How to footwork dance

7 Tips That Will Take Your Footwork To The Next Level

Footwork is ESSENTIAL when you dance!

If you’re not moving your feet, then you’re not utilizing your whole body to create a complete movement!

Keone, Bam, and Lyle can show you just how effective footwork can be – ON ITS OWN:

So how do we train our feet and legs to take our freestyle and choreography to the next level?

Or even just to move ‘em naturally so we don’t look so stiff?!

We’ve got 7 training tips that you should start doing today to take you from footwork.. to foot-werrrrk.

1. Know where your weight is

Let’s start with the basics – stabilizing your balance.

To do this, feel how your weight is distributed through each move.

For example, if you have to lift your left foot up, then most of your weight should be on your right foot.

Maintain a sturdy base the next time you dance and you’ll notice how much more controlled your bottom half is!

Play around with different positions, whether it’s on one foot or both, so you get comfortable with where your weight is and how to shift between them.

See Related Article: Want To Dance With More Control? Read THIS.

2. Stay on the balls of your feet

When we asked Carlo Darang for tips for his fast-moving pieces, here’s what he had to share.

"Always try to be light-footed and ready to move from one part of the floor to another!

If you dance on your toes and heels and not set everything your entire foot, then it’s kind of like jump-roping – you’ll be ready to jump from one place to another.

This skill is like a triple-threat for basketball players, or even your ready stance for football players… for us dancers, it’s the same thing, same idea – be in a position where it’s easy for you to go anywhere."

So when you’re dancing, don’t always be flat footed! Being on the balls of your feet will help you spring and rebound off the floor much more easily.

Watch him in action in his STEEZY Studio class!

Thanks for the tips, Carlo!

See Related Article: How To Execute Choreography Better By Utilizing Your Body With Carlo Darang

3. Take it high and low

Footwork doesn’t just involve your FEET.

You can utilize your LEGS to can take your body to different levels and make your changes look more drastic.

Bend your knees to dip it low (cue Christina Milian~) and releve to reach up high.

The more burn you feel in your thighs and calves, the more dynamic your dancing is. Just kidding.

But do incorporate high and low levels to jazz up your dancing!

4. Don’t be afraid of the floor

I’m one of those people that groan when the choreographer says “there’s a little bit of floorwork..”

But once I do it, I realize how awesome it is.

For starters, it trains your athleticism by taking your body out of its comfort zone of being upright.

Second, it makes the piece look so much more dynamic because that whole level change to get to the floor is a chance to do something cool.

And lastly, working with the floor opens up a whole new door for creative choreography concepts!

You can use your hands to trace things on the floor, lay down flat and do some synchronized-swimming-esque leg movements, swivel around on your knees.

It’s like having a dance partner to work off of – except your partner is flat and unmoving.

For inspiration, check out how Chris Martin plays with the floor in his STEEZY Studio piece:

5. Travel!

Using your legs means that you can MOOOOVE.

Like literally. Move across the floor.

Get out of your box and use steps to travel! It’ll add another dimension to your dancing and bring the audience along with you for the ride.

When you’re choreographing, try challenging yourself for a segment to come up with a way to dance from point A to point B maybe 10 feet away.

When you freestyle and feel yourself repeating the same steps you can utilize those same steps but change them in direction to travel!

6. Drill steps

Drill steps that you find in footwork-heavy styles like House and B-boying.

A big key here is repetition.

If you do the loose leg or 6-step a zillion times, then your feet are going to become conditioned to move in those combinations without you even trying.

This will also allow you to be more creative with variations of those steps!

So when you encounter a tricky step or piece of footwork, don’t just get through it but master it so you’ll be ready for next time.

7. Polish your turns

A sloppy turn can totally ruin the flow of a piece. You don’t want to clumsily jump out of a turn!

Here are some tips to make your turns clean:

Engage your core musclesImagine a line from the ceiling to your head, to your toes, to the floor.

You want to stay in that alignment as you visualize your turn – Plie for leverage, Spot!

TURN UP your piece or freestyle with some clean ass turns!

