Long time no post....

Today’s topic is footwork…footwork and bodyshifting are crucial to FMA.  We all know the standard patterns, male triangle, female triangle, linear entry. The * is a very good conceptual tool.  However, all too often we train just one part of it…we’ve all seen it, we’ve all been it : the player doing male triangle for a minute, then female, then????.  This is allright for learning the steps, but it is not sufficient for usage.  Think about it, number one strike comes in, you step forward right  in the female triangle / …do you then step back to parallel feet,  and then step forward left ot continue this pattern  V for a minute?. Perhaps not.  In my misspent youth, I had the privilege and misfortune of hanging with a very good member of the Canadian fencing team. The privilege was to see another way of working footwork,  the misfortune was in the social, or anti-social activities in pubs, etc..  Fencing footwork, due to the piste, or narrow strip used in competition is primarily forwards and backwards, with various degrees of commitment, and some pivoting.  What intrigued me was that once footwork was learned, patterns went out the window.  The instructor would call out movements, very rapidly, and seemingly in no pattern, although I later realized that he was visualizing an opponent’s response (retreat, counter  into the attack, etc.).  I then got my fencing friend, Cliff, who loved to order people around, to lead the drill for me, but using FMA footwork,  so he would call ie, angle right, pivot, backstep (some of these are terms we developed for clarity and speed of command).  What I found is that I was a happy little robot, as long as I was in the patterns, but less facile, when he called sequences I wasn’t used to….Ungood.   However, a few sessions, and I got to the point where I could blend different footwork very nicely.  I was able to flow through different steps on the * in no set pattern.  My sparring improved expotentially, as did my ability to flow, to blend with someone else’s footwork in novel ways.   So here’s an idea…develop your own terms for each step on the *, i.e., or better yet,  number each angle. Then find someone who wants to order you around…spouses are good.  Have them just call out numbers randomly, so 1 would be directly forward with right foot, 2 could be forward right, 3 side step right, 4 angle back right, 5 straight back right, 6 angle back left, 7 seven side step left, 8 angle forward left. 9 forward with left foot.  Other commands could include pivot back = 90 degree pivot towards your back, pivot front = 90 degree pivot to your front, or leading with your chest, duck, or sprawl, for you guys who grapple.  They don’t even need to be paying much attention, just calling random numbers 1-9.  Do this for three minutes…the faster the numbers the tougher the workout…repeat as needed. ..break those restrictive patterns, and rediscover your flow.