Crossing distance

[KC Elbows]

Ran into a guy the other day, tall guy, who was a very good fighter. His take on shuffling in was to cross as large a distance as possible, as opposed to small shuffles.

However, I noticed that, in his fighting, he largely circled around the opponent, attacking while evading basically.

Now, I'm not saying he couldn't do the huge shuffles he was suggesting. What I'm wondering is what everyone else's thoughts were on taking large shuffles.

[Justa Man]

unless he's really doing something to divert your attention enough to where he can get off a long shuffle, i'd say it could be exposed as too long a movement and you could flip that to your advantage.
sounds like he's using some ba gua-esque movements with the circling.

[Arioch7]

Hmmm... I can not fathom Bagua but I need a little more detail before I can comment on your shuffles.

Are you afraid to throw something in his path because you think he will hurt you? Is he making a show of having his arms all over the place?

The obvious answer is get inside and shut him down. Something must be shutting you down? Is it the circular movements?

Details man, details...

[Stacey]

Does it work?

Sounds good to me.

[David]

KC, you had the experience - what is your take on the big shuffles? What made the guy a good fighter?

[Chris McKinley]

Hmm...um...maybe it's just me, but wouldn't it all depend on how far away you were in the first place? Perhaps also on how close you wanna end up? I mean, call me crazy or whatever.

[nospam]

His take on shuffling in was to cross as large a distance as possible, as opposed to small shuffles. What I'm wondering is what everyone else's thoughts were on taking large shuffles.

Good question.

As I read the above, there's two interpretations:

1) prefering to shuffle or take a step at a greater distance, say at least a normal step and a half away.

2) when you shuffle (or step in), you are shuffling through your opponent or crossing as large a distance as possible.

In #1 the difficulty is allowing time for your opponent to prepare for the ensuing attack. IMO, you expose yourself to a counter kick as you step in. Of course, this might be part of the strategy and most kicks can be countered easily enough.

You also could time the attack and hopefully catch the other person off-guard as you step in.

Whenever I attack at distance, it would involve a long arm technique such as a gwa (CLF) followed by a secondary strike with the back hand/arm. I've found the trick here is to keep the contact arm/strike up high and in the face of the opponent, they literally can't see whats coming. The second hand being hidden, if you will.

I prefer long arm techniques at this range as it swipes the guard (opponent's hands) away or batters them with a resulting shock value. Plus you get the added momentum of a large step. Risky, but can be worth while.

In #2 the attack is executed at closer range but the movement, whether an actual shuffle or step (step being defined as a lead movement with the back foot) is to position yourself very deep into your opponent. Similar to the thought of punching not at your opponent, but through your opponent. This is a philosophy employed in my style (Bak Hsing CLF) for almost any and all attacks. This generally forces your opponent to move backward thus giving the upper hand to you in terms of control.

The thought is to not only get in deep but to push and keep pushing your opponent backward as you continue to stick or shuffle forward. The trick here is that I can shuffle at a greater distance forward than you can backward. Inevitably, your opponent turns their back as they can not maintain the pace and can not recover a sense of control in the situation. Once the back is turned, they're fodder.

My style's philosophy is entrenched in #2. When #2 is executed and maintained, kicks that your opponent might throw are nullified or minimized at the least.

If your opponent breaks (runs), then that melee is over until the next contact is initiated. Often times as they break, depending on your proximity to the opponent, a nice chaser kick can be executed.

nospam.
:cool:

[KC Elbows]

Justa,
I agree.

Arioch,
Not pa kua, more boxing footwork. The question isn't really related to fighting this one guy. The point was that he likes these long shuffles, but in fighting he hardly used them, and was more an evasive fighter. I did not wish to discount his long shuffle concept out of hand, but was looking for other's opinions on specifically the long shuffle.

David,
My take is that the shuffle might be handy, but against a good fighter, such long shuffles would be too dangerous. However, I could be mistaken.

Chris,
Yes, distance is a factor, but if you are ten feet away, is one shuffle really the most sensible way to cross the distance? Ten feet is an exageration, though, using his methods, us tall folk would be shuffling maybe six or seven feet, practically jumping.

Nospam,

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the input.

[JWTAYLOR]

If they are far enough away for 2 shuffles then they are far enough for a step through. Hell, to tell you the truth when they are that far away I kind of just walk up to them.

JWT

[fa_jing]

I like the two quick shuffles better than the long shuffle. Why commit from that great a distance?
-FJ

[diego]

and i know this to be true, as i read it on the net, now you may wonder how so, well i am reading you on the net, now don't you exist?!>think about it...

[nospam]

JWTAYLOR,

...that's what I do as well. Or just walk away.

I say it is all garbage up until an arm's reach away.

nospam.
:cool:

[fightfan]

In BJJ crossing the distance is a very important part of fighting. A lot of the strategy is maintaining the proper distance(out of striking range) until the timing/opportunity is right. One long step is the best to close the distance for the clinch.