Same as any other step, turns just take a lot of repetition to master.

See Related Article: The Class You Need To Unlock Your Dancer Potential

Ready to get those feet moving? Comment below with something that helps you with your footwork!

We recommend Ray Basa, Julian Sena, Carlo Darang, or Paul Ross’ classes on STEEZY Studio to train for quicker, more dynamic footwork.

Happy (feet) learning!

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How to learn to dance shuffle - Lifehacker

December 15, 2019LikbezSports and Fitness

Master the basic movements, and then improvise and get high.

Iya Zorina

Author of Lifehacker, athlete, CCM

This dance style includes a lot of freedom and improvisation. That is why he is so good. You can master the basic movements in a couple of hours, and then complicate them to infinity and combine them with each other, create your own combinations and spy on others.

Dance in sneakers, socks or barefoot, in any outfit, anywhere.

Master the basic movements of the shuffle

In this style, you do all the basic movements with your feet, the hands most often move freely - according to the heart.

Running man

This is the most basic and essential shuffle movement. You can do it in three different ways.

Full foot

The movement begins by bending the knee and lifting one leg. Next, you need to simultaneously put both legs - supporting and raised - at a distance of one step from each other.

The raised leg is placed forward on a full foot, the standing one behind slips back on the ball of the foot and remains on it - the heel is not placed on the floor. The weight is evenly distributed between the two legs.

After that, it remains to return to the starting position. To do this, the front leg slides back, and at the same time, the back leg is pulled up. You find yourself in the starting position and repeat the cycle. The movement itself is soft and springy: do not stick into the floor, keep your legs relaxed.

Heel

This is a lighter and faster running man look that may be needed for some combinations. Here you put your foot not on the whole foot, but on the heel. At the same time, the one standing behind remains on the toe.

On pads

In this variation, the foot is placed forward on the pad. At the same time, the one standing behind also remains on the ball of the foot, and the body leans slightly back.

T‑step

In this movement, one foot constantly makes a “herringbone” - turns the heel in and out - and the second touches the floor and immediately rises back.

When the heel of the skating leg turns inward, the toe of the other leg touches the floor; when outward, the other leg rises, turning the knee inward.

It turns out two positions: closed - when the legs are wrapped with the knees inward, and one leg is raised, and open - when the legs are turned out with the knees outward, and the toe touches the floor. Practice doing the T-step in both directions: slowly at first, then with acceleration.

Rocking

You jump on one foot, and the other touches the floor in different places: on the side of the supporting leg, across, behind - anywhere you want. You can put your foot on the toe or on the heel - the latter is called a kick. The supporting leg can simply rise low or perform a T-step - move the heel out and in.

Charleston

To begin, you turn your knees and toes inward and lift one leg. Then turn your toes and knees outward, and put your raised leg forward crosswise. Repeat the same with the other leg.

All movement occurs on the balls of the feet, the heels do not fall to the floor. You can move both forward and backward.

Diamond

First you put your feet crosswise with your toes outward with a jump, then you also spread your legs apart with a jump.

Slides

One leg is straight, stands on the whole foot, the other is with a bent knee on the pad. Leaning on the pad, you slip the foot of a straight leg back, as if wiping the sole on the floor.

Immediately after the slip, you turn around. In the turn, the straight leg bends and goes to the pad, and the one that was on the pad, on the contrary, turns on the heel. After that, it remains only to change legs and move in the same way in the other direction.

Scissors

From the starting position - standing with a raised leg, as in Running man - you turn your hips to the side with a jump and put your legs crosswise.

The front foot is on the heel, the back foot is on the ball. Then you jump back to the starting position and do the same on the other side.

Sidekick

From the starting position, you turn your hips to the side with a jump and spread your legs a step apart from each other. The standing foot in front is placed on the heel, the standing one behind remains on the pillow. Then, with a jump, you collect your legs and do the same on the other side.

Try other variations of the basic shuffle movements

You can perform the basic movements in different directions: forward and backward, turning around. This will give you more freedom to improvise.

