Bounce Step?

[Andrew_Patton]

Recently we had a student, who was one of our better point/tournament fighters quit to go practice with someone who practiced what he and his father (one of our former instructors) called a bounce step.

This is basically little hops continuously throughout a sparring session, that are supposed to be able to make it harder for your opponent to predict your movements, they also couple this bouncing with moves that have gotten a bum rap in our family such as the "running backfist"

I have found only a bit of a detriment with this methodoligy, messing up my timing, making it easier to get "scored" on easier to get swept. I'm wondering what if any benefits. and detriments there are to this in anyones opinion. Thank you

[Adonis]

I seen this alot at the tournaments if its a straight up and down bouncing it makes it easier to move in and attack the opponent when you time the bounce on the upward motion.

[bushido_man96]

I am not really too sure what it exactly is. Just bouncing? Or a certain way of stepping that other styles don't teach?

[IKyokushinO-4]

Is this bouncing similar to boxing? In kyokushin, some instructors teach bouncing as a part of getting in and out. I've also read that bouncing will make you subject to ashi barai and an easy wazari in kumite.

[Andrew_Patton]

Honestly, it isn't bouncing like you would learn in boxing or footwork like in kyokushin (up on toes, heels off the floor, light footed) it's an actual bounce, like both feet leave the floor type of bouncing, and apparently all the tournament fighters out there use it.

The funny thing is, that none of the instructors at our school use it or advocate it's use, it only has draw-backs for us; delayed timing, can only attack at certain points of the bounce motion, easier to get swept, hard to move backwards, etc. And, none of us can see the point of it.

The student left shortly after he went to a local seminar with an instructor (some guy who's supposedly won hundreds of point sparring tournaments "back in the day" and is impossible to score on) advocated it immensely, the guy isn't a super-man or anything IMHO, as my dad has sparred him "back in the day" and went down only by a point or two.

Anyways, I digress, it's a bounce that is only usefull for point sparring, not for power generation, or anything. And I'm just wondering, what's the fascination with it? Whatever happened to the student that wanted to hit like a ton of bricks?

[IKyokushinO-4]

Whatever happened to the student that wanted to hit like a ton of bricks?

They went to kyokushin to study Ichi Geki

[bushido_man96]

Well, some people are attracted to the glamour of the trophy, and train for those point sparring tournaments in order to kind of prove themselves on the circuit, or to legitimize their training for later on, or who knows why else.

Why he just quit to go work with this bounce step guy, bewilders me, though. Why not just go learn the step, and then apply it when you need to, as opposed to discarding perfectly good training to learn something only valuable in a tournament?

[Adonis]

More power to the studdent who wants to learn it. How ever going straight up and down...well I pretty much said it in my earlier post.

[Andrew_Patton]

Honestly, like I said earlier, every one of our instructors has "been there, done that" we all have learned, taught, and utilized this motion, found it lacking, and if asked (which we were by this student) taught it.

Also, like I had said, two of our instructors (one recently, and one ages ago) have beaten both the "world champion" and the guy he's currently training with.

But, this student, months before his father left the orginization started to get one heck of an attitude, and was going to be asked to not come back the next time he came to class due to an incident he had with our senior most instructor. No skin off our backs, I was just wondering what everyone's fascination with this type of movement, and what any of your reactions to it are.

[Adonis]

Oh well can't change things. If he is getting an attitude. Your dojo is better off with out him.