Loitering with intent

[kenneth fish]

Looking at various videos here and on youtube, as well as watching sparring and practice sessions in various venues, I have noticed that an awful lot of martial arts students do not know how to walk. Specifically, I mean step with intent. In many of the applications I've seen, the technique seems to occur from the middle of the defenders body on up - there is no real footwork going on, even in arts that are supposed to concentrate on footwork. Stepping (bufa) should be the key to utilizing your body and executing your technique - by which I mean stepping in a manner that takes you where you want to be with intent. When you see someone move this way (for example, Qian Zhaohong when he is demonstrating an attack, Yang Hai demonstrating Pao or Heng) they seem to move like a large cat - each foot seems to feel the ground and propel the person forward in a direct, intentional, driven manner. It is very different from just running through the footwork or ordinary walking . A very visible example is the jixing stepping in Xinyi Liuhe - when done well it makes the practitioner look like an they are driving through a crowd, bowling over anything in their path.

So - do you practice this, or do you saunter? Is your footwork augmenting your shenfa, or are you just letting your body carry your feet?

[Strange]

my senior said he imagine walking through a thick dense crowd.

i normally stand naturally and connect to "earth qi" (taiqi term), before stepping and walking, its a combination of xy's jin bu and walking.
can look like i'm doing the cha cha. in the first step, i usually imagine walking into a storm of a fight, in effect the step that i take is my commitment to violence.

for subsequent steps, i condition myself for unbroken intent, meaning after hitting the opponent i still keep going.

i do a self test - if my waist is not 'present', its not a good walk. ime, letting your body carry yr feet results in imbalance almost a 100% of the time. i think this is the meaning when they say "hand hits 3 parts; leg hits 7 parts"

fwiw
S

[ittokaos]

I use my body weight to dig into my kua which pushes down into my back leg(which has the heel raised). I then use my kua to lift my front leg which allows all the force behind me to shoot me forward. The front leg is thrown forward like a little whip(which is used for kicking while stepping) which further propels (me) forward and uses the weight of the body to crash into the opponent (if need be). The tension is is kinda like drawing and releasing a bow in order to let the arrow(me) flytowards the opponent. It's different depending on the way I am going(cause we use a lot of spinning) but that is one way to describe Bik Bo(pressing step or forward step). So, both I guess.

[Ralteria]

This has actually been one of my projects while I've been waiting for my cracked ribs to heal. Of all the "internal mechanics" I actually find this to be the hardest, stay sunken and moving with full intent. Funny that you mention the cat thing. I have two cats and I find watching them fight each other is actually helpful.

Every step they take towards each other when they brawl has purpose and is completely natural. Even when playing (claws retracted) they still smack each other pretty hard (yknow...for cats) and are always rooted everytime they dart in and out. The only time they ever break kitty shenfa is when one of them gets tackled.

As for me being able to do that? No, not yet at least. I find my kua tighting up when I speed up the movement. Like a block in the line between my thighs and my waist.

[johnwang]

When most people talk about the Taiji "principle" of "diagonal fly", they don't talk about the "footwork" and "distance management". Why? I have no idea. When was the last time that people talked about "run your opponent down" (besides my lonely voice)?

http://johnswang.com/shoulder_strike.wmv

[David Boxen]

One of my favourite ways to loiter with intent involves crowded subway stations. I like to walk right close to the tracks and imagine that anyone might try to push me onto the tracks at any second.

[johnwang]

After you have run your opponent down, keep running until your hands touch to the other side of the wall in your training hall (about 15 feet) will be a good exercise.

[Sprint]

In yiquan, footwork is not regarded as being separate from shen fa but an essential part of it. In fact there is no shen fa unless you maintain it while you are moving. But it need not look obviously different from ordinary walking to the untrained eye. Everyday while walking I am practising some aspect of it and so far no funny looks. I have said here before I practice stationary friction stepping everytime I'm in a queue. Without it you have nothing.

[GhostPalm]

Looking at various videos here and on youtube

Could you direct us to some of these videos (particularly on RSF)? And perhaps a comparison with either your own work or someone else's with the appropriate stepping in sparring (and not just "technique workshop")?

Thanks.

[kenneth fish]

GhostPalm:

Its my policy not to point fault, so I prefer to refer you to those videos that demonstrate (IMO) what should be present, rather than what is lacking. If you look at Yang Hai's application videos, or his 5 element videos, and pay attention to his stepping, you will see what I am referring to in terms of intent. The same with Master Qian (I believe there is a youtube with him demonstrating the chicken stepping - it really does look like he is moving through a crowd in a determined manner). Once you pick up on that, you can go back and look at other videos (particularly two person applications videos) and observe the "defender" from the ground up.

[jjy5016]

Yang Hai uses much more obvious intent than many. The little forward slide of the front foot after he touches could be acting like slamming the brakes in your car but it could also be a timing device. Yiquan's mo cha bo has a similar practice but it is done slowly during regular walking practice. It's no so much about the step but using it to move the body's center of mass most efficiently.

Hsiang Yun Shen used to practice footwork by walking through crowds. Try walking briskly down Canal street or Bowery on a Saturday afternoon in NYC's Chinatown and you'll get quite a lesson in walking.

[I-mon]

around 1:30 in this video

[Ian]

IMO a good way to test the control you have over your center of gravity (and hence, how well you walk) is to stand with your legs straight, knees locked on a moving bus or train and see how still you remain.

[kenneth fish]

Ian - a test of how well you control your center gravity - yes. But it does not translate to intent in footwork, IMO.

[shawnsegler]

I think it's hard to do that until you can feel your body as one thing. I seem to remember you chastising me on how un-relaxed my kua was when we met and it took a couple more years for me to really get what you meant, but once I did I could feel my legs and upper body at the same time and it was at that point that I really felt like I was able to start using my footwork. Like my legs were two extra arms.

Just my experience.

S