Footwork, Distance, And Timing. . .

[dudeguyman]

Okay so, what can you tell me, someone who doesn't really have much footwork, timing, or distance control? Basically I'm looking for footwork techniques or exercises, timing techniques or exercises, and the same for distance.

 

[Mad Dollar]

Depends how experienced you are? Do you prefer kickboxing, boxing or Muay Thai? Footwork, timing etc. Is all golden tools to winning a fight, and the way to get good at fighting is to simulate a fight = Sparring, just spar and get used to the distance, timing and how to get good angles using you're footwork. The best way to improve is sparring, drilling is also nice but nothing compares to simulated fights.

 

[dudeguyman]

Depends how experienced you are? Do you prefer kickboxing, boxing or Muay Thai? Footwork, timing etc. Is all golden tools to winning a fight, and the way to get good at fighting is to simulate a fight = Sparring, just spar and get used to the distance, timing and how to get good angles using you're footwork. The best way to improve is sparring, drilling is also nice but nothing compares to simulated fights.

i'd say just mma footwork, or like boxing a bit. i do spar but i've never explicitly been taught real footwork its kinda nonexistent in the curriculum. any specific movements you would suggest to me?

 

[Mad Dollar]

i'd say just mma footwork, or like boxing a bit. i do spar but i've never explicitly been taught real footwork its kinda nonexistent in the curriculum. any specific movements you would suggest to me?

Just try what works for the partner you're sparring, like stepping to your left when you jab, so it opens up for the livershot, or closing the distance with a 1-2-3 and finishing with a leg kick and stepping back out of distance with some quick footwork, I recommend you watch some TJ Dillashaw fights and pay attention to his movement, it's fucking beautiful!

 

[AndyMaBobs]

You have three techniques you should learn at first.

A half step, a full step and a pivot off the lead foot.

Build all your foot work off the half step to start with.

Start by being in your stance stepping forward with your lead foot and leaving your rear foot where it is. That's a half step. When you only step with one foot, you create the half step, you can do this backwards (moving your rear foot backwards first) to avoid a straight punch or kick without giving up too much ground, you can do this going forward to create a feint, or side to side to fake going one way, before cutting out at another angle.

Practise that in all the directions you can until you feel comfortable.

THEN you can pick up the back foot and take a full step.

By doing this you are able to co-ordinate your feet in a more productive way, when you want to fake a movement to the left and then skip out to the right you don't have to awkwardly fully step one way before changing direction.


From here you'll be able to also get a good handle on pivots.

Pivoting or quarter turning is when you simply change the way you're facing, this in turn forces your opponent to turn and as they do you're able to hit them. You can pivot on the spot by pointing your lead foot in a new direction and then resetting into your stance in the new direction.

I personally prefer to do it off of a half step, I take a half step out on my chosen angle before bringing the rest of my body back to stance in the new direction.

 

[dudeguyman]

BUMP

 

[MrFlintStone]

An agility ladder is a great tool to help footwork for any athlete. Grab a partner and do a few rounds of what my coach calls "dancing" which is getting in your fighter stance and hands up chin down ect and you and your partner and just doing foot work. Criciling out cutting each off moving in and out. Also shadow boxing and record your self and tweak as you see fit.

 

[freaky]

Do what AndyMaBob said. Rope skipping also helps. Agility ladder and skipping rope are some of the best exercises you can do for your footwork aside from actual footwork dancing.

As for actual footwork dancing, do what AndyMaBob said. Always be on your toes. Push off on your toes, land on your toes. Heels should rarely or never touches the floor. Walk around like that. And pivot for your turns. Really footwork is kinda like galloping. Your rear foot should never be aligned or in front of your front foot. Never cross your feet.

Whichever direction you're going, push off from the opposite foot. If you going left, push off from the right. etc.

I just use my footwork to "walk" around places now. People just think I'm galloping like a kid. Sometimes I switch stance and gallop southpaw. It's amazing how much better I fight in southpaw after galloping in southpaw for a bit. Foot work = gallop.

 

[Pugilistic]

Use your lead foot as a measuring stick to gauge how far you are from your opponent. Point it at his center line. It should be the closest part of your body to your opponent.

 

[j123]

Use your lead foot as a measuring stick to gauge how far you are from your opponent. Point it at his center line. It should be the closest part of your body to your opponent.

Damn Pug, you're getting back into f11, did the berry kick out the manlets?

 

[dudeguyman]

Use your lead foot as a measuring stick to gauge how far you are from your opponent. Point it at his center line. It should be the closest part of your body to your opponent.

thank you, that sounds like an excellent way to gauge distance!

 

[Ilk]

Hey look at this topic - http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/footwork-thread.3676271/
The video shinchekin posted covers a lot of footwork drills one can do.
My post covers some drills and experience as a newbie.

 

[Pugilistic]

Damn Pug, you're getting back into f11, did the berry kick out the manlets?

Just stepping in to drop some wisdom before I head back out there. I haven't been stalking baristas for new thread material.

thank you, that sounds like an excellent way to gauge distance!

It sounds simple in principle but will be hard to pull off in practice in an actual fight. It's one of the fundamentals of boxing but it seems people aren't aware of this very as much as they should be. I wasn't aware of it until a few years of training.
In terms of timing, think about breaking rhythm.

 

[dudeguyman]

thx guys
{<Mcgoat}

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/essxtgc6-LA?list=RDGMEMHDXYb1_DDSgDsobPsOFxpAVMYWPYKERkh0s" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Thatactionbrah]

You have three techniques you should learn at first.

