2023-03-27

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

Spring break is over, everyone is returning to class, and I’m pleased to report I’m up to seven students in the “youth & family class.” That’s great, and I decided to do something a little different today. We worked on ashi sabaki, specifically yori ashi or “sending foot.” To be clear, this is the method of moving where the lead foot reaches in the intended direction of travel, and then the other foot moves to follow. To be even more clear, the “lead” foot isn’t necessarily the front foot - it’s the foot that’s closest to the intended direction of movement. For example, you move your front foot first if you’re moving forward, your left foot first if you’re moving to the left, etc.

To teach this, I have everyone start in a short front stance with the left foot forward, then I have them “reach” with the front foot and then “drag” the back foot forward until they’re back in the same length stance. I start by saying exactly that: “Reach with the front foot … and drag the back foot.” I do this until they’ve got it, and then I shorten it to “reach & drag, reach & drag.” I’ve found it’s important to start this way because we need to break the human habit of always moving the back foot first when moving forward. I’ve also found that it helps to avoid the word “step” because we humans tned to “step” with the back foot first.