Shuffle Step

The Shuffle Step is more like a pulling movement, than a stepping movement. Regardless, it's a quick movement. It's one motion, whereas the Step & Slide is a two-part motion. All of the torque comes from the toes and the balls of the feet. While the front foot looks as though it's flat on the floor, it isn't. Most of the weight is on the ball of the foot and the toes. It's less a push than a pulling movement, as you push with the rear leg while pulling simultaneously with your lead leg. It's almost like you're trying to grab a clump of earth and throw it back to your rear leg- that's the type of tension that should be in your feet and the correct motion your lead leg needs to assume to perform this movement correctly. At the beginning of the movement it's very subtle and it's hard for the untrained eye to see it However, while it may be a delicate, deceptive motion, it's tremendously powerful and efficient, allowing you to throw your bodyweight- instantly- behind a technique. Even though I'm moving, it appears as though there has been no bodyweight shift at all. I'm not moving- and yet I'm moving. Or, as Bruce Lee once said:  " The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness. Only when there is stillness in motion, does the universal rhythm manifest." - Bruce Lee                             

The Burst (a.k.a.: The Shuffle Step)

The Burst is also a push-pull movement. It is used for a quick advance, for kicking and for punching. The Burst is used primarily to deliver a devastating kick such as a side-kick, or to counter an opponent's attack. That's why footwork is not just for "transition" between techniques- but also the delivery system that allows you to execute your techniques properly. Any Properly executed kick or punch comes off the footwork.                           

(Continued on page 13)

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