2015/09/21: Footwork, Shifting, Defense, Same Things

I've been studying a lot of footwork lately. Jeet Kune Do footwork, Boxing footwork, Kickboxing footwork, Muay Thai footwork, the footwork of countless styles, analyzing how they use the positioning of their feet to put them in the perfect place for what they want to do. By dissecting these strategies, I can develop footwork that would work for me.

I have made the decision to not only use the orthodox stance, but spend a lot of time working on my Southpaw stance. I must be able to easily go back and forth between both, and be able to shift between them to confuse my opponent, because I discovered that when I slipped to the left, instead of wasting time doing a pivot and then striking, if I shifted I could attack right away.

"Never cross your feet."

That is one of the first things told to any boxer. Yet, as I was practicing the Tai Chi 24-form 5 years ago, I couldn't help think to myself...why do I keep crossing my feet? Are these inherently different? Does Tai Chi not work? Because boxers claim that anyone who crosses their feet is really easy to off-balance, and it is not hard to see that that is scientifically sound.

HOWEVER...

Recently I've been studying boxing, and it turns out that most people these days forgot about a thing known as shifting, which is...you guessed it! Where you cross your feet and switch leads. Oh yeah, what does the Fitzsimmons Shift remind me of? Brush knee and twist step/brush knee and step forward! It's almost the same move! The footwork for Dempsey's Double Shift can be found in Parting the Horse's Mane. It's so crazy how people think what they are doing is very different...but they're actually doing just about the same thing.

But there's that part of me that loves Chinese culture and wants to do it anyway just because it's Chinese.

I've also been working on my defense a lot. Even though Dempsey says I need to not get a defense complex, I need to make sure that I am invincible before I attempt the shutdown strategies that he wants me to employ.

So...

1. Learn to cover. Front covers, side covers, low covers...helmet, DRACULA, X-block, Diagonal block (Philly Shell?), Peek-a-boo (not the gloved version, the naked version which is more of a double dracula), leg checks, etc. Going to explore Karate/Kung Fu blocks
2. Once we get that down, we're doing to move on to deflection. I seem to be very good at catching hands since I'm RIDICULOUSLY fast, but the day will come when I slow down and I must rely on pre-emption to do deflections, or just cover, charge in for a bridge, and then play Chi Sau.
3. If we see it coming, we can slip/bob+weave. Or just use footwork to evade.
4. And best of all, we throw a counterpunch to stop the move from even happening.