My main concern on my footwork posting was shock absorbtion,
whose importance is more obvious in simpler footwork, like
advances, retreats and lunges, balaestras, and so forth. It is still
an issue with regard to pivoting actions, but I'll get back to those
in a minute. It doesn't matter whether your style is medieval,
rennaisance or Olympic, or even European at all. As long as
you're dealing with moving your weight with your legs, this will be
some sort of an issue.
I'll break my thinking down, step by step:
The Advance -- a simple 1/2 step. This sort of step differs
considerably from a normal walking step. In an ordinary step
from one foot to the other, the center of gravity is higher, and the
step is accomplished by shifting weight from one side of the
body to the other. in a fencer's advance, the center of gravity is
lower, and the body is pushed forward by one leg. Many styles of
fencing advocate a lower stance with the knees bent. When done
rapidly, it exerts quite a bit of force on the propelling leg.
The Retreat is pretty much the same, just going the other way.
The Lunge--Whether you do it as a big advance-step forward, as
in earlier period combat, or as the later lunge proper, you're
accellerating your body's mass from one foot to the other. That
acceleration can get quite intense, for both legs. Assuming a
nearly-worst case scenario (the full, long, classical lunge).your
body weight is accellerated three or more feet, impelled by all the
force the rear leg can muster, to be stopped suddenly by the heel
contacting the earth. Decelleration stress occurs primarily in the
tendons & muscles of the front of the knee. I've read that a good
lunge can generate up to 1000 pounds of force where ground
contact is made. The rear leg faces less impact-shock, but still
gets an awful lot of stress from having to suddenly accelerate the
body mass forward. And I can add from personal experience,
that I've torn the sole partially off a fairly new tennis court-shoe on
the rear leg. You can lessen the stress to the front leg a bit by
lunging with proper form , ie: keeping the body low throughout
the lunge, the front heel just skimming the ground, the knee
finishing over the instep. It becomes the worst-case scenario
when the lunge is a "flying" lunge--the fencer lifts his front leg (or
worse, his body) to lunge & even worse by landing short, with
knee way over the toe. There's no way a knee can take these
stresses for very long.
When we start talking about twisting moves like passes,
inquartatas, intagliatas, volts and so forth, we certainly have to
deal with torsional stresses on the knees, but imact stresses
are still occurring on the other foot, to varying degrees. It's harder
for me to pin these down, because there are more variables.
Whether you're facing stresses caused by pushing-off and
landing, or twisting stresses depend on the specific technique
and also the way it's applied.
A straight pass on an attack forward (bringing the rear leg past
the front one) is likely to produce more stress on the foot you
land on, because of the acceleration and the commitment of the
body forward in the attack.
A full inquartata (spinning on the front leg towards your inside,
and sweeping the rear leg around) as a counter-action is likely to
primarily crank the knee of the pivot-leg, because you need to
turn the body out of the way, but not shift back quite so much.
Super-grippy sport shoes on a wood floor are going to be lethal
(but so would be a boot with heels in soft ground).
The same inquartata, but done more defensively by throwing the
body more off-line, might produce less twisting-stress on the
front leg, because the weight is pushed off of it earlier, and
again, it's the leg that the weight lands on that takes the brunt.
The point I was trying to make was that all of these stresses take
their toll on the body. I have learned this from experience. It
doesn't happen all at once, but slowly & gradually, and by the
time there are manifested symptoms, you're already in trouble.
and it can take as long or longer to recover.
I hadn't even thought that there was one solution, and as has
been pointed out, different styles of movement require different
solutions. This isn't news. Basketball shoes have more & higher
cushioning for jumping. boxing shoes have soft soles for
working on taut canvas, but high tops to support ankle stress
(from twisting into the punches). And there are even special
"Martial Arts Sneakers" designed for kickers who pivot on the
balls of their feet. But all of bits of equipment will (at least in
theory) lessen the hazards of orthopedic injuries.
With regard to the effect on form, why hobble yourself?
Beginners should learn with the fewest obstacles. Absorbing
little habits to compensate for weird traction & terrain problems
can become big bad habits later on down the road. Years ago I
used to do quite a bit of fencing in period garb. My footwear of
choice were heavy Fry boots. I developed a number of odd habits
that were built around being able to slide on the soles & dig in
my heels that were really counter productive, because those
habits were only applicable in one envirionment. After having had
to relearn the basics, I could apply the correct technique pretty
much anyplace.
For a more advanced fencer who fences alot, there's still the
orthopedics to consider.
-----------------
Antoine, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on a few points:
firstly, While the lunge, any lunge, is a long advance, it is more
than just a step. The advantage of the lunge is that it delivers the
point from a distance of two steps in the time of one step. So
right there, acceleration is implied. Further, the point needs to be
delivered with enough force to penetrate meaningfully, ideally,
while keeping the arm relaxed. I have the illustrations of Capo
Ferro in mind:Two combatants, one hitting the other in a long
lunge, his rapier point extending out of the opponent's back or
head by several inches. To go through the torso like that (bones
& tensing muscle) reqires some force, to go through the head,
which has less mass, would, I surmise, require acceleration as
well.
In any case, there's no advantage in a lunge if they see it coming.
I am equally confused by your statement regarding historical
accuracy & equipment. Some equipment is important to form,
some isn't. Weapons are pretty important. It's hard to understand
saber if you're trying to do it with a foil, and for rapier, you really
need a rapier. But I'll take my modern fencing mask over the
leather eye-masks that were all the eye protection that they had
in the rennaisance. In fact, I'll take it over any 19th century mask
as well. Some period equipment can actually hinder one's
education. A shirt or doublet with big, loose sleeves is great for
parrying & entangling an incoming blow, but it can mask the
importance of learning how to parry that same attack, until the
time comes when you need those sleeves & don't have 'em.
Some of my early fencing instructors dated back to the time
when fencing shoes were leather with doe-skin soles. Nobody
missed them when more modern soles came around. Period
equipment was the best that they had at the time, but that doesn't
mean it was the best for the activity however. I can say the same
about boxing gloves, wrestling mats & ear protection, and so
forth. The distinction here is regarding safty equipment. I don't
think that they could have improved much on weapons however.
--------------------
Stephen: Inserts are a very good idea, sometimes even in
sneakers.
Most of the sneakers I've fenced in didn't really have that much
more traction than my boots, it was just that the traction was
more consistent on all surfaces. It's the consistency that leads to
reliable technique, in my experience. I've never had a problem
with twisting techniques in sneakers, even gum soles, which are
supposed to be the stickiest. There's a lot more traction when
they're brand new, but after a couple of weeks they become quite
comparable to old leather boot soles. The shoes with the least
traction, by the way, seem to be "fencing shoes." Go figgure.
--------------------
Well, I've run on far too long, but thanks for for sticking with me.
I just hope i haven't....put my foot in it.
Cheers,
J.
PS: Did Paul McDonald really have his sneakers resoled in
leather?
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