JKD Workshop

[joesteph]

The workshop was offered over a three-day period, but you didn't have to do all three days. I was able to do just one, the first day, but there were people who came in from England, Wales, Luxembourg, and the Philippines, as well as other states, so there had to be two- and three-day participants. I had the second-least training in JKD that I know of, less than three months. The one with the least had none at all, but he did have years of training in two other martial arts and was curious about JKD.

The toughest part of JKD isn't the straight lead, it's the footwork.

- It's got a ton of mini-steps (I think of them as "baby steps"), forwards and back, and when you do it right, repeatedly, from one end of the training hall to the other, your legs ache and it taxes your cardio--but when it's demonstrated how it can be used for positional advantage in a brewing altercation, you really appreciate it.

- The "giant steps" (as I call them) have the rear leg move first, then the lead leg, and are really for lead leg strikes (although there's no law that says you can't punch), and you can tell that by practicing them you're able to hide your movement a lot better than a more obvious hop or jump. The giant step back to seize as much distance as possible as rapidly as possible takes some getting used to, because the first thought is to move your rear leg back, but it's the lead leg that moves back first (usually combined with a tilt back of the head), and then the rear leg. There's nothing to prevent you from giving your adversary a good shot to the nose, then giant step back in case his friends are right there and you want room.

- The "L-shape" footwork isn't just to move one step off (instead of back) so that you're not so linear, but practicing it can mean L-shape after L-shape, like repeatedly forming a large square on the floor you're practicing on, and yet you can see that you're able to strike, L-shape, strike him again or another adversary instead, and even L-shape around the adversary(ies). I don't know enough to explain more, and if I'd have tried to learn everything at once I'd have info-overload, but like any other martial art it takes time and a ton of practice to get it down.

- The "humbling experience" is when you try to kick wearing sneakers or shoes. I know I said "try" in that sentence, and it's good that there are only a few kicks in JKD, intended to be below the belt. I wore sneakers, and they gripped the matted floor that I practice JKD on without shoes during the week (after my Soo Bahk Do class--which has a matted floor also). Go ahead. Try to spin round on the ball of your (shod) foot to point the heel at your target to fire off that high kick. Don't be surprised if you don't find your foot only halfway turned, and that repeated tries feel like you're twisting your knee (the torque is felt right in that joint). High kicking barefoot in the training hall isn't the same as with footwear; footwear will affect your footwork for your kicks in the "real world." I believe the instructors were wearing special shoes that enabled them to move smoothly on any surface, although they didn't appear to be special.

It was a valuable experience, especially for someone like me with limited training, and I think it's interesting that, instead of thinking of how much punching and kicking I did, it was the footwork that stuck in my mind the most.

[JusticeZero]

Yeah, shoes change things - but mats change things too. I practice outdoors on tarmac in shoes all the time, and do all sorts of kicks. Why that seems so ..novel and unorthodox? to so many people is surprising. =)