Patterns>Performance>Stomping

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Stomping

Intro

Sometimes you see martial artists stomp their feet down when they step into an attack.

Stomping is stupid

Unless a pattern movement includes a stomp to the opponent's foot or leg, stomping the feet during pattern movements is useless and, during a competition, it is usually detrimental to getting a high score. Some may think it sounds impressive and may increase their scores, but it does not. Some may think it increases power, but it does not. Baseball players do not stomp as they pitch the ball or swing the bat, quarterbacks do not stomp as they throw the ball, and boxers and MMA fighters do not stomp as they punch.

When teaching beginners, to emphasize making good hand and foot timing, my instructor used to stomp his stepping foot to emphasize how the foot and hand should reach the end of their movements at the same time. The problem was that sometimes the students thought the stomp was a part of the movement, so they stomped when punching. It is always more difficult to get students to stop doing something than it is to get them to start doing something, so sometimes this stomping habit is difficult to break.

When moving in a pattern or in the street, the feet should silently sweep over the ground, skimming the surface. In the street, the sweeping motion is used to clear a path though street trash to reach firm ground.

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