There's a general rule in sports, including combat sports, that bringing your feet close together, standing too tall, crossing your legs, and leaning over will compromise your balance and mobility.
What is sport other than goal-oriented dynamic movement? Whether you differentiate martial arts from sports or self-defense from sports, they are still goal-oriented dynamic movements. Which means they still obey the same physical laws. However, when it comes to combative movements, the stakes are much higher.
Not raising up, not crossing your legs, keeping your feet apart, and not leaning over but putting your weight down were points made in Basketball Study: Timing, Rhythm, and Tempo. It's a continuation of concepts from our fighting stance series. Embodying the fundamental science of sport (scaffolding) means rarely falling over.
The anime and manga Kuroko's Basketball emphasized how even without touch, you can off-balance your opponent through movement alone. Things only get worse when you can touch, grab, and hit your opponent. But this isn't magic; this is just taking advantage of your opponent's weak positioning, footwork, and gaze.
Gaze is an overlooked facet of goal-oriented movement and balance. Where are you looking? In basketball, since the goal is to get the ball and make a goal, your eyes are on the ball. Since your eyes are on the ball, it's easy to trick you with the ball. You go where your eyes go, which means you go where the ball goes.
Better than misdirection, perhaps it is better to say forced error because this includes misdirection and mistiming. The opponent gets past you. An unforced error is caused by your own weak foundation (scaffolding). You fall over.
In combat sports, you might look at your opponent's hands, feet, or head, which not only tells your opponent what's on your mind, but now your opponent can trick your gaze.
Height and reach are natural advantages because they allow you to stand further away to see the whole target while keeping your opponent within reach. You naturally have the high ground without raising up. It also allows for greater movement with fewer steps. This is why in every sport, the top athletes have gotten taller. However, the greater advantage lies with the person who understands the rules of movement over the person who doesn't.
"Science" means universal (replicable) rules. Goal-oriented movements are no exception to science. What makes combat sports "sweet" is what you bring to it.
Standing too close or fixating on one area limits your view, which prevents you from seeing the totality of the movement. Couple this with weak positioning and footwork, and trying to make a quick adjustment can have you falling down. An unforced error on top of a forced error.
Vision is a product of positioning and footwork, and positioning and footwork are products of vision. Always look to the mountain and beyond, which means putting yourself in a position to see the mountain and beyond.
I made this video edit to show why.
⁂
(If you like my work, please support me on Patreon or make a one-time donation on Ko-fi. Find Southpaw at its website. Get the swag at Spring. Also check out Liberation Martial Arts Online.)
Basketball Study: Stance, Balance, Gaze, and Footwork