Combining Footwork 2: Sealing Your Opponent (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

Building on our discussion of diagonal footwork and cornering is a combination footwork movement pattern that combines advancing steps with side steps to inch closer to your opponent and seal their movement.

If you go to your left, you side step left, then advance forward. If you go to the right, you side step right, then advance forward. It's four steps: side, side, forward, forward. You're incrementally getting closer to your opponent.

Like all of our movements, this movement pattern has degrees of freedom. You don't have to just move side and forward, you can also move in angles. For instance, if your opponent is not moving laterally and staying stationary, you can side step in an angle and advance forward rather than advancing directly forward into their offense.

You can also move diagonally to your left if you're in L-stance and to the right if you're in J-stance. However, this will get you closer to your opponent much quicker since you're taking two steps rather than four.

If you go right from L-stance, you can also reduce your steps from four to three. Rather than going side, side, forward, forward, you can just go side, forward, forward. Side with your right, forward with your left, forward with your right. If you're in J-stance, side with your left, forward with your right, forward with your left.

Moving in four steps gives you more incremental control. Reducing your steps gives you speed at the loss of some control. It depends on the context: if you need speed, use quicker steps; if you don't need speed and you're opponent is within your ideal range, use incremental steps. It's all material conditions. Make your reads of the conditions, then decide and adapt as you see fit.

– Sam