Ti Karate Video

[chrislomas]

The best thing I ever did for my Xingyi was adopt the striking post (at Sifu Starr's recommendation). Embarrasingly enough I had always thought it a brutish and inferoir instrument but once one understands the practise it is truly superb. That clip demonstrates it beatifully.

[Andy_S]

Thanks Waterdaan.

Doc's clips of Yamashita were very good - very good karate, that is.

But what was shown in the Ti (Te?) clip seemed to be almost a different martial art; excellent spring force. Very impressive.

[bailewen]

I'm curious about the pivoting on the heels as opposed to the balls of the feet. Can anyone provide some info on the reason/advantage for that.

The answer is sooo much simpler that what I saw so far on the thread.

Try this experiment. In a 60/40 stance throw a reverse punch, transitioning into a bow stance aka "front stance". Try it both ways. Once on the heels and once on the ball of the foot. Check yourself in a mirror and pay special attention to what happens to your centerline, the plumb line from the top of your head down to your perineum (look it up). If you pivot on the balls of your foot, the entire thing moves away from the punch. If you pivot on your heels, you move in the same direction of the punch. In other words, if you pivot on the balls of your feet, you are retreating a couple inches as you punch. If you pivot on the heels, you advance. The first one robs you of power. The second way adds power.

[pingpong]

Here's Wong Shun Leung showing something similar to what Omar said about heel pivoting vs ball of foot pivoting

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=--wgG_TsHIQ

[Doc Stier]

Pivoting on the heel allows the lead foot to be toed out or rotated away from the centerline while still weighted. This allows more rapid forward steps and changes of direction to the side angles without the need to first shift the weight backwards onto the rear foot. As a result, such footwork insures that fast hand speed never loses synchronization with total body movement when defending or attacking due to stance changes and steps that can't match the hand speed.

Doc

[Silent Screaming]

i would have thought the heel rotation was for power, it opens up the hip joint and allows the body to rotate fully in the strike

[dragontigerpalm]

Thanks to all who have responded to my question about pivoting on the heel. I'll have to fool around with this to get a better sense of it. My current impression though is that pivoting on the heel while strking provides a less stable base than the ball of the foot particularly when striking a substantial target or worse an advancing and resisting opponent.

[Silent Screaming]

depends, the rear foot is also facing forward, so your force can go out through it i.e. structure, the thing i would be worried about using that is that it creates a vulnerability to your groin for an instant (although it looks like its more of a training movement rather than one emphasized in combat)