I confess, I'm weird, I *like* footwork training. Back in the Pleistocene, when I was a fencing coach, I always tried to pass on my passion for good footwork to my students. I don't think I succeeded very often. Another great lesson, with excellent exercises!
Both my FIE instructor and my wudang instructor emphasized the primacy of footwork-doesn't matter how good your are in the other domains-without good footwork you can't do anything with it! (There's a reason Ali is considered "the greatest" and it applies equally to fencing:)
Check out this vid, and notice the dancer is doing skip steps similar to Ali-that's why the master is fencing with her-she's the only one of his students with the mobility to defend: ua-cam.com/video/DwFTHa_TtlE/v-deo.html (And don't be fooled-this "sticky fencing" is merely what a student is expected to have mastered before they move on to sparring, so that they can control the opponent's blade instead of simply hacking, flailing, and attacking when they have no advantage or right-of-way, which is suicidal with a sword:)
This should be the core of your practice, even more important than cutting, slicing, jabbing and thrusting. It's the ability to create distance where necessary to counter (parry) and close distance to strike. Ali called his "Ali Shuffle" a dance, and Sugar Ray Leonard was also superior in this domain. Bruce Lee was the Cha Cha king of Hong Kong. Northern Shaolin, Bagua & Hsingyi are is the best forms training for this, imho, but if you're strictly European, some dancing classes couldn't hurt to supplement your sparring drills. *Fencing, like boxing, is a rhythm sport.*
@@itinerantpoet1341 This is a very old comparison but keep in mind that while dancing does require a great deal of physical prowess and co-ordination it should not be linked to combat. There are movements in any of these physical activities which will be beneficial for other activities and some that will not. The reason Bruce lee was a good fighter wasn't due to him having a dancing background. He was a naturally gifted athlete and had a singularly obsessive mind. He wanted to be the best at everything he did and if he wasn't the best he sought to become the best eventually. Its the mantra of his whole being was to be the best. lots of people have this mentality and although as i have said dancing is athletically demanding and requires commitment just like martial arts does. it should not be viewed as a benefit to martial training. I do not believe that a ballet dancer will immediately have better footwork then a Boxer. or a break dancer although adept at moving his body on the ground quickly will be a better grappler then a BJJ blackbelt. There may be skills that will benefit this but that is mainly because of the individual's ability to adapt and take what works while discarding what doesn't. Does this mean dancers make good fighters? depends entirely on the person. Do fighters make good dancers? depends entirely on the person. If someone has been in a lot of fights. is he a good fighter. i would say yes. because he understands combat. Nothing teaches better then first hand experience. Combat is a very nuanced and detailed undertaking and i dont think any one aspect can be likened to its success to such a large degree. So no I would not say that hand to hand combat or sword combat is dances. I would not say that at all. Combat is combat. dance is dance. they may have similar aspects but that does not make them the same thing. That being said. I will not say a dancer should not become a fighter or vice versa. Do what you wish to do and commit to it. but understand the differences and similarities of both and be humble when learning because while there will be similarities. It is learning the differences that will make you better at both
@@stephenkime5946 I just recommend a little dance training b/c superior footwork is the only reason I'm still around to piss everyone off, and f----ing with an opponent's timing is the best path to victory in any art that relies on striking. I"m not talking about dancing during combat-I'm talking about "timing and distance" as the essence, areas where dancer training really helps. (Note that the mentor who reinforced this to me had a verifiable special forces background, and his guidance gave me confidence to use these tools in sparring, to great effect.) And I agree that no one aspect is enough, but mobility is the foundation, whether it's squad manouvers or fencing. The way I learned to be humble was by getting brutally "corrected" by my si hings when I'd overstep, and that's why I'm confident about my assertions today.
@@stephenkime5946 From a purely body-mechanical standpoint, *any* form of dance teaches you to be light on your feet and make quick changes. Your fencing footwork needs to be lively.
Advanced practitioners can experiment with springing steps, cutting and thrusting in transition (i.e. focusing before the front foot touches down), and "following step" (lunging or springing for distance, but with the back foot sliding in so you don't end up in a wide stance with low mobility in case you have to parry.)
Very early on my longsword instructor made it clear just how terrifying proper, aggressive footwork can be--even when you, the student, know they aren't going to strike you.
I like to step toward the cut (as shown) for oberhaus, however I find it better to step away from the cut for unterhaus. When they throw a mittelhau, then you need to step back out of range.
@@nicopetri3533 Every qualified instructor I've every worked with has emphasized this, and you can never do too much work on the basics. It's really only when the "boring stuff" starts to get interesting that one truly starts to progress. And they may have new insights, thus, a new vid.
@@itinerantpoet1341 I am the last person to say that we should do less basics, but at this point they probably done 4 videos on passing steps. Footwork consists of so much more than passing steps. This doesn't even scrape the basics of footwork. It feels like we are getting the same lukewarm video over and over again.
Roll forward to avoid hitbox. Got it.
I confess, I'm weird, I *like* footwork training. Back in the Pleistocene, when I was a fencing coach, I always tried to pass on my passion for good footwork to my students. I don't think I succeeded very often. Another great lesson, with excellent exercises!
Both my FIE instructor and my wudang instructor emphasized the primacy of footwork-doesn't matter how good your are in the other domains-without good footwork you can't do anything with it!
