LESSONS AND DRILLS 4

LESSONS AND DRILLS 4 - COMBINATIONS OF ADVANCE AND RETREAT

Mastery of two basic footwork movements, the advance and the retreat, is absolutely critical to your ability to move on the strip, to position yourself for the attack, and to avoid your opponent's attack in defense. Well balanced and quick movements ensure your ability to control distance in the bout. In addition, the ability to rapidly change direction of movement provides you with a variety of ways to control the strip and to impose your tactical will on your opponent.

First week: Perform the following drill once a day:

(1) from a relaxed on guard, retreat one step.

(2) pause and check all of the elements of the on guard position - adjust as necessary.

(3) then advance one step and pause and check all elements of the on guard position - adjust as necessary

(3) repeat for 10 times, retreat, pause and check, advance, pause and check, etc. Both your retreat and advance should be the same length each time, on the same level as your on guard, and preserving correct foot position and distance apart. Rest and repeat for 5 sets of 50 retreats and advances, with a rest between each set of 10.

Second week: Perform the following drill once a day:

(1) from a relaxed on guard, advance once, pause and check, retreat twice, pause and check, advance three times, pause and check.

(2) repeat for 10 times for 5 sets, with a rest between each set of 10 sequences of 1-2-3 retreats and advances.

Third week: Perform the following drill once each day:

(1) from a relaxed on guard, advance once and retreat once, pause and check, advance twice and retreat twice, pause and check, advance three times and retreat three times, pause and check.

(2) repeat for 10 times for 5 sets, with a rest between each set of 10 sequences.

Fourth week: Perform the following drill once each day:

(1) from a relaxed on guard, advance once, retreat once, advance once, pause and check, advance twice, retreat once, advance once, pause and check, retreat twice, advance once, retreat once, pause and check.

(2) repeat for 10 times for 5 sets, with a rest between each set of 10 sequences.