Is it smart to change stances depending on what I plan to do?

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by GoldShifter, May 26, 2013.

  1. GoldShifter

    GoldShifter The MachineGun Roundhouse

    Alright guys, well here's my question. Is it smart to change stances depending on what I am planning on doing?

    Let me elaborate a bit for you guys, at the school I'm at, we compete in tournaments where point fighting is kind of necessary, in class we sometimes do point fighting, and sometimes we just go toe to toe or just brawling. When I point fight, I right leg lead because my right leg is faster than my left leg in a front leg roundhouse. That goes without saying my right leg is BIGGER than my left leg. (It looks so awkward wearing shorts, its un noticeable at first, until you look for longer than 4 seconds. :p) I can get my kicks up really fast on that right leg lead. As I said before in other posts, and in my title/description/thing I'm a kicker, and having that right leg lead is very important, it gives me a good balance of a good amount of speed, power and accuracy.

    Now that all fine and dandy, but what I want to know is, when I'm planning on brawling, I usually go orthodox left leg lead, etc, because it allows me to set up for that Machine Gun Roundhouse. I also get more power off my right straights and hooks. I'm a righty. My left front leg roundhouses are fast, they just don't have the stopping power I want that I would be willing to stick to a left leg lead, and commit to that lead. Also my left leg BACK LEG roundhouse isn't good enough that I would commit to a right leg lead for when we go toe to toe because I want to have the option of throwing my back leg roundhouse that would have an equivalent amount of stopping power as my right.

    Should I just practice the left leg lead, and then work on my roundhouses, and just get that down because I have the option of getting some harder hand techniques, or should I just keep switching stances depending on the situation?

    I'm more leaning toward the left leg lead because it gives me more options, but I'm not very comfortable taking a left leg lead, when I'm a kicker and where speed (and an appropriate amount of power) is heavily emphasized in point fighting. Which is why I'm turning to you MAP, after wrestling with this question for so long, I just want to know what you guys think.

    I know you generally, the feeling is that point fighting is looked down upon, but man the way point fighting works in our league, is that you can't just touch first, you have to have a clean solid first hit. There was once this whole team of European point fighters at one tournament I was working at, and these guys did ducking jabs. Absolutely no power, and I think they went ballistic because nobody called their points, but the judges were told to not give points to black belts or high colors, (brown, brown/blk, student black), if they were just touches. It isn't your stereotypical point fighting where the first point is the first one to touch, regardless of power. Just putting that out there because I know there are some of you guys that aren't very fond of point fighting for that reason.


    Thank you for your time :D
     
  2. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    Do you want to get better at point fighting or brawling? Either way one will have to suffer as they're different in many ways from each other.
     
  3. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    I'm a naturally right-handed right lead for much the same reasons you are. (Coming from a style in which the dominant hand leads.) And I came from taekwondo originally, so I WAS predominantly a kicker. (Emphasis of taekwondo coupled with long legs and a predisposition for NOT wanting to mix it up at close range.)

    So I had to make similar decisions. To me, the trick isn't to switch stances. It gives the other guy too much information. To me, the trick is simply to pick one or the other and then get to work on making the adjustments you need to make. For me, I went with the right lead for everything (not that I was ever much of a point fighter).

    What that meant was that I had to develop my left cross, lead hooks and uppercuts, left-leg round kick, and (most importantly to me) lead-leg switch kicks (that bit of footwork you see from Southeast Asian boxing styles, where the lead leg momentarily drops back into sort of the rear position before kicking, to generate more power.
     
  4. Hive

    Hive Valued Member

    Have you considered working your legs at a gym to bulk to a point where their power is much more even?
     
  5. GoldShifter

    GoldShifter The MachineGun Roundhouse

    I've also started to work on my switch kicks to help compensate when I have a right leg lead. I've also tried to do the low back leg roundhouse with the left leg, and then twisting my hips to throw a back leg roundhouse with my right leg in the air.

    I started kicking because when I was still an underbelt, the guys I had to go against were usually bigger and bulkier and going toe to toe would not be the greatest experience. I compensated by started to kick more. I didn't want to go into a punching war when that would be a disadvantage. If I can help it, I pick when I strike, and kicking gives me the room to make that decision. Especially having a smaller frame, it is nice to be able to decide things like that.

    I've been planning on going to the gym, except I've been kind of hesitant to get a membership because of the cost. I'm thinking of going to costco and buying their two year thing for 24 hour fitness, where it equates to about $.50 a day, which isn't to bad considering their monthly gym memberships at 24 go for more. It's just a matter of the commitment for me, especially since i'll be heading off to college next year, I'm not sure I can keep going to the gym and I'm worried about wasting the money that was spent. I will probably end up getting one though, since my doctor recommended it also for me, (just because she wants me to do some lifting) and because I would be able to work out with my friends, and going with friends, for me atleast, is much funner than going by yourself. Atleast you can have a spotter.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2013
  6. bodyshot

    bodyshot Brown Belt Zanshin Karate

    Well first off let me clear up the record here I dont really look down on point fighting. And in my own kinda limited experience in the "ring" I found that most fighters have some techniques they like better than others and some techniques they are better at than others, the issue isn't really that though in my opnion because every body even the pros have that issue.

    The issue is
    1. your fight plan
    2. how well it fits you
    3. how well you stick to it
    4. foot work to set up those big unorthodox shots you have.

    That's my opnion though and im not a pro trainer, you should always be working on stuff you arnt good at its called therapy ok, and if your kicks need it its called kick therapy and all your bad kicks should be getting hours of it.
     
  7. Zinowor

    Zinowor Moved on

    I recommend watching this video to anyone who has a preference to kick in spars and whatnot.

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82wVvqSM8dA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82wVvqSM8dA[/ame]

    He is one of the best heavyweight kickers ever and there is a lot you can learn from him, his footwork is especially good. I believe he started out with TKD as well.
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2013
  8. YouKnowWho

    YouKnowWho Valued Member

    You have to ask yourself, Should I try to be "very good" on oneside, or should I try to be "average good" on both sides?

    We all know that to master both side will be the best option, but do we truly have that time and luxury to do so in our life time?
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2013

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