SCA Combat Curriculum Development - Skill Focus - Footwork

Footwork is the skill that allows movement from one position to another; in a narrow sense it is strictly the movement of the feet, but in a broader sense it is all maneuvering and positioning on the field.

Like stance, footwork is a subject not thoroughly developed in the period manuals that serve as the historical basis for SCA heavy combat.  The best sources we have, therefore, are the practices of modern martial arts and a handful of references from period manuals.  Fiore, for instance, mentions three turning movements, a "pass," where one foot advances past the other, and an accressere, which is a movement where the feet maintain their relative position.  Passes can be conducted forward or back, and the three turns mentioned are "stable," "part," and "full," based on the number of feet that moved.  I.33 doesn't have any direct references to how to maneuver, but the illustrations make clear that footwork is meant to be highly dynamic, and most of defense is positioning, rather than deflection.  Liechtenauer says nothing at all specifically about footwork; Talhoffer's work shows some footwork by implication, but not explicitly.  On the other side, Yagyuu Munenori, in Heihou Kadensho, does describe steps, usually in a way that mirrors Fiore's description of passes, advances, and turning.  Post-armored fighters, obviously, describe footwork in great detail - it's impossible to discuss Destreza without footwork, for instance - but their application should be followed with caution because the combat dynamics are different.

Thus we study modern fencing, kendo, wrestling, or boxing in order to see what works and what doesn't in similar contexts.  The footwork foundation of the Bellatrix School, discussed at length elsewhere on this blog, was Paul Porter's judo experience: maintaining stable footing and not committing weight in any direction without intention.

Having discussed these original sources, what is the standard?

For the most part, we do not do passes in sword and shield combat.  They have a place, certainly - a pass is a very decisive movement and is natural to the body, and allows a slightly longer controlled movement than an advance.  It is very tempting for new fighters to try to use the pass as a final closure step.  However, doing so carries a risk: it commits weight, it puts the feet out of position for the next move, and it brings the sword side of the body forward, increasing exposure and limiting hip mobility.  It is entirely possible to fight in this "goofy-foot" stance, which is equivalent to the boxing "southpaw" stance, but it is not a recommended starting point because it makes the hip harder to mobilize fully for power generation.

Instead, once at the edge of range, we engage in what Paul Porter calls the "power waddle," what Fiore calls the accressere (or decressere, though that term's rarely used), and what my knight called "advancing."  This consists of pushing off the ball of whichever foot is furthest away from where you want to land - thus, the back foot pushes off to drive you forward, the left foot pushes off to drive you right, et cetera.  The "lead" foot then lifts far enough that it's not engaging friction with the ground, and goes where you want it to land.  Finally, the "back" foot, where the movement started, collects back into its proper relation to the "front" foot.  Done at speed, Duke Paul is absolutely right that this looks a little like a waddle; if you've seen football, rugby, or soccer players shuffling laterally in training, it's the same basic movement.

The reason for using the ball, rather than the heel, of the foot is that the leg is basically a spring in this movement.  I.33 does an excellent job of showing this "springy" step - pay close attention to the fighters' foot positions, and it is clear that they are almost exclusively using the balls of their feet for landing and springing onward.  Using the ball of the foot leverages an additional foot-length of minor muscles and allows for an additional foot-length of spring.  This means that, for the same percentage extension, the length of movement is greater; for the same length, the percentage extension, and therefore the energy required to do it, is less.  Additionally, the ball of the foot has much better "feel" for what the ground is doing to maintain balance and grounding.

When doing this strange new step, the novice fighter is typically tempted to make large, bold advances.  This is a Bad Idea.  Note the capitalization.  Large movements make the body commit weight, and give a clue to what you are planning to do.  Weight commitments are a "tell," and also because most fighters are not trained to the wide stance used in actual medieval fighting if manuals are to be believed.  Recovery afterwards is therefore difficult and the next step is even more difficult.  Many small, controlled movements are better than one large, uncontrolled movement to achieve the exact same purpose.

Like most "simple" things in combat, this is easily explained, but actually doing it is a matter of practice.  It is something that I had a great deal of trouble with when I started, because I'd step and drag, rather than pushing.  While I was trained out of that particular fault, it is only recently that I've started to have any luck with the next phase of footwork - not the simple movement of the feet, but positioning.

