Footwork in mma.

doubleg

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From what I see in mma. Is there a lack of footwork. Could working on your foot movement be used to for take down prevention? I know tj dillashaw and dominic cruz have good work but when i look at higher divisions, seems to be lacking by my novice eye!
 
Footwork vs elite grappling is like trying to dance your way out of a car wreck
 
You can't really shoot a takedown from certain striking positions so yeah to an extent. The best way to avoid being taken down is still wrestling nonetheless
 
Dont expect boxing like footwork in MMA thats a complete different sport even competing with no shoes makes much different than boxing
 
Hard to have footwork when you have no legs
 
Footwork depends on rulesett.

You can compare the footwork from boxing or thai/kick boxing, with mma. Different rules. And different thing to worry about.

Another thing is that MMA is a very young sport compared to mma and boxing. So it will take some time before mma got its own high level standard for its techniques.

Lastly. Think of training time. The human body only got so many training hours. A boxer will train only boxing. While a mma fighter got to split it into boxing, kick boxing, wrestling (both standing and on the ground), submission grappling, striking on the ground..

So the MMA fighter dont have the same amount of time to really finetune his footwork.

And even the high level guy with amazing footwork from other sports (like Israel adesanya or gokan Saki), have to change it when converting to mma.

Sorry for the wall of text.

<6>
 
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Even for wrestlers the first line of defense against wrestling is footwork.

If you get that part right, the rest of the TDD techniques are way the fuck easier.
 
Footwork vs elite grappling is like trying to dance your way out of a car wreck
Yep, you can have the best footwork and it still won't matter. I remember a few Conor lover clowns talking about how Conor's footwork will be too much for Khabib, and that Khabib wouldn't be able to get inside. I knew that those forum guru's had never wrestled once I read that bullshit.
 
On footwork and some guys have this naturally down pat.

Is simply a root to the ground where gravity and muscle extension from the floor upwards and out through your hands are for maximized power.

Also depends on your gait stance and analysis -

gait%20cycle.jpg


Now combined with good technique good hip flexion movement some guys have great ability to KO.

But yeah spring in your feet and balance/stability usually takes allot of training and muscle development.





Learning when to move on the ball of the feet and when not to is another skill and lesson as well.
  • Shuffling
  • Instep
  • Step aside
  • Rear Step
  • Front Leap
  • Rear Leap
  • So on......etc
All these areas of training are going to help maintain and execute good footwork keeping structure and movement (body alignment agile and flexibly)

The vids are probably not the best example but you see in many fights the poor footwork or lack of it, in training various areas of defense or offense.......... like sprawling down to avoid the take down some even go down with them into a choke hold of death.
 
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Izzy has the best imo right now
 
MMA footwork is purely circling away, trying not to get against the fence. Very few have deliberate movements that create angles. Even Cruz's movements seemed kinda purposeless to me, it was just so different people didn't know how to handle it.
 
Boxing/Muay Thai footwork is not the way to go, the shape of the cage is different than a boxing ring. Mat fighters such as karate/kickboxing/tkd points fighting style movement will work better in a cage.
 
Footwork vs elite grappling is like trying to dance your way out of a car wreck

Anderson made a career out of using pivots, angles and feints to completely avoid wrestling (most of them not elite but still). Not a great idea for most people though.

Also grappling changes a lot about footwork. For one it's harder to defend takedowns if you're bouncing around too much, and also grappling takes a lot of energy so there won't be as much left for moving around like boxers do.
 
Effective footwork must be paired with good range judgement, something many MMA fighters lack.
 
From what I see in mma. Is there a lack of footwork. Could working on your foot movement be used to for take down prevention? I know tj dillashaw and dominic cruz have good work but when i look at higher divisions, seems to be lacking by my novice eye!
proper mma footwork allows the striker to always be in a position to strike with all four limbs, elbows and knees, while putting them in a prime position to stuff takedowns.

cruz, dillashaw and garbrandt are some of the best at it, especially the latter two.

yoel romero, jon jones israel adesanya have some of the best mma footwork i've seen.

derrick lewis has some of the worst mma footwork ive seen
 
Footwork depends on rulesett.

You can compare the footwork from boxing or thai/kick boxing, with mma. Different rules. And different thing to worry about.

Another thing is that MMA is a very young sport compared to mma and boxing. So it will take some time before mma got its own high level standard for its techniques.

Lastly. Think of training time. The human body only got so many training hours. A boxer will train only boxing. While a mma fighter got to split it into boxing, kick boxing, wrestling (both standing and on the ground), submission grappling, striking on the ground..

So the MMA fighter dont have the same amount of time to really finetune his footwork.

And even the high level guy with amazing footwork from other sports (like Israel adesanya or gokan Saki), have to change it when converting to mma.

Sorry for the wall of text.

<6>
You also thought Khabib was the worst striker Conor ever faced before their fight so I don't trust your opinion whether you were a fighter or not. No offense.
 
You also thought Khabib was the worst striker Conor ever faced before their fight so I don't trust your opinion whether you were a fighter or not. No offense.

Non taken. I still kinda feel that way. I bet even to most hardcore Khabib fan was very suprised and happy when that overhand dropped conor.
 
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