Chapter 26: New Techniques

The sport Taekwondo walking stance is a more natural way of moving. It is a relatively short, upright stance that allows the practitioner to move quickly in any direction. Traditional low, wide stances force the practitioner to first raise his or her body before performing any technique, which is too slow for competition. 

Sport footwork is broken down into steps rather than stances, similar to the way boxers move. For instance, the walking stance is executed by stepping 15 degrees to the side, with the front of the leading foot and the heel of the back foot in a straight line with each other. From this close, natural stance, any kind of step or footwork easily follows. Steps are broken down in basic numbers and directions. For example, the double step is a sideways movement. Besides being evasive, the side step is also a hop that propels the practitioner into a jump kick aimed at the opponent's unprotected side. Fighters may now quickly move forward and backward in short steps as a boxer does. A fighter may change his or her forward foot with a hop, which allows him or her to angle his or her body away from the opponent's blows instantly. If a fighter wants to confuse opponents, he or she can change his forward foot two or three times in rapid succession, so the opponent does not know which foot will do the kicking. Perhaps most confusing to an opponent is the triangle step where the practitioner does a side-step hop to completely change direction while both feet are in the air.