You gotta float like a butterfly to sting like a bee

Being able to move around quickly and efficiently is one of the most important assets a martial artist should have. Learn to float like a butterfly and you will sting like a bee.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

The above is probably the most famous quote in fighting history, but not only that, it's probably the most important quote also.

Why?

Floating like a butterfly is the most important form of agility any martial artist can have. Without the ability to 'float' quickly and efficiently, a martial artist will be slow, sluggish, struggle to evade punches and find it hard to enter their opponents fighting range to open a strike, or sting as Mohamed Ali put it ;-).

You only have to watch how Manny Pacquiao floats around the ring to understand how important floating is. Pacquiao floats into his opponents fighting range, strings, and leaves before you have a chance to blink, he never once falls off balance and all of his punches are solid because his structure and balance on bang on the money.

So how can we improve our ability to float like a butterfly?

Footwork

Floating is all down to efficiency in motion - which boils down to footwork. You can have the quickest feet in the world but without efficient footwork you will be slow, sluggish and off balance. Practice your footwork techniques daily. The technique will depend on your structure however the basics are still the same.

Here are some basic footwork movements you can practice:

• In-and-out - Practice entering and retreating. Move forwards and backwards.
• Angle off to the left - Practice angling off to the left with an offensive strike and with defense to evade a strike.
• Angle off to the right - Same as above.
• Circling - You can't always move forwards and backswords. Sometimes you have to move around in circles. Practice.

Structure

Your structure is the foundation of how your limbs move together - as one. Without proper structure you will throw yourself so off balance you'll get knocked out in no time. Your structure is the foundation of your human body as a weapon. It prevents you from throwing a punch and losing balance, it will prevent you from stepping backwards and clipping your own leg. A solid structure will allow you to absorb a heavy strike from your opponent and stay standing, instead of breaking.

Strength

Strength in the legs, hips and core will keep you stay grounded. Strength in these areas will allow you to balance and control your powerful punches and kicks.

Pad work

If you've got a training partner you can practice entering with a strike and retreating on the defense.