Training Tip #10 – The Importance of Moving Your Feet
In all our classes, seminars, and lessons, we stress the importance of moving your feet. Good footwork is not simply something that supports your stick techniques. Footwork is what makes those techniques work.
At a basic level, we manage attacks and defensive angles by “Getting Off the X” and moving through the nine gates as they apply to our footwork. The “X” is the location where the incoming strike is directed. If you remain standing in that spot, you are relying entirely on your block, timing, or ability to absorb the attack. Moving your feet removes your body from the path of the strike and gives your defense a much greater margin for error.
When an attack comes in, we may move back left or back right at a 45-degree angle while defending against the incoming strike. We can also move laterally left or right to get outside the line of attack. As your confidence, timing, and experience improve, you can begin moving forward left or forward right to close the distance and take a more aggressive angle.
These are straightforward concepts, but straightforward does not mean easy. They should be practiced every time you train. The basic angles must become second nature through repetition. You should not have to stop and think about which foot moves first when a strike is coming toward you. Your body should recognize the angle and respond automatically.
Footwork is not only about changing your angle. It is also how you manage distance.
The angles practiced at Level I and Level II are usually based on a relatively static engagement distance. You change the angle of the engagement, but the overall distance between you and your training partner remains similar. This gives newer students a stable framework for learning the mechanics of attack, defense, and counterattack.
As you progress into Level III and beyond, you begin changing both angle and distance at the same time. You may use a shorter step when moving forward left so that you remain near the edge of striking range. You may take a much larger step when moving back right to completely remove yourself from the opponent’s reach. You might also combine several directional movements into one continuous action.
This is where footwork becomes truly tactical.
Wherever your feet go, your body follows. When in doubt, move your feet.
A common mistake among beginners, and even among experienced practitioners from other arts, is static footwork. They plant themselves in front of an opponent and try to “tank” the attack. They trade strikes, blocks, and counters without ever changing the engagement distance.
Do not become a stationary target.
Move out of range, allow the attack to fall short, and then move back in with your counter. Step to the outside of the attacking arm and create a better angle. Crowd the attack with a shorter step and move into collar-and-elbow range, where longer swings may become difficult to use. Your choice depends on the situation, your timing, the weapon length, and what you want to accomplish next.
Footwork can create distance, maintain distance, or destroy distance. It can place you outside the opponent’s weapon range or drive you so close that their preferred technique no longer works.
Movement must also preserve your balance. Large steps are not automatically better steps. Overreaching can leave your stance weak, delay your recovery, and make it difficult to change direction. Your feet should move far enough to accomplish the tactical goal while keeping your posture stable and your bata ready.
In Levels IV, V, and VI of our system, we work with longer staffs and wattles as well as shorter cudgels. Each weapon length requires a different understanding of range. A longer weapon may control greater distance, while a shorter cudgel often requires you to close the gap quickly and safely.
You do not need to wait until reaching those levels to explore these principles. Practice taking short steps, long steps, lateral steps, and angled steps. Experiment with entering, retreating, circling, and changing direction. Learn how the same strike feels when delivered from several different distances.
Use your footwork to create distance, destroy distance, and change the angle while remaining in motion. Once you begin doing that naturally, your Irish Stick Fighting will stop looking like a series of individual techniques and begin to feel like a living, adaptable martial art.
We look forward to seeing you on the mats.