A half step, a full step and a pivot off the lead foot.

Build all your foot work off the half step to start with.

Start by being in your stance stepping forward with your lead foot and leaving your rear foot where it is. That's a half step. When you only step with one foot, you create the half step, you can do this backwards (moving your rear foot backwards first) to avoid a straight punch or kick without giving up too much ground, you can do this going forward to create a feint, or side to side to fake going one way, before cutting out at another angle.

Practise that in all the directions you can until you feel comfortable.

THEN you can pick up the back foot and take a full step.

@AndyMaBobs , I'm still having a hard time understanding what a half step is and applications of it. I mean from the way you described it sounds like it would widen your stance out right? And my boxing coach told me that my stance width should be the same so that I have offensive and defensive options.

Based on the way you described the half step, what I can think about is that it is the motion used in a pull. Your front foot remains stationary and your back foot steps back slightly to make your opponent miss, then you step back in and deliver your 1 2.

Aside from that use of the half step, assuming it's right, I can't really see any other applications.

 

[shincheckin]

Just stepping in to drop some wisdom before I head back out there. I haven't been stalking baristas for new thread material.



It sounds simple in principle but will be hard to pull off in practice in an actual fight. It's one of the fundamentals of boxing but it seems people aren't aware of this very as much as they should be. I wasn't aware of it until a few years of training.
In terms of timing, think about breaking rhythm.

seen the video with B-hop, he always gives such great advice, and does such a good job of breaking things down. What hes saying here is so much easier said then done but hes 100% correct. I would like to meet and train with him if I could.

 

[Pugilistic]

seen the video with B-hop, he always gives such great advice, and does such a good job of breaking things down. What hes saying here is so much easier said then done but hes 100% correct. I would like to meet and train with him if I could.

I thought he'd be better as a commentator than he is. I guess just because you have the knowledge mean doesn't mean you can commentate. That's another skillset.

 

[AndyMaBobs]

@AndyMaBobs , I'm still having a hard time understanding what a half step is and applications of it. I mean from the way you described it sounds like it would widen your stance out right? And my boxing coach told me that my stance width should be the same so that I have offensive and defensive options.

Based on the way you described the half step, what I can think about is that it is the motion used in a pull. Your front foot remains stationary and your back foot steps back slightly to make your opponent miss, then you step back in and deliver your 1 2.

Aside from that use of the half step, assuming it's right, I can't really see any other applications.

You're right, you do widen your stance. I'll get you some visuals to show what I mean better:

You do widen your stance, but you need to do that in order to move. So you would widen your stance using the half step, this can mean multiple things:

1. You're going to step
2. You're going to jab
3. You're going to pivot out

So either way your opponent is expecting you to move. Now all you have to do is be comfortable taking a half step forward, only to pull your foot back to your original stance. Now you know that you can threaten your opponent with any of those things, but not actually do them, all from that half step.

The half step backwards your describing is kind of like a pull counter, and its quite an advanced tactic so I wouldn't straight up recommend it because I don't know what your level is.

I'd strongly recommend my other thread:
http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/cuban-boxing-fundamentals.3780639/

This bad boy will cover a lot of what you're looking for in terms of boxing form and footwork, a lot of good videos get posted there fairly often.

 

[Thatactionbrah]

You're right, you do widen your stance. I'll get you some visuals to show what I mean better:

You do widen your stance, but you need to do that in order to move. So you would widen your stance using the half step, this can mean multiple things:

1. You're going to step
2. You're going to jab
3. You're going to pivot out

So either way your opponent is expecting you to move. Now all you have to do is be comfortable taking a half step forward, only to pull your foot back to your original stance. Now you know that you can threaten your opponent with any of those things, but not actually do them, all from that half step.

The half step backwards your describing is kind of like a pull counter, and its quite an advanced tactic so I wouldn't straight up recommend it because I don't know what your level is.

I'd strongly recommend my other thread:
http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/cuban-boxing-fundamentals.3780639/

This bad boy will cover a lot of what you're looking for in terms of boxing form and footwork, a lot of good videos get posted there fairly often.

Thanks for the reply man.

But I believe I get what you mean, you do widen your stance momentarily but you get into your stance again asap.

And yeah i bookmarked that link (tons of good stuff in there). This place is like a goldmine when it comes to striking information.

So to my understanding a half step based on your reply. A half step has a couple of purposes 1) To act as a gauge to see how your opponent reacts (feint in or feint out like a pull counter) 2) To go in and pivot and get an angle 3) to go in for an actual jab or any other punch 4) to move in any direction without exposing yourself to your opponent too much (a full step vs a small step/half step).

I never learned the terminology for this, but I've been taught it and use it. It seems similar to the jab step in basketball

 

[AndyMaBobs]

Thanks for the reply man.

But I believe I get what you mean, you do widen your stance momentarily but you get into your stance again asap.

And yeah i bookmarked that link (tons of good stuff in there). This place is like a goldmine when it comes to striking information.

So to my understanding a half step based on your reply. A half step has a couple of purposes 1) To act as a gauge to see how your opponent reacts (feint in or feint out like a pull counter) 2) To go in and pivot and get an angle 3) to go in for an actual jab or any other punch 4) to move in any direction without exposing yourself to your opponent too much (a full step vs a small step/half step).

I never learned the terminology for this, but I've been taught it and use it. It seems similar to the jab step in basketball

That's how I'd view it, with the exception of the 4th, I'd say that a half step is half of a step as opposed to a smaller step. I don't think of a step in boxing as being a step until you've moved your back foot - but yeah I think you understand it Glad you like the cuban thread too