Variations Running man

Do several times in place and then turn around. You can also try walking this way to the side. Each time the leg will need to be placed slightly crossed in order to slowly move to the side.

Variations T‑step

You can lower your foot on the toe, on the whole foot, touch the floor to the side of the supporting leg or forward and behind it.

You can also keep the other leg off the floor at all - leave it on the toe and turn the knee in and out.

Variations Diamond

Here one more element is added to the movement – the heel strike. In the starting position, you wrap the toes of the feet and knees inward, and then jump on the heels, turning the socks to the sides.

From this position, without jumping, you turn your toes and knees inward, cross your legs with a jump, turning your feet with your toes outward, and then return to the starting position.

Charleston Variations

After three turns of the Charleston, turn both toes in one direction and then in the other. At the end, you can turn the knee to the side.

Connect familiar shuffle moves

While you lack the skills to move freely and come up with something of your own, learn a few combinations. They contain interesting movements that will replenish your dance vocabulary.

Combination 1

This is a simple combination of two basic movements - Running man and T-step. First take five Running man steps, then four T-steps to the side and repeat the same in the opposite direction.

Combination 2

Another combination of two basic movements. Here you do three Running mans, then one T‑step with a back foot touch, and two front heel touch kicks. The same on the other side.

Combination 3

There are no standard steps here, but there are already familiar Sidekick and transition from heels to toes.

Learn more difficult combinations

We will add some videos with good combinations.

1. Cool video for beginners: movements are repeated in slow motion to make it easier to dance to the music.

2. And here the combination is analyzed step by step in slow motion, dividing it into three parts. Very comfortably. Look for more on this channel, there are several such analyzes.

3. There is no slowdown here, just a great combination. But you already know almost all the movements, so you can figure it out. If something is not clear, watch the video at a speed of 0. 25.

Pick up the music and improvise

Surely you have favorite songs to shuffle to. Include them and start with basic movements: just do the Running man and periodically add different elements when you want. Move in different directions, relax and have fun.

If you don't have favorite tracks, try our selection.

I must say that the shuffle is an amazing cardio workout. In just a couple of tracks, you will be out of breath and sweat, like after a run, but you will feel absolutely happy!

What's more, if you have to force yourself to keep going while running, shuffle requires you to have the willpower to stop and not dance. As a bonus - a short video from a beginner after a couple of hours of practice.

Shuffle is cool!

Dancer Footwork for Fighters

10 DAYS INTENSE FOOTWORK WORKOUT

Unleash your agile and explosive footwork for fighting. Hold your space and throw punches with more power than ever. Move with feline agility and razor-sharp speed. Dispel the stone muscles in your legs and torso. Move faster than all your rivals!

My brother Brian (champion dancer) and I share the secrets of training dancers' footwork in this unique 10-day intensive training program. 4 hours of instructional video and 26 page work journal to improve your footwork skills.

Meet OVER 100 special footwork exercises used by dancers to develop core and leg strength, improve their sense of balance, and move their feet with dazzling speed, power and precision!

CAT BALANCE - hold your space with superior technique and strong leg muscles!
FAST FOOTWORK - attack and escape with blinding speed!
INCREASED PUNCHING POWER - Stronger muscles and better technique increase your punching power!

Why should a fighter train like a dancer?

Dancers have the best balance and footwork of ALL ATHLETES in the world. They train 10 hours a day, working only on balance and footwork. Imagine the average ballet dancer who trained from the age of 4 to absolute perfection. By the time he is 18, he is floating in the air, spinning on one leg and makes us believe he does it easily . Hours of stretching, relentless exercise, intense footwork exercises and superhuman displays of speed and strength.

You might be shocked to learn that boxing greats such as Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson also had dance experience. Mike Silver (boxing historian and author), in his popular book The Arc of Boxing, mentioned that the ideal body for a boxer is that of a dancer, with long, smooth, toned muscles. As a fighter, you may not want to wear tights and do 10 spins in a row, but you might want to know how the dancers trained. What techniques did the dancers use to create such a beautiful balance? How did they develop such large calves? What special footwork exercises have they been doing all these years in training?

