MOVE YOUR FEET.

I'm going to build the base of this blog first.  The foundation of anyone's position is known as their stance. The dynamic application of one's stance then, can be considered footwork.  Excellent footwork is necessary in any sport, dance, activity that requires one to constantly reposition their body or apply/receive force while remaining mobile.

In my pursuit to understand and perfect my study and application of proper footwork, I've broken the concept down into FIVE parts:

STANCE
STABILITY
MOBILITY
SPEED
SUBTLETY

1)STANCE: I refer to stance as the (more or less) static base body position.  It would be a mistake to think of stance just in terms of one's feet; the placement of the entire body in an optimal position for activity is the goal.  Everything from the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees AND feet should be aligned since they will all be moving in tandem.

2) STABILITY: The most obvious benefit of a good stance is stability.  Regardless of the terrain (don't take flat, solid ground for granted) stability is required before any action is possible. Stability is necessary for both offense and defense.  Since power comes from the hips, a good base is necessary to push against the ground.

Look at the 1st KO (it has the slo-mo replay):

Roy's footwork is such that it allows him to attack with blinding speed and retreat the instant his second punch has landed.  His stance is stable, so he can exert force forward into his punches and then immediately shift from that same base into a retreat. SICK.  This leads us into the next attribute of good footwork...

MOBILITY:

This is probably what comes to mind when most people think about the concept of footwork. Moving around. While it's true that the underlying principle behind footwork is to move the feet, I believe that this is really to achieve two ends: To maximize opportunity and to minimize risk. When facing a seasoned opponent, your opening to strike can be a fraction of a second. Proper footwork will allow one to exploit this tiny opening to the fullest.



Taekwondo players rarely let their weight settle onto their heels.  Their aim is to be able to shift their weight from their hips to their feet in an instant. 







 Defensively, being mobile is necessary to minimize the risk of coming into range to strike. Refer to the Sugar Ray Leonard .gif to the right as well as the aforementioned Roy Jones gif.  Once you are mobile on your feet, you can unlock that most valuable of assets...

SPEED: Simply put, SPEED KILLS.

When the body is in the right position and the muscles are relaxed, explosive speed is a matter of activating the muscles to "touch" the target with minimal preparation and readjustment. Notice How Bruce's left leg is all he needs to move forward, feint, AND deliver a head kick. His shoulders, hips, knees and even toes are lined up to deliver maximum speed (and force) with minimal movement.  Leading to the final level of proficient footwork...

SUBTLETY.

The untrained (and un-punched hehehehehe) eye may have to take a couple of moments to figure out how Bruce covers that ground so quickly.  At first it looks like he jumps into Ohara's mouth, but he merely pushes off his back foot while reaching forward with his right hand and heel SIMULTANEOUSLY. Your average person (trained or untrained) has difficulty watching the top and the bottom of a person moving so quickly.  Bruce's body is positioned so he can move quickly without moving his hips and shoulders on the lateral plane, which effectively masks movement until it is too late.  This subtle foot movement magnifies speed because it reduces the time that the opponent is allowed to react forcing their reaction time into the tiniest increment. Good luck dodging that.

 At first glance, the "Ali Shuffle" is anything but subtle.

But ahhh... It is the height of subtlety.

The "shuffle" appears showy to the audience, but as Ali uses it here, It confuses the opponent's defense, since the "Power Leg" shifts quickly a few times, he doesn't know which side the heavy shot is coming from. In addition, it breaks the tempo of the combination, which makes him peek out from behind his gloves creating an OPPORTUNITY that Ali's MOBILITY allows him to capitalize on.

GENIUS.

Often in samurai duels, the hakama (big ol' pants) were used to obscure foot movement in positioning. Since the feet were invisible, the knees and hips moved very little before the strike was made.  Since you pretty much had only one or two shots to win, making that first strike count was of utmost importance.  The Japanese culture is one of subtlety, so that philosophy extends into it's martial culture, not only in Kenjutsu, but Iaido, Judo, Ninjutsu, and various other arts as well. (Yes, including Sumo.)

In conclusion, this is my theory on the parts that make up a complete footwork examination. When one's footwork can enable them to maximize all of these qualities, then it can be considered complete.  Until someone comes along and pokes a hole in it...

Metaphorically speaking, proper footwork in life can be seen as placing one's self in a position to quickly seize an opportunity (CARPE DIEM!) while remaining in a space where risk is kept to acceptable levels or retreat from a bad situation is readily available.

HOPE THIS HELPS!