exercises for footwork?

[danielson]

my feet are basically big iron blocks. i tend not to move much when sparring, which is fairly obviously bad

in class due to the size of the room we rarely practise our shufflinf etc, and im sure this is where the problem is.

any exercises you can suggest? in kali, we do ranging attacks where we have to move back and forth a lot, but anything on the side to side stuff? i;ve never really been good at shuffling on the heavy bag as its never really gonna hit me....

so i was thinking a floor to ceiling bag, the small ones that are really bouncy and fly back at you when you hit em......roughly how much room do you think i'd need for one?

 

[Thaibox]

I was lucky because one of my very first instructors emphasized the importance of footwork and drilled the shit out of me. I remember spending way too much damn time shuffling around in front of a mirror. There's a drill where you square off with another fighter, and place your Kali sticks in a diamond between the two of you and use those to move opposite eachother. Spend a lot of time dancing in front of a mirror watching your feet. Make sure you are NEVER in a position of imbalance or lower body vulnerability. You should be able to cruise around front/back/sides/diag in a left and right lead and always keep a proper foot distance. I use to train on a slippery surface such as ice or linoleum sprayed with silicon to develop a good moving foundation. I also used to place different types of gound around a heavy bag or in a general area where I trained myself and others. While dancing around a bag, you would find your feet sticking to to rubber for one second, slipping on a smooth surface the next, sliding in gravel, then sloshing in mud. It was interesting and required constant subconcious attention to your footing.

my feet are basically big iron blocks

I love to see an opponent stand still or not move his feet much, its much easier to evaluate him, and therefore typically beat him. Force yourself to keep moving man. You know the deal about being stationary or setting patterns. Not good. Telegraphing non-action is just as bad as telegraphing an action.

Just tell your instructor that you're uncomfortable with your footwork and you'd like to focus on it for a while. If he doesn't recognize the significance of this, find another instructor. A seasoned fighter will take advantage of poor footwork easily despite even a high level of upper body skill. Your instructor should be making you mix in Sipas and such while you are drilling Guntaks(or whatever those damn things are called) simply to be aware of your lower body and recognize all dimensions of fighting.

Anyway, I think simply evaluating yourself in the mirror while shuffling all over is a good start. Record yourself sparring and see where you tend to plant yourself too much or fail to keep your feet well positioned and make a concious adjustment in the following training sessions.

You can tighten up the double end bag to change the range(and speed) of rebounding movement. Go everywhere you can, 360 degrees.

 

[danielson]

thanks, im gonna stick a big ass mirror in that gym im building up and do the footworl drills there, the diamond with the sticks sounds nteresting as well. i'll go with tthe floor and ceiling bag second, but this see,s like a good start, snmall steps first and all that. actually know a lot of shuffles and steps (i do crane kung fu so im hopping about a lot ), but they were done statically with the instructors commands so its almost as if i wasnt moving

i must confess i dont know what sipas and guntaks are, maybe i do them but dont know the fillipino name.....worrying because i have a kali grading in 2 weeks is that where your opponent attacks and you jump back and attack his arm (ranging?), im still fairly new to kali but learning quick

 

[Lord_Suston]

Hmmm.... I use to train footwork by doing sprints and circling drills. my best advice is work on moving around the bags in and out without crossing your feet. I would suggest that you prectice a few rounds solely on foot work making sure you get your heels up and good hip positioning

 

[danielson]

i;ve been moving round the bag a bit more, its getting a bit more fluent now, it feels more instinctive rather than forced, and im finally moving around in kali, ive been made to work hard on the ranging between myself and an advancing/retreating opponent and its helped a lot....

i havent sparred empty hands in a while due to achademic constraints, and have just done kali sparring, i canl;t wait to get a chance to apply myself when i finally get my body to use the mobility its capable of

 

[danielson]

i;ve been moving round the bag a bit more, its getting a bit more fluent now, it feels more instinctive rather than forced, and im finally moving around in kali, ive been made to work hard on the ranging between myself and an advancing/retreating opponent and its helped a lot....

i havent sparred empty hands in a while due to achademic constraints, and have just done kali sparring, i canl;t wait to get a chance to apply myself when i finally get my body to use the mobility its capable of