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Dempsey’s Falling Step, Battle-Axes & “The Enemy Line” by Mark Hatmaker

 


[Best consumed with the blog entry Men That Gave Jack Dempsey Pause & An Education and for the actual visual detailed how-to’s see Timber Beast & Mucker “Rail Fighting.” For a podcast episode on the topic.]

Any thrower of hands is likely familiar with Jack Dempsey’s “Falling Step”, that bit of “controlled unbalancing” he [and many an early fighter] used to stack power into forward driven punches.

The Falling Step is not a mere stamping of the foot ala show-wrestling ballyhoo theatrics; that is, there is more to the Falling Step than the falling forward aspect.

Dempsey’s Falling step was informed by his background as a Mining Mucker, and brief forays into lumberjacking. He makes no claims as to having invented the Faling Step, in fact, he is open and up front about its origins in the Lumberjack Milieu and the spice of pickaxe work among Muckers.

[Again, I heartily encourage you to see the aforementioned material to really seat what follows. Men That Gave Jack Dempsey Pause & An Education & Timber Beast & Mucker “Rail Fighting”.]

In Lumberjack milieu the Falling Step is sometimes rendered as the Felling Step, these terms are interchangeable and refer to the tactic of adding snapping end-of-arc power to an axe swing.

This is the exact same concept that Dempsey and fellow fighters from these working milieus used to inform their fighting styles.

A blending of the work mechanics of one endeavor with the combative pragmatics of another.

There are Four Broad Phases of an Optimum Axe Swing.

These phases are seen in lumberjacking, Viking Battle-Axe Combat, and, as for today’s focus, the Falling Step used by Dempsey and other fighters of his era.

[For a nitty-gritty devil-in-the details instructional on historically accurate Battle-Axe Tactics, see our product Battle-Axe Secrets.]



One Piece of the Larger Puzzle

Four Broad Phases of an axe-swing, let us take one aspect of one of these phases in exploded detail to start getting a handle on just how well thought out Falling Steps, Mucker Rolls, and other work-to-combat attributes were.

The Facing Offset aka “The Enemy Line”

In good lateral axe work, lateral and diagonal chop mechanics duplicate.

We are not discussing swing mechanics here, that is a topic unto itself, here we focus on the Facing Offset to seat the idea of how beautifully complex and how devastatingly detailed for power true Falling Steps are.

To Lumberjacks, Muckers, and boxers of the Dempsey School, it was not just about the Falling Step, it was about “Enemy Placement.”

In Lumberjacking….

·        The Off-Foot is Forward, that is a right-handed axe-swing is usually performed with the left foot forward.

The Timber-Beast stands on “Train Tracks”, that is, they perform an “earth dig” to root the power-base. [Muckers have a similar tactic—these are all discussed and demonstrated on Timber Beast & Mucker “Rail Fighting”.]

What comes next is key…

·        The Enemy Line or Facing Offset Follows the Outside Blade of the Lead Foot.

·        That is, rather than position square to the tree to be felled as many an amateur chopper does…

·        A mental line is drawn from the side of the tree to be chopped to the outside edge of the lead foot.

·        This lead foot DOES NOT cross this line.

·        Facing Offset allows you to maximize power rather than having a fore-shortened swing.

·        You want to find power at the position of maximum arc and not cut-off your swing by poor Offset Positioning.

·        This rule holds for trees or Battle-Axe Combat—Moreso for Battle Axe Combat as…

·        We need quicker Recovery of the Axe when facing a Combatant for defensive work or our next offense.

·        Better Protection vs. An Enemy as we have denied them our centerline while chopping their centerline.

·        Misses are Deflected Outward or Upward not into you.

·        Offset Footwork, that is Battle Axe on the move, is merely a matter of shifting the Enemy Line

·        Repeat: Your Opponent [or tree] is NEVER between your feet.

The Boxer’s Caveat

Felling Step/Falling Step mechanics and Facing Offsets, Enemy Lines, and all the other occupation informed tactics that fuel Dempsey style power are slightly altered for the Ring and Street.

That is, there is a Facing Offset in the ring just as there is on a huge jack pine to be felled, or an axe wielding berserker before you but…the Facing Offsets differ in key regards in the ring version. Hit the Ring offset in the forest, and you’ll exhaust yourself on that tree.

Hit the timber beast offset in the ring and you’ll open yourself to be countered.

So, what are the Facing Offsets and Felling Step alterations for the ring?

Well, that’s plenty of free milk for now.

For all the nitty-gritty you’ll have to buy the cow.

Again, see these resources for beaucoup info.

[Best consumed with the blog entry Men That Gave Jack Dempsey Pause & An Education and for the actual visual detailed how-to’s see Timber Beast & Mucker “Rail Fighting”. For a podcast episode on the topic.]

Or consider joining our Black Box Brotherhood Subscription Service. You’ll notice this cadre gets all this privileged info for an approximate half the price plus many other premiums. See details below.

Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life

The Black Box Store

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast



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