I think it is worth noting that a big reason for any kind of bounce/skip/hop is physiological, its about getting loading through the ankles and (in particular) the achilles tendons to deploy power using plyometrics.
Possibly. Did you notice that the Koreans tend of overextend their lunge? Foot way ahead of the knee and the upper body thrown over the waist? I have to admit it scores them a lot of touches, but it drives traditional coaches crazy.
@@donaldbadowski290 Isn't an overextended lunge when the foot is *behind* the knee? Having the leg closer to full extension makes it more able to safely absorb load, taking the force directly up the long bones rather than on the connective tissue in the knee. The Koreans don't "tend" to do this, they very actively train it, and I think it's their greatest contribution to the game thus far. There's a hilarious video of the fencing team at Dong Eui University doing it on the Facebook page of one of the national team.
"The advantage of the bounce is that you can maintain momentum and hold onto the attack without moving forwards and getting caught on prep." What "momentum" are we talking about? Vertical? And hold onto the attack without moving forward and getting caught on prep. If he is not coming forward when bouncing, then why in the world would a ref look at that and say "Oh yeah, that's the attack." As I look at these examples in the vid, I noticed two things. First, the Bouncer is coming forward a little bit most of the time, but because of the vertical component, it's taking longer to complete that little forward motion, much longer than a "skitter" step. Second, there are times when the Bouncer will bounce pure vertical, or even back a little, followed by another little bounce forward. The opponents don't pick up on this "retreat" bounce until it is too late, Bouncer is already bouncing forward again. I think the advantage of doing this is to keep the opponents in a state of indecision. The bouncing masks the true intention of the Bouncer (forward, center, back), so the opponent doesn't know when to attempt an attack in prep.
Perhaps "momentum" is not strictly the correct work. Perhaps "energy" is better. If you have 70-something kilograms of fencer a foot in the air... physics isn't my area, but I'm pretty sure that's a thing that can be readily converted into some kind of useful work, such as sticking a blade in a target.
The whole issue is nothing to do with the bouncing. It is about gaining the initiative, pushing the opponent backwards so that the only thing he can do is straightening his arm (but unable to lunge), while the attacker retains the ability to lunge. The vertical component is just misleading, providing noise to the opponent, making him harder to realize what happening (the signal). What is interesting that the guys using the bouncing retain a smaller base combined with having the initiative, so they can always launch lunges.
When you bounce up if you land on your back leg it is much easier to lunge than if you come off a conventional advance. Instead of acting as a spring, it is acting as a lever converting the work done by gravity into forward momentum.
