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Old 08-01-2007, 08:05 PM   #3
Upyu
Dojo: Aunkai, Tokyo
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 591
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Re: heel vs. ball of foot during tenkan

Quote:
Tim Griffiths wrote: View Post
Balls all the way.

In the 'normal' aikido stance, I want to have the feeling of slightly focusing forward, which translates to a little more pressure on the balls of the feet rather than the heels. Off-hand, I can't think of any classic aikido movement or posture where you want to have a lot of weight on your heels - it doesn't lend itself to stepping offline fast - which we want to do a lot.

A lot of Chinese MAs use a 90 degree pivot on the heel of the foot - its a classic move in Tai Chi and Wing Chun. It works very well there, because it allows a very fast turn, and there's little movement around the opponent (one Wing Chun friend I used to play around with would complain that I kept trying to move around him, rather than stand toe-to-toe. Well duh).

Train well,

Tim
I'd disagree with that notion.
You can have the weight fall to the heels and still step very nimbly, actually "more" nimbly than if you have the weight fall to the balls of the feet (this would include rotating moves like tenkan). The main reason is body connection. Heels are directly connected to the pelvic region which transfers to the koshi/tanden, up to the spine and head etc, 6 direction contradictory powers etc etc.

Basically it translates into more efficient motion since you're connected and moving as a whole.

I'd bet the reason that tai chi steps are formulated the way you described is to work on the connection in that manner. It's not so much a "technique".
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