Agility for warriors of the ancient Philippines, China, Japan or the Americas could mean the difference between being maimed, killed or going home to their families in one piece. It would make sense to introduce some of these battle-proven drills to the modern day warriors of the sports world. This is not to say that today’s strength and skills coaches are doing anything wrong. In fact through modern training methods, proper nutrition and better medical care today’s athletes are stronger and faster than they were fifty years ago.
My contention is that by providing additional methods not easily accessible to many coaches the athlete will benefit both physically by the “cross-training” and mentally by the break in his/her everyday routine. Martial arts are, by nature, multi-directional, multi-jointed, core dominated and require a finely tuned sense of balance. Martial artists kick, punch, grapple, use weapons and fight. Combat is chaotic and to survive in that arena one must possess all the qualities of mainstream athletes. For years I have trained athletes using martial arts concepts and martial artists using modern conditioning principles. The results have always been favorable. The trick is to know what techniques and concepts are most applicable.
I have successfully used many of these drills in training football, basketball and baseball players. The first time I taught these footwork drills to football players I could see a light going off in their heads, all they could say was that these drills would be great for defensive backs, wide receivers and even linebackers. In addition to their surprise, they had a fun time performing them. These drills will improve lateral movement, quick direction changes and balance.
The following sampling of drills draws heavily from the Phillipine martial arts. Philippine arts are often weapons-based so it is easy to imagine that they take their footwork seriously. Being agile and mobile ensures that the warriors don’t accidentally lose any limbs. The goal is to teach the fighter to quickly change directions but be able to attack and counterattack. Give these a try and watch your lateral movement and overall agility improve. If you really want to get serious about enhancing your overall agility, balance and core strength try actually studying one of the many martial arts styles. I feel that any martial art that matches your body type and goals is a great cross-training method that will enhance your overall performance, whether that is karate, kung fu, jujitsu or Thai boxing. Fillipino stick and knife sparring greatly adds to one’s agility, hand and wrist strength, eye to hand coordination and balance. You would be amazed at how focused, and winded, you can become when you are fighting with a stick at full speed.
"Make it More Fun"
To add to the drill’s difficulty try holding a medicine ball, dumbbells, wearing a weighted vest, or placing resistance bands around your ankles or waist. I have found that placing a small rubber band around the ankles greatly adds to the difficulty and effectiveness of these drills. I have had football players tells me that their hips and legs got a tremendous workout and they were able to move with greater ease as a result. To really challenge your athletes perform these drills as part of an obstacle course or circuit.
Skip up, skip back (forward and backwards shuffle)
Start by standing naturally with your left foot forward. Quickly move your right foot up to your left and step forward with your left. Immediately reverse direction by bringing your left foot back to your right and stepping back with your right. Shuffling two or more times forward and two or more times back can modify this drill. It is important to shift your body weight forward and back, do not simple stick your foot forward or back.Lateral Shuffle
- Stand with your feet apart in a natural stance. Bring your left foot to your right foot and smoothly step out with your right. Quickly reverse the step replacing your left with your right. Stay low and don’t allow your head to bob up and down.
Broken Triangles
Forward Broken Triangle*
- Stand with feet together. Imagine that you are standing at the apex of an upside down triangle without a base. Step out with your left foot at a 45° angle, keeping the right foot in place. Bring your foot back and quickly step out with the right foot on a 45° angle. Repeat the steps. Make sure to replace one foot with the other; do not simply place the left next to the right. Increase the difficulty by performing a lunge with each forward step. Remember to shift your bodyweight forward then back.
Reverse Broken Triangle
- The forward version utilizes the same concept introduced with the reverse broken triangle accept now you are stepping back on a 45° angle. Make sure to bend the back knee and lean the torso back slightly with each step. Here you are evading a blow.Star-Footwork
- This step is actually a combination of broken triangles and a side shuffle. The pattern resembles a star/asterisk. From the center of the “star” step out 45° to the left, step back then quickly step out 45° with the right. Quickly step back with the right and then step laterally with the left. Quickly shuffle over to the right. Bring the right foot back to the center and then quickly step back on a 45° angle with the left. Step back up with the left then step back on a 45° angle with the right.
Triangles
Forward Triangle
- Imagine that you are standing at the left corner of an equilateral triangle (and you thought high school geometry wouldn’t come in handy later in life). Start with your feet together and step up on a 45-defgree angle with your right foot. Bring your left foot up to your right and quickly place it where your right foot is. Quickly bring your right foot back on a 45-degree angle to the lower right corner of the triangle. Bring your left foot to your right and then step out to your left touching the lower left corner. Bring the right foot to you left (your starting position) and begin the drill again. This can be done in the reverse direction by starting at the lower right corner of the triangle. Make sure not to have both feet on the ground at the same time except in the very beginning of the drill.
Take the time to master these simple drills and you will reap the rewards.
If you are interested in seeing these and more drills in greater details then take a look at my DVD “Martial Arts Agility”. You will see these drills and more demonstrated in an easy to understand format. For those skeptics I had a friend of mine, Robert Sedlor CSCS, perform the drills with a MEDIUM strength resistance band. All I can say is that Bobby is a very, very strong man, an ex-college football player, strength coach, and personal trainer and is currently studying for his Chiropractic degree. The pain and sweat on his face is no act. Try it for yourself…if you dare.
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