WCL TALK

chesterbound01 · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 48

My wrestling stance is right foot forward, I seem to have more mobility (a little more) when working from that stance and I kick better with that leg forward. My punching is much stronger with my left foot forward (traditional stance) and I am right handed. I have just been working both stances equally but should I focus on one more than the other?

Thanks for any help.

chesterbound01 · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 48

P.S. Not a pro or anything just asking for self-defense purposes.

STEAMROLLER · Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 59 Location: Momence, IL

Very good question my friend that requires a great deal of thought. There have been several studies done on this topic that have different opinions. Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune-Do teaches to lead with the strong dominant hand forward. Bruce was a firm believer in this. Most Traditional Styles spend years developing their techniques from both sides. Repetition over time makes this effective and allows them to attack from different angles with many looks. This can confuse your opponent and make openings. You see this much less in Kickboxing, Boxing, and Muay-Thai. Fighters that switch stances a lot have to be able to defend from both stances. This means switching from using one side of your brain to another in an instant. This is difficult while under stress and being attacked or countered. I believe in staying in an orthodox stance at least until you master your defensive techniques and striking abilities. Personal preference most definitely comes into play on this subject also. The link below has a good article done on this subject, it is also a cool site. I also cut and pasted a section of it for you to read.

Sincerely, Michael “Steamroller” Dean

"There are two schools of thought on which stance a fighter should take.

1. A fighter should lead with his dominant hand and follow up with the off hand. The premise is to fire off the dominant hand more times than the off hand.

2. A fighter should lead with the off hand and follow up with the dominant hand. The premise is to use the dominant hand to score a clean shot on reacting target.

One thing that is often over looked is that people are not simply left or right handed. They are left or right sided. When a person has to lean to one side to read the tags in a filing cabinet, the choice is not random. Right handed people prefer to lean to the right and left handed people to the left.

Besides the hands, sidedness is most apparent in the eyes. A right handed person will use his right eye to peek through a hole in a fence or peer through a telescope. A lefty taking a picture will used his left eye to aim with the camera and use his right hand [no choice] to push the button.

A simple test you can do right now is to form a ring with your thumb and index finger on each hand. Line up both rings and look through them [both eyes open] at an object on your desk or nearby. Close your left eye. Close your right eye. When you close the dominant eye, the rings will shift position.

Both eyes work together to give us vision, but each eye works differently. The dominant eye targets the object and the off eye adds depth. Although a visit to the eye doctor may suggest that peripheral vision is equal in both eyes, the can-you-see-my-finger test doesn't take into account that the off eye is by nature preoccupied with what the dominant eye has targeted. To illustrate, think of the roles each windshield wiper plays. The driver's side of the windshield is clear while the top corner of the passenger side is untouched.

Now let's return to the two choices of stance. A fighter who opts to put his dominant hand forward is also putting his dominant eye forward. In terms of offense, it is a sound strategy. In terms of defense, however, some questions begin to surface. The strike you don't see is the one that does the most damage. If a fighter is going to get blindsided, he will certainly want to roll with the strike. Depending on the stance, the blindsided fighter will either roll into the arc [belly side] or roll out of the arc [back side]. Structurally, the fighter can bend further forward than backward. "

www.centralkickboxing.org/Articles/damn_there_are_a_lot_of_southpaws.htm

http://www.centralkickboxing.org/Articles/damn_there_are_a_lot_of_southpaws.htm
_________________
Steamroller by definition: A crushing force especially when ruthlessly applied to overcome opposition. A massive relentless force that seems to crush everything in it's way!

STEAMROLLER · Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 59 Location: Momence, IL

[quote="chesterbound01"]P.S. Not a pro or anything just asking for self-defense purposes.[/quote]

For self-defense purposes I would recommend working different stances and developing the ability to defend from all angles. In a defensive situation, you can’t always get into the position of your choice. Self-defense is much different than squaring off and doing battle. Defense to attacks must be burned in and be very reflexive in order to work under an attack from someone that shows no sign of what they are about to do. There is a big difference between any type of Ring Sport and Self-defense. Ring sports have rules. This is the first thing that comes to mind for me anyway.

Sincerely, Michael “Steamroller” Dean
_________________
Steamroller by definition: A crushing force especially when ruthlessly applied to overcome opposition. A massive relentless force that seems to crush everything in it's way!

chesterbound01 · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 48

Thanks for the input. I enjoyed the article you posted too.