Figure Eight With a Partner (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

Maintain the same dance principles with a partner as you did with Invisible Figure Eight. There are two roles: Lead and Follow. The Lead is the one moving forward in their fighting stance. The Follow is the one moving backward from a neutral stance. Always face each other (e.g., if your partner moves sideways, you move sideways).

The first game is the following game. The Follow will lead the figure eight movement from a neutral stance. The Lead will follow in their fighting stance.

The next game is the leading game. This time the Lead will lead the figure eight movement in their fighting stance. The Follow will follow from a neutral stance.

To an observer, the following game and the leading game should look identical. Once you've played both games, play them again from the opposite stance. Then switch roles and play again.

These games will develop footwork and a sense for different roles that aren't visible to the spectator or fan. You can't necessarily tell who's leading and following, and sometimes, neither can the fighters. You can lead going backward and follow going forward and vice versa.

These games also teach you how to move someone to a corner and how to avoid the corner. You even learn to set traps for your opponent by having them follow you into a corner, only to circle out and have your opponent's back to the corner.

Like everything else in LMA, footwork is about recognizing and designing shapes. The one designing the shape is the Lead. Performance is based on your ability to initiate and maintain the lead. This is the underlying basis for all the various dance analogies for fighting. It's a useful comparison when it's more than just a metaphor but a blueprint to recognize an underlying and invisible system.

– Sam