The movement performed with specific footwork affects the legs and what you do with your legs can have a great effect upon your internal organs. Through moving correctly and shuffling the feet, we can raise the energy of the earth’s surface and interact with it. In this way we can become stable and grounded even during our movement. Moving with a relaxed fluid motion while placing our attention on our footwork will facilitate our mind dropping into our feet and awaken our lower body.įootwork allows us to interact with the energetic forces of the earth too. Observing the quality and consciousness of someone’s footwork is just one way to see how truly accomplished they are. Footwork also allows us to study methods for keeping our balance when on uneven ground, slippery conditions and other environmental situations that may cause us to encounter less than favorable footwork scenarios.įrom a mental perspective, footwork helps us to drop our sense of awareness down from our head (where it is commonly stuck) into our body and down into our feet. Alignments such as keeping the toes in line with the knee helps to keep the frame safe during movement and slightly tucking the tailbone prior to stepping unlocks the skeletal frame and assists with grounding. Physical alignments are learned in this area in order to protect the body from injury and provide optimum placement for future energy flow. Physical stability is also an essential part of good footwork. through these examples we can understand how a single concept like footwork overlaps into other concepts and allows us to develop awareness for and practice many concepts within the same movement.įrom a purely physical perspective, footwork helps to create strong feet, ankles, knees, thighs and hips, enabling the warrior to better support their body weight even after hours of fighting or other forms of physical fatigue. This can be seen in the stepping movement of the Gyokko Ryu Sanshin no Kata and Baguazhang circle walking. Every step is a potential kick, foot capture, foot or ankle stomp, leg sweep and whatever foot techniques included in your system. Most stepping footwork is actually a representation of a kicking motion/technique and should be practiced this way in order to capitalize on the effectiveness of fighting techniques within every movement made by the warrior. The placement of one’s feet during any given movement and weight distribution is yet another important factor of footwork. Distance is another concept that is addressed and practiced through footwork. Understanding the bottom of the feet contacting the ground with all nine points and how to move from either the heel or ball of the foot is crucial to good movement. Balance is taught through the development of proper movement commonly associated with footwork. Many other concepts are naturally addressed within the footwork training. You will be hard pressed to find a system that is void of some exercise or form that helps to develop proper footwork for its practitioners. I encourage you to explore your style and seek out these important practices. Footwork is another essential principle within martial arts of every style.
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