Loading and Reloading (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

Loading is when you load a position for attacks and defense. Position Zero loads all your punches, kicks, and defenses. By returning to Position Zero, you reload all your attacks and defenses.

Likewise for the high hurdle step. Your leg is up, and the ball of your foot is facing your opponent. If they rush you before you can execute your teep, they'll run into the ball of your foot. Now there's a protective barrier between you and your opponent. You can teep them away or push yourself away. If your foot isn't loaded (flat or pointing down) and your opponent rushes you, you can't teep.

Reloading is bringing yourself back to the load position. For example, after teeping, you bring your leg back to the load position instead of dropping your leg down. Now you can immediately teep again if needed, or if your opponent rushes you after the first teep, they'll run into the ball of your foot.

Similarly for the side kick, another linear pushing kick, loading the kick has your opponent running onto your foot. Reloading it has the side kick ready in case your opponent tries to rush after the first attack. You can push them away, push yourself away, or maintain distance to avoid attacks.

Loading and reloading create a barrier and make the attack immediate.

Your attacks are loaded into Position Zero. Reloading brings you back to having your hands in position to push, grab, and block; and your legs back to kick and knee. Reloading or going back to your starting position also avoids exposing your back.

Let's say you turn kicked, or punched. Now you're outstretched, rotated, and close to your opponent. Part of your back is exposed to your opponent, making it easier for them to move deeper into your blind spot. If you keep turning that way, away from the reload, you will completely turn your back to your opponent or spin around.

Every attack exposes you. Every turning or rotating attack not only exposes you to reprisal but also exposes your back. Reloading turns the clock back to where you started.

To get a sense for loading and reloading, practice the teep against a wall. Modify your stance so your feet are closer together. Stand close enough to the wall where you can touch it with the ball of your foot without fully extending your leg. Load with the high hurdle step, touch the wall, bring it back to high hurdle step, then place it down. By doing this, you're either pushing your opponent away or ready to push your opponent away.

If you're unsure where to stand or feel off-balance, err on the side of standing too close to the wall. Since a teep is a pushing technique, you will use it on someone too close to you rather than too far. You don't need to push someone away if they're already too far. So stand close enough to the wall so you have proximity to push.

Err on the side of proximity for other pushing techniques, such as shoves, side kicks, and back kicks—you want them close enough to push away. After enough sparring and practice games, you'll develop a sense for proximity where the opponent is just close enough for you to push but not any closer.

You can also use the teep like a jab—to measure distance. If you can't touch them with your teep, they're too far away for all your other techniques. Once they're within your zone of proximity, you'll not only have an accurate read of their distance but also be able to play with distance.

You're most vulnerable after an attack, and by reloading before placing your foot down, you're that much safer. Likewise for any other technique, reloading shortens that period of vulnerability and brings you back to your Zero or starting position. You can also think about it as getting back to your home base. (These principles also apply to grappling.)

Load positions, especially with legs, can also cancel or jam your opponent's leg techniques. They are barriers and obstacles, sometimes against their kicks and knees.

For example, if your leg is already out there because of a front or side kick, you can obstruct an incoming kick with the bottom of your foot or any part of your leg, so long as it obstructs some part of your opponent's leg from reaching its target. Rather than a primary defense, it's opportunistic. Since game speed is live and simultaneous, the best action is whatever's most available. What's the best emergency room when you're on the brink of death: the best hospital, which happens to be on the other side of the city, or the closest hospital? The closest hospital. Urgency determines your action. Since your foot is already out there, use it. Skipping the load and reload positions is like driving past the close hospital for the further one. It wastes an opportunity you can't get back.

– Sam