2015/09/29: The Replacement Step, "Drop Kicking," Footwork

It's so interesting for me to see what everyone says about footwork, and how convinced they all are of how right they are. I think at the end of the day, I've realized that everyone's footwork is catered to what they want to do. The EnterShaolin guys and Bruce Lee want their lead leg to be able to be lifted to kick, and also they want to "hide" their weight so that it cannot be exploited, so they keep their weight back. The EnterShaolin guys advocate a 10/90 cat stance, while Bruce Lee favors a more traditional Wing Chun 30/70 or 35/65 stance.

Lyoto Machida favors a 50/50 stance because it is a compromise. Jack Dempsey favors 80/20 in the lead leg to use the drop step, but there is little resistance to pulls. However, that wasn't really something you had to worry about in boxing. So the forward weight is really good for aggressiveness, and the backward weight is really good for defensiveness. Weight on the heels is good for rooting and power, weight on the toes is great for mobility and evasion. Phu's idea of an Anchor leg and Weight leg is interesting in non-symmetric distributions, however in a horse stance, both legs are both things I guess.

Anyway, I've been thinking about a move called the replacement step. (JKD Rocker shuffle?) It is somewhat athletic in its execution, but not that much. Suppose I want to launch a kick with my forward leg, but all of my weight is in my front leg. I cannot lift that front leg unless I shift my weight elsewhere. So what I will do is use the bound spring principle to lift my front leg, be temporarily falling, and my back leg will land exactly where my front leg was, and since my center of gravity did not move, I should still be in the same place in balance, with my lead leg in the air. This can be used backwards to resist sudden pushes as well. The key is to not move the center of gravity, but only the legs until they are set. THEN you can do body shift or whatnot to attack/defend.

A "drop kick" is a maneuver I made up based on the falling step for punching, but with the legs. It is a VERY low line attack, usually for knees or below, (usually shins, insteps, ankles, toes). The idea is you load the front leg...and then you pick it up, just like you would for a punch, but you just drop all that weight into whatever it is you're attacking with your foot. Cutting shin slides seem good. I'm pretty flexible so I could do this to the side of their knees...