Each step should position the fighter for the next movement.  This is one thing that the period sources all agree on - everything that Fiore shows for footwork is meant to put the opponent in a worse position; extant period schools in Japan, both the Yagyuu and others, always use the last step to drive the next movement; I.33's fighting style, as shown, is practically hopping or skipping to position for the next move, and its text indicates that "tardiness" is one of the fighter's cardinal sins.

This is one area where there is an intersection of a variety of schools - Bellatrix, Destreza, the Yagyuu Heihou Kadensho, and Fiore all discuss denying the enemy the "line," or the easiest path of attack, by moving off-center on any series of movements once in range.  Fiore's entire school is arguably defined by refusing the enemy any sort of line, and the infamous Destreza diamond is a depiction of footwork responses to an opponent's movements - "if an opponent closes on X line, take Y step to deny."  The contrary is also true, that footwork is how lines are opened.  A common tactic in Ansteorra, as I cannot speak for the rest of the world, is to distract an opponent, slip to their shield side, and use the opening presented by moving past the shield to throw a wrap shot to their back.

Of course, this begins to bleed over heavily into mental preparation - looking for the right next move, reading what the measure is, et cetera, are far more mental steps than footwork steps.  Thus, the discussion of measure and timing, which is essential to proper footwork, will be held for a later post.

Instead, I will discuss a variation on a theme - great weapon combat.  Great weapons, or any weapon controlled with two hands, naturally work better with passes than with advances, because the pass allows a longer mobilization and the body is exposed anyway since there is no shield.  Great weapon fights, unlike sword and shield fights, are primarily driven by weight commitments, and the ability to shift weight quickly is crucial - part of why we start fighters on sword and shield is to teach them how body weight moves with a tool where that's lower-risk.  In these situations, passes usually follow the weapon - that is to say, if the weapon needs to go to the right, you move such that the body weight is behind the weapon, and the foot makes contact with the ground near-simultaneously when the weapon gets where it needs to be, regardless of whether this is cover, parry, or strike.  This movement of weight behind the weapon, combined with how easily the dramatic overhand strike is blocked, is also why great-weapon fights tend to involve a much higher percentage of striking in lateral or diagonal planes than sword and shield.  The method of moving - decisive, dynamic push from ball of foot to ball of foot - remains the same.

As a practical example of this technique, consider the following, typically given as an illustration with Yagyuu Munenori's Heihou Kadensho (the drawing is by Munenori, was given as a gift, and clearly illustrates the first technique described separately in the text):

 

This technique, the "wheel," is the first of the illustrated techniques in the catalogue of techniques that makes up the first third of Yagyuu Munenori's book.  The text is a later gloss on it by a student of the school, but the summary is as follows: when Fighter A, on left, attacks, fighter B, on right, steps offline to his right and pivots - what Fiore would call a partial turn - with the back foot and brings the sword around to attack the arms.  I could equally easily use Fiore or one of the Germans, but I feel it is important to demonstrate commonality of certain techniques across a variety of sword traditions.  What this shows is...

• Extension or advance by fighter A, pushing off the left foot and striking at fighter B's left shoulder
• Passing counterclockwise turn by fighter B, pushing off the left foot and repositioning to the outside right to deny fighter A his original line of attack
  
• As the passing foot comes in for landing, fighter B strikes fighter A, either in the body or in the arms (as arms are a lower-risk target in case of a through strike, arms or swords were used as a training target)
• Note that stance is dictated by what the projected next move is - extension by A, or rotation by B
  
• As an aside, note that the "long tail" guard used by fighter B is discussed as a viable guard with sword and buckler in I.33
  

In summary, footwork ideally:

1. Uses the longest possible muscle chains to move efficiently (meaning foot-calf-thigh-hip flexor).
   
2. Allows the fighter to move rapidly from point to point without giving away intent.
   
3. Commits weight only when the fighter wants it committed, and doesn't commit it where it can't be withdrawn and recommitted.
4. Reduces the number of moments where a fighter is vulnerable (ties into the defense skill!).
5. Increases the number of moments where a fighter is in a position to attack (ties into the attack skill!).
6. Always positions the fighter so that there is a viable next move, even, especially, if that move is "leave, now."