then we stand up tall. (A person running)
When we want to be rooted to the ground and difficult to move then we take a lower stance (A person crouching or in a low horse stance, bow stance or cross stance.)

There's a different between quick mobility and light mobility. A stance can be low, heavy, and quick but travels very little distance. This is good for the majority of cases.

A stance can be light, fast and a lot of distance this can be good too for jumping back. But it's not good for most of the situations a person will find themselves in. In general a person doesn't want to have light footwork. They want to have fast footwork that isn't light. In fighting, if your footwork takes you too far away from your opponent then you will be at a disadvantage of always having to reset and trying to close the gap.


Outmaneuvering someone doesn't require light feet. That's a misconception that people make. Sometimes outmaneuvering someone is only a matter of inches. I will try to remember to record it, but I can show you fast movement to a target while in a horse stance. The gap will be a 6 inch gap. I will close that gap by shuffling forward a couple of inches. It will be fast movement with a heavy stance. It will be fast but only over a short distance. To avoid a punch one may only need to move just a few inches. It's the same for landing one.

This isn't a disagreement to what you are saying, I'm just highlighting that there is a difference between footwork that is fast and footwork that is light. Many times people think that you have to be "light on your feet" in order to be fast or quick and that's not true. When people speak of being fast or being quick, it should be put into the context of moving across a distance. The more distance that needs to be covered the lighter the footwork will need to be. If people keep that in mind, then they can determine how far to they need to move and then choose the correct footwork for it.

The thing is if you want to absorb energy, so stop being pushed or pulled or thrown. You structure has to be right.

The problem is they know that and make adjustments so your structure is wrong. I mean that is basically the game of fighting.

So you only get that static rooted stance for about a second or so before you have to adjust it to something else. Which is achieved through light footwork. Even if that light footwork is pushing your body weight downwards.