Elements of Sapu by Bobbe Edmonds!

ChingChuan

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Very nice video!

Still, I don't think I agree with him about the 'dragging' sapu... If you're not too strong, it's quite hard to do a sapu on a person who is heavier than you... So if you use the inner edge (not the knife edge, but the other) of your foot and kind of 'snap' it into the other person's foot (the same spot as mr. Edmonds uses), proceed to drag and pull your leg up, as he showed, it's much easier to do... (You'll never get that far 'up', all the momentum goes into the opponents leg).
Of course, his technique gets easier when you indeed take the weight off that leg, but I can't see myself doing that, as I'm not too strong ;).
 

Bobbe

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Well, go back to the first principles: You have to get their weight slightly off the foot to pull off the sweep, or go for timing number two.

How slightly off is situational; you may have to do a lot of work or not try it altogether. For instance, I mention the knee lock before I sweep: This is key for bringing down much bigger people than myself. Try it, see what you think.

Also, keep in mind that this sweep can be done at other places in combat, not just right after he punches. You can do it as they are trying to match your footwork, after they have fallen, all kinds of things.

And finally, sometimes an inner foot sweep is just the wrong technique. That's up to you to decide. What I'm giving on this video are the mechanics of foot sweeps in a wide window of application to a broad range of practitioners.

Next week: Those damn ninjas!
 

Doc_Jude

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A great time to sapu is when they are stepping forward. The timing must be perfect, but when it is, things go Stooges really fast for him.
I also prefer a knee bump/bar to work at unbalancing them before the sapu. Of course, you could just work the ballistic sweep by turning the foot out and striking sensitive points on the inside of the ankle with the heel...
 
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