(There's a reason Ali is considered "the greatest" and it applies equally to fencing:)
Moving "towards the cut" is very similar to slipping in boxing, where it can be advantageous to slip/bob towards the hook to make it miss entirely.
Li Jinglin wrote that real modern fencing is similar to boxing, and he fought plenty of duels, and was considered #1 in his generation.
Check out this vid, and notice the dancer is doing skip steps similar to Ali-that's why the master is fencing with her-she's the only one of his students with the mobility to defend: ua-cam.com/video/DwFTHa_TtlE/v-deo.html
(And don't be fooled-this "sticky fencing" is merely what a student is expected to have mastered before they move on to sparring, so that they can control the opponent's blade instead of simply hacking, flailing, and attacking when they have no advantage or right-of-way, which is suicidal with a sword:)
Best info you have shared . My footwork stinks.
This should be the core of your practice, even more important than cutting, slicing, jabbing and thrusting. It's the ability to create distance where necessary to counter (parry) and close distance to strike.
Ali called his "Ali Shuffle" a dance, and Sugar Ray Leonard was also superior in this domain. Bruce Lee was the Cha Cha king of Hong Kong.
Northern Shaolin, Bagua & Hsingyi are is the best forms training for this, imho, but if you're strictly European, some dancing classes couldn't hurt to supplement your sparring drills.
*Fencing, like boxing, is a rhythm sport.*
@@itinerantpoet1341 This is a very old comparison but keep in mind that while dancing does require a great deal of physical prowess and co-ordination it should not be linked to combat. There are movements in any of these physical activities which will be beneficial for other activities and some that will not. The reason Bruce lee was a good fighter wasn't due to him having a dancing background. He was a naturally gifted athlete and had a singularly obsessive mind. He wanted to be the best at everything he did and if he wasn't the best he sought to become the best eventually. Its the mantra of his whole being was to be the best.
lots of people have this mentality and although as i have said dancing is athletically demanding and requires commitment just like martial arts does. it should not be viewed as a benefit to martial training. I do not believe that a ballet dancer will immediately have better footwork then a Boxer. or a break dancer although adept at moving his body on the ground quickly will be a better grappler then a BJJ blackbelt. There may be skills that will benefit this but that is mainly because of the individual's ability to adapt and take what works while discarding what doesn't.
Does this mean dancers make good fighters? depends entirely on the person. Do fighters make good dancers? depends entirely on the person. If someone has been in a lot of fights. is he a good fighter. i would say yes. because he understands combat. Nothing teaches better then first hand experience.
Combat is a very nuanced and detailed undertaking and i dont think any one aspect can be likened to its success to such a large degree. So no I would not say that hand to hand combat or sword combat is dances. I would not say that at all. Combat is combat. dance is dance. they may have similar aspects but that does not make them the same thing.
That being said. I will not say a dancer should not become a fighter or vice versa. Do what you wish to do and commit to it. but understand the differences and similarities of both and be humble when learning because while there will be similarities. It is learning the differences that will make you better at both
@@stephenkime5946 I just recommend a little dance training b/c superior footwork is the only reason I'm still around to piss everyone off, and f----ing with an opponent's timing is the best path to victory in any art that relies on striking.
I"m not talking about dancing during combat-I'm talking about "timing and distance" as the essence, areas where dancer training really helps.
(Note that the mentor who reinforced this to me had a verifiable special forces background, and his guidance gave me confidence to use these tools in sparring, to great effect.)
And I agree that no one aspect is enough, but mobility is the foundation, whether it's squad manouvers or fencing.
The way I learned to be humble was by getting brutally "corrected" by my si hings when I'd overstep, and that's why I'm confident about my assertions today.
@@stephenkime5946 From a purely body-mechanical standpoint, *any* form of dance teaches you to be light on your feet and make quick changes.
Your fencing footwork needs to be lively.
Sweet.
cool
Nicole , its for you 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰👍🏆😊!
Great Vid.
Footwork, footwork, footwork! If it's not top-notch, good luck! (GREAT vid:)
Advanced practitioners can experiment with springing steps, cutting and thrusting in transition (i.e. focusing before the front foot touches down), and "following step" (lunging or springing for distance, but with the back foot sliding in so you don't end up in a wide stance with low mobility in case you have to parry.)
rất hay 😄😃👍
Very early on my longsword instructor made it clear just how terrifying proper, aggressive footwork can be--even when you, the student, know they aren't going to strike you.
Miss you guys, hoping to get back online with you. Still practicing solo most of the time, what is a way to find other plp?
I like to step toward the cut (as shown) for oberhaus, however I find it better to step away from the cut for unterhaus. When they throw a mittelhau, then you need to step back out of range.
Why does this video feel like a deja-vu?
You can never do enough footwork training. Fact.
@@itinerantpoet1341 Yeah, but you have to do more advanced footwork training at some point to.
This is the hundredth video on footwork basic basics.
@@nicopetri3533 Every qualified instructor I've every worked with has emphasized this, and you can never do too much work on the basics.
It's really only when the "boring stuff" starts to get interesting that one truly starts to progress.
And they may have new insights, thus, a new vid.
@@itinerantpoet1341 I am the last person to say that we should do less basics, but at this point they probably done 4 videos on passing steps. Footwork consists of so much more than passing steps. This doesn't even scrape the basics of footwork.
It feels like we are getting the same lukewarm video over and over again.
Coach Steve don’t make me start here 😡 with your personal image