By Tim McFatridge

Footwork is the most important part of fighting, for most fighters and martial artists, however, it is also the most under trained and over looked part of their training.

There are many different types of footwork that you should train regardless of your martial arts goal. Some footwork is best used when in the long range or kicking range, other footwork is best used when in the middle range or boxing range, while other footwork is best used when in the close range or tie-up range. This last range is the area I am going to focus on for now.  

In todays mixed martial arts world most fighters and martial artist are very familiar with the tie-up range or the clinch as it is also referred to. Unfortunately most view this position as merely a transition point. When they are in the tie-up their footwork disappears, and in its place they decide to throw knees, or push the opponent to the ropes or fence so they can throw knees, or like most grapplers they decide to take the easy way out and fall to their back pulling their opponent to the gaurd. Now let me make this clear to everyone, I do not have a problem with throwing knees from the tie up, they are very effective and can win a fight. I also do not have a problem with falling to the gaurd as this can also be very good for the experienced grappler. However if you happen to get into a fight while out on the street then falling to your back on the asphalt or concrete is the last place you want to be. When you are throwing knees in the tie up position it is also very easy for you to be taken off your feet especially if you are on the street.

If you trained your footwork more you would be able to land more effective strikes and more importantly would be able to set your opponent up for more submissions.  There are many standing submissions that can be applied while in the tie-up position that can keep you from going to the ground and when you are talking about self defense on the street that is very important. Footwork will drastically improve your stand up fighting and your fighting from the tie-up position. While in the tie up you want to move your opponent around, keeping him off balance and causing him to play the catch up game with you. You should be just as aggressive while in the tie up as you would be if you were going toe to toe slugging it out in the center of the ring. Footwork will also keep your opponent from landing any good strikes while in the tie up by constantly keeping him off balance.

There are several different footwork patterns you need to train for fighting from the tie-up:

1. Male Triangle, 
2. Female Triangle, 
3. 1/4 turn footwork, 
4. Cross Step  Footwork and 
5. Circle Left/Right.

You can look at the following photos to see how to train the above footwork and how they are to be used from the tie up. You can also go to www.jkdkali.com and click on the link for the video to get a better understanding of how effective this footwork can be from the tie-up. *

Remember, footwork is the key to winning most fights. It does not matter if your opponent has biggest badest right hand in the world, if he can not hit you he can not hurt you.

When you train your footwork you will also want to train it during sparring. One way we do this is by having only one person allowed to strike and shoot in and the other person can only use footwork. The person using footwork is allowed to use his hands to "push" his opponent off of him. The main idea here is to train yourself not to be there when the attack comes. You will want to zone off from the punches and the kicks. Later as you become more and more comfortable with the footwork you will be able to strike while zoning off and using the different footwork.

* Photos and videos will be made available in the near future.