Hi guys. Today we are working on footwork, so this week’s technique review is about footwork, both for striking and for kicking. Big difference, right? In striking, usually I stand on both feet, both legs, both pillars. In kicking, at least one leg is in the air. So, some very simple elements. When you stand in a certain position, and I’m doing now a not symmetrical position, one leg is forward, then the moment you move a certain leg left, right, forward, backwards, yes, you start the movement for the strikes with that leg. Which means, if I would like to move forward, I’ll start moving the forward leg.

So if I want to move forward with the strike, if I raise the, and if I move the back leg, it doesn’t put me in a good position. If I move the forward leg, I start falling forward. So I’m like this. I lift my left leg, I fall to the left. I lift my right leg, fall to the right. I’m in this position. Or in this position. If I will lift my forward leg, and I press more forward with my back leg, I move forward. I can move like this sideways, so I’ll press more sideways with my back leg.

Or I will tilt the body, go to the right. Don’t tilt the body, go more backwards. Tilt to the left, lift the left leg. Tilt forward or press forward, and lift the front leg. So, in the impact, you would like to move to the direction of the impact and the direction of the target. So in this case, if I want to strike forward, and I cannot reach, I will naturally lift my forward leg. If I would lift my back leg, I will fall backwards, so this can definitely be sort of a retreat technique, yes?

If in this position, I will start to move my back leg, and I would like to move forward, how can I do this? I will have to shift the weight first, now I will move the back leg. So it took me time to shift the weight. If I am moving with the front leg, easy, immediate, stronger strike. So from here, that’s the idea.

Now look at this position, my elbow is locked, and even my back leg is very straight. I’m standing on my own feet. The moment I lift my front leg, I’m forward, leaning and pressing him forward. This means that in the strike, I will have a stronger strike. If, on the other hand, I lift my back leg, I push myself, or let’s say, I start falling backwards. Which means there’s no pressure forward, there’s no impact forward. That’s the problem. So yes, sometimes we move backwards. But at the moment that where the back leg is in the air, the strike or the kick is very, very weak.

Now about kicking. Kicking is in a way, similar. However, we would like sometimes to kick with the front leg, and sometimes with the back leg. So in this case, basic footwork. If I would like to kick with the back leg, I will have to press with it, to shift the weight, and only now when there’s no weight on the back leg, now, only now, it’s sent towards the target. Now it’s easy to lift it. If not, if I lift it without shifting the weight and falling backwards. So to shift the weight to the front leg, and then you can kick. I shift the weight, and then I kick, that’s the idea here.

With every kick it’s the same. Kicking with the back leg. If I would like to kick with the front leg, that’s a good question. So I need to have much less weight on here. So one option is retreat and kick. So here, I retreat, I shift my weight backwards, I send my body backwards a little bit, and now I can kick, that’s the idea. If it in a sideways position, I’m rather close, I shift the weight, and now I can kick. And see, I’m doing it very slow.

What happens if you want to have a stronger kick, if you want not to retreat, if you want to advance, exactly like this, in this case what do we do? We, one option is start with the back leg and kick. So the back leg will start, you shift the weight, then the back leg will move. Then it will land, you already have momentum forward, then now in this moment, the center of gravity is more forward than the base. So practically, I can press forward. If the center of gravity is under the base again, center of gravity is above the base, I move the base, here. Now I make some impact, I fall backwards. Because nothing could press me, could press the energy, towards the target. That’s the problem.

And then another, of course, option, is that I am kicking with sliding, still I am kicking with the front leg. I lift the front leg, and while lifting the front leg, I continue to slide. So that’s a sliding advance. So we’ve got all the skipping type of advance, which is, you are moving first the non-kicking leg, non-kicking leg, yes. Front, non-kicking leg and then kick. Non-kicking leg and then kick. Or you start moving the kicking leg, and then advance. So that’s a sliding action.

These are the basic elements of balance and footwork. Thank you guys. Go training. Go train, go practice, don’t look at me anymore, practice. Ciao.