General Choi telling a North Korean NOT to twist his body when punching. "Just go up"

[Badhabits]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing the correlation between Dempsey's drop step and sine wave. He never talks (in his book) about any type of rise before the drop step. The only prerequisite he mentions would be having at least a little weight on the front foot. He does say that one of the great things about the drop step is that it has no tell before it happens. Wouldn't a rise prior to doing it be a tell (unless you're already rising for another reason)? He goes into detail in his book, says the front foot is lifted, body pushes off rear foot as it begins to fall, no sort of loading it up other than some forward weight.
I've had some training on the drop step, there was never a rise worked into it. Maybe other people do it differently.

 

[windwalker099]

He does say that one of the great things about the drop step is that it has no tell before it happens. Wouldn't a rise prior to doing it be a tell (unless you're already rising for another reason)?

You're correct, Dempsey didn’t show an obvious rise before the drop step, in order to avoid telegraphing.

Nor did he describe his method as a sine wave.
Functionally, the motion still follows a wave-like pattern:
the body drops, the fist rises, and energy flows through the frame.

It’s not about a visible lift, it’s about smooth internal transfer, much like a sine wave:
the body loads and releases without interruption.

For those interested his book Championship fighting
outlines the drop step.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Nor did he describe his method as a sine wave.

I think General Choi may be unique in the use of the term which he found convenient to contrast with "Saw tooth" and "Flat" wave. While the term was unique - the idea is not as can be seen from above posts.

 

[Badhabits]

"Falling power" I think is pretty much used across all arts I've had training in. It's the terminology and descriptions that differ. Falling power. Sinking power. Borrowing energy from the earth. They all cross over. In the West, Eastern terminology tends to sound all woo woo to us. Tell some guys doing a drop step they're "borrowing energy from the earth" they'll look at you like you have three heads. Fun stuff.

 

[_Simon_]

General Choi told me that he prefers karate.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

"Falling power" I think is pretty much used across all arts I've had training in. It's the terminology and descriptions that differ. Falling power. Sinking power. Borrowing energy from the earth. They all cross over. In the West, Eastern terminology tends to sound all woo woo to us. Tell some guys doing a drop step they're "borrowing energy from the earth" they'll look at you like you have three heads. Fun stuff.

I think this is what a lot of it comes down to. They've been doing the same things as us for decades (centuries)? They just describe it in a context of their culture that sounds like mystical mumbo jumbo in the west.

 

[isshinryuronin]

"Falling power" I think is pretty much used across all arts I've had training in. It's the terminology and descriptions that differ. Falling power. Sinking power. Borrowing energy from the earth. They all cross over. In the West, Eastern terminology tends to sound all woo woo to us. Tell some guys doing a drop step they're "borrowing energy from the earth" they'll look at you like you have three heads. Fun stuff.

Just like apples, bricks and airplanes obey the same laws of gravity, the various styles of MA all follow the same laws of biomechanics. The only difference is how we term and conceptualize them, which in turn influence how we express them in physical execution. And to what degree a style relies on a particular law as part of its doctrine. These of are some of the major elements that makes a style or system different than others.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Falling power. Sinking power. Borrowing energy from the earth. They all cross over.

I just taught a 7 years old kid to coordinate his punch with his front foot landing. If your hand can coordinate with your foot, you can then worry about coordinating your elbow with your knee, and ... So, falling power is power generation 101.

When you punch, during the

- beginner level training, your back foot should contact to the ground (static punch).
- advance level training, your back foot should slide along the ground (dynamic punch).

Falling power is not beginner level training at all.