The Point of footwork and movement is to bring your techniques together as a whole. The idea is to move around as though you were walking down a busy street. You would be moving out of the way of one person, picking up someones bag for them if they dropped it, stopping for traffic that comes out of nowhere… All whilst staying connected and fluid. Obviously, with footwork in Martial arts you aren’t picking up bags of moving aside for people. But you are moving this way and that, whilst being careful not to break your centre, you’re dynamic equilibrium. Think constantly of this centre. Even when you are off centre.
Sticking with the example of walking down the street, you wouldn’t want to break with your stride, you would immediately go back to what you were doing after tackling a hazard. Otherwise, the disorderly nature of all the passers by and crowds of people would simply disorientate and confuse you. You can plan your route before you leave, but not what will happen en route. You see it all the time, people getting flustered and losing controlling of the situation, expecting a smooth journey. They should have expected it, remaining adaptable and breaking with their stride in order to then quickly regain it seamlessly. This is just one of many everyday tasks which can become a tremendously effective exercise.
In the same way, with the footwork, the goal is to remain poised and relentlessly alert, yet adaptable to the movements of disharmony around you. It is as if the mind were so alert and intensely engaged, that your body relaxes to pick up the subtle cues. Naturally, you are using the tools of combat, rather than avoiding people in the street. Punches, kicks, elbows etc., these are all just extensions of more familiar movements in everyday situations. And with training the footwork and martial arts movements blend together in the same way as they become more and more embodied and intuitive. Then, it too becomes an everyday situation.