It's no secret that classical dance training can be the hardest type of physical training in the world. The dancer's body is carved to perfection from head to toe for fluid, powerful and seemingly effortless movements.

Watch some videos of my former dance teachers:

Ivan Terrazas old video of his AMAZING foot strength
Gabriel Miss - INCREDIBLE foot speed and accuracy
Brian Nguyen - watch my brother FREESTYLING on street
there are many more that I have not listed ...

THE PROBLEM of conventional boxing footwork exercises

The footwork exercises you see in boxing and MMA gyms today are completely ineffective. Most of them are too simple or simply not organized in a logical order. Where are the stretching exercises? Where are the balance exercises? And finally, where are the exercises to improve the physical condition of the muscles and coordination?

All you see is shadow boxing, jump rope, ladder drills, cone drills and maybe a few running hip twist drills and that's it. Today's footwork drills are too easy, too boring, and STILL don't teach fighters how to balance and how to move their bodies. There is no systematic method for developing and complicating work in order for the body to move better.

Still missing from today's footwork exercises:

Mindfulness exercises - how to develop a great sense of balance and control of the neutral axis.
Full leg workout - not just calves and agility (no inner leg work)
Lack of slow motion work - to increase control and coordination, instead of just raw speed and power
Does not work effectively on the "footwork muscles"

What is the Dancer's Footwork for Fighters training program?

You will have access to a comprehensive 10-day training program with 4 hours of video. Every day you will be introduced to many new footwork techniques, exercises and drills to completely transform your lower body and improve your footwork! This is a proven training program used by dancers for generations.

You will get THICKER, STRONGER, FAST legs.

You will finally have fully developed leg muscles, thereby gaining increased leg strength, coordination and control throughout an extended range of motion. You will have access to an advanced training program to develop perfect balance and fast footwork skills. You will develop a stronger and MORE FUNCTIONAL torso in order to generate MORE POWER IN ALL BODY MOVEMENTS.

You will stand stronger, move faster and hit harder!

Access to Champion Dance Knowledge

You will have access to one of the greatest footwork training resources through my brother, Brian Nguyen, US TANGO CHAMPION. He has trained with the best in the world and has won numerous dance competitions due to his skills and footwork abilities. He is a highly respected tango dancer all over the world. He charges over $100/hour for private lessons and always has bookings in every city he visits.

And Brian Nguyen will share his secret exercises and training methods in this specialized course. You will learn…NOT 10…NOT 20…but MORE THAN 100 FOOTWORK EXERCISES. Brian and I will begin to pull you in slowly, starting with fundamental techniques and basic exercises (Days 1, 2, 3). Then we will gradually move on to more intense exercises (Days 4, 5, 6, 7). And at the end, we will end with impossible exercises (Days 7, 8, 9, 10). You will receive technical demonstrations and theoretical explanations every day.

*** Check out my brother Brian Nguyen's talks - VIDEO 1 - VIDEO 2 ***

These specialized footwork workouts are HARD.

Working off and exercises are incredibly difficult and painful. This course is not intended for non-serious fighters. If you don't even like jumping rope, this course is not for you! I only recommend these workouts to serious athletes or people with crazy curiosity.

The average person won't even make it past DAY 5. If you're looking for a challenge and really want to take your footwork to the next level, this course will give you the best footwork in the gym!

100+ footwork exercises ranging from easy to difficult to difficult to painful to impossible. Many of you who are reading this now will NEVER be able to do them all. However, your footwork speed, accuracy and agility will improve enormously if you work on it.

If you can survive these workouts,
footwork in combat will be easy.

"Dancer's Footwork for Fighters"
BUY NOW FOR $57 USD

4 HOURS of Video - 240 minutes of instructional videos broken down into a 10-day workout program. Learn secret techniques and discover over 100+ specialized exercises that will improve your footwork!
26-PAGE Workbook - All footwork exercises, key balance tips and techniques in a helpful PDF file. Print it out, follow it and take notes.
Learn more