Follow Your Partner’s Movement – Practice

Immediate Practice

Partnered Practice: 10 minutes – Practice the mirror movement exercise

• Practice with right side leading and left side leading for even development.
• Start with only advancing and retreating steps, then add in passing steps.
• Footwork does not need to match between you and your partner, it is being at the proper measure that matters.
• If you don’t have a third person to call the lunges or switches give that responsibility to the person who is lunging. Switch partners every 3–5 lunges.

Solo Practice: 10 minutes – Practice using advances, retreats, passings steps, and lunges.

• Use a timer and work against an imaginary opponent. Lunge every 10 seconds.
• Practice all types of footwork.
• Mix types of steps and increase your speed as you get more comfortable.
• Your goal here is not on judging measure but instead on combining footwork, maintaining posture, and moving in proper order.

In both solo and partnered practice, focus on the following in your form:

• Smooth movement.
• Alignment while moving.
• Order of the lunge—make sure the sword is going out first and recovering last!
• Stay balanced and don’t over-extend to hit a target.