Judoka of Sherdog I have a question.

Crimson Glory

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Had a thought last night. Given the first hand that comes into contact with an opponent in an othordox Boxing stance is your left one, is it more efficient, with your left foot already being forward to learn throws left handed?

Bit of a noobish question, just thought it made a bit of sense and wanted to get the opinions of the Judoka on here.

Im right handed naturally, but Ive never done any formal grappling training.
 
If you are an experienced striker and you're learning grappling with the intention of eventually training or fighting MMA, you should definitely grapple from the same stance as you strike. If you have no interest in MMA, it really doesn't matter. In general in grappling you want your power side forward, but it's less important as all the moves are full body techniques and there's not this big issue of power differential as there is with a jab vs. a cross.
 
If you are an experienced striker and you're learning grappling with the intention of eventually training or fighting MMA, you should definitely grapple from the same stance as you strike. If you have no interest in MMA, it really doesn't matter. In general in grappling you want your power side forward, but it's less important as all the moves are full body techniques and there's not this big issue of power differential as there is with a jab vs. a cross.
I have no intention of doing pro MMA, maybe amateur. Im just wondering which would blend the styles best to make me more efficient when striking at range and when I get close where I can throw.
 
I have no intention of doing pro MMA, maybe amateur. Im just wondering which would blend the styles best to make me more efficient when striking at range and when I get close where I can throw.

It matters less for Judo than wrestling (because you have to clinch to throw with Judo so you usually end up squaring your stance somewhat anyway), but for efficiency going from striking to throwing definitely lead with the same foot.
 
It matters less for Judo than wrestling (because you have to clinch to throw with Judo so you usually end up squaring your stance somewhat anyway), but for efficiency going from striking to throwing definitely lead with the same foot.
Gotcha.
 
In wrestling, you usually lead with your dominant side. I learned to wrestle backwards, because I started boxing first and was already used to standing left foot forward.

When I started Judo I used to unintentionally switch stances because they both felt equally natural (which led to being awkward and getting thrown a lot). My coach made me pick a stance to stick with and develop from. With both sides feeling equal, he suggested I stand left foot forward, as stylistically it would pose more of a problem for right sided players, I guess similar to left landed pitchers or something.

My jiu jitsu coach did the opposite, and since he wrestled right foot forward, learned to box southpaw, both because it already felt natural, and because it would pose a stylistic problem in striking matches for most.

Sidenote: If you force yourself to learn to pass to your right, you will give guard players fits in jiu jitsu, especially half guard players.
 
In wrestling, you usually lead with your dominant side. I learned to wrestle backwards, because I started boxing first and was already used to standing left foot forward.

When I started Judo I used to unintentionally switch stances because they both felt equally natural (which led to being awkward and getting thrown a lot). My coach made me pick a stance to stick with and develop from. With both sides feeling equal, he suggested I stand left foot forward, as stylistically it would pose more of a problem for right sided players, I guess similar to left landed pitchers or something.

My jiu jitsu coach did the opposite, and since he wrestled right foot forward, learned to box southpaw, both because it already felt natural, and because it would pose a stylistic problem in striking matches for most.

Sidenote: If you force yourself to learn to pass to your right, you will give guard players fits in jiu jitsu, especially half guard players.
Interesting. I'm the opposite because I'm just learning to strike. So my coach is making me stand southpaw striking. It feels so weird to throw a left cross.

Regarding your sidenote. I trained with Robert Drysdale and near the end of the Q&A he said the best advice he could give all of us "that he bet none of us would do" would be to pass to the right. Or at least to try it sometimes.

He said people aren't used to playing on their left hip besides DLR and that sometimes even trying a pass to the right can work the first time because they aren't expecting it.

Do you think it's better to be good at all passes equally on both sides? Or do you go with that Marcelo philosophy of having a pass you can do well on both sides (even if it's not the same pass)?
 
Interesting. I'm the opposite because I'm just learning to strike. So my coach is making me stand southpaw striking. It feels so weird to throw a left cross.

Regarding your sidenote. I trained with Robert Drysdale and near the end of the Q&A he said the best advice he could give all of us "that he bet none of us would do" would be to pass to the right. Or at least to try it sometimes.

He said people aren't used to playing on their left hip besides DLR and that sometimes even trying a pass to the right can work the first time because they aren't expecting it.

Do you think it's better to be good at all passes equally on both sides? Or do you go with that Marcelo philosophy of having a pass you can do well on both sides (even if it's not the same pass)?

I have passes to the right and the left. This mostly developed because people may shut down my preferred left side pass opening up the right to something else. The same hold true with standing pressure passes (knee slice) opening up movement passes (x pass).
 
Do you think it's better to be good at all passes equally on both sides? Or do you go with that Marcelo philosophy of having a pass you can do well on both sides (even if it's not the same pass)?

If your object is to win competitions, the only thing that matters is having a technique that works when you need it to. It may well require less of an investment from you to develop an effective technique that attacks your opponents' "bad" side. All the top guys have a go-to move in every position and orientation, but it's only sometimes the same thing on both sides. I've never seen anyone really care about doing the same technique with perfect left/right symmetry except for aesthetic or pedagogical reasons. Some will actively advocate NOT doing both sides because doing so splits your reps and robs you of an incremental advantage you could develop on a single side.

I enjoy the idea of being ambidextrous, but then I'm not a serious competitor. YMMV.
 
Drysdale is the man.

"Do you think it's better to be good at all passes equally on both sides? Or do you go with that Marcelo philosophy of having a pass you can do well on both sides (even if it's not the same pass)?"

Of course being good at all passes equally on both sides would be ideal, but it is not realistic. You have a dominant side, that is going to fit in with the flow of your overall game, and like it or not you will develop preference towards a particular pass in a certain direction.
What Marcelo says makes sense (obviously) but you can take it a step farther. Personally, I am comfortable cutting and doing torreando style passing to my left side, as I primarily move that way, and when they defend, I switch directions and will usually respond with a more smash/stack style pass when going to my right, especially against the spider guard variations. But if I primarily passed to my right, the entire process would be easier, just by virtue of attacking a common weak point for my opponents.

If you gear your training and make it a point to attack to the right, you'll be better served competitively, because like Drysdale said, most people are uncomfortable on their hip that way and haven't gotten reps of from that side of their guard to the degree of which they are comfortable. Especially half guard, where you are committed so heavily to one side.
 
Interesting. I'm the opposite because I'm just learning to strike. So my coach is making me stand southpaw striking. It feels so weird to throw a left cross.

Regarding your sidenote. I trained with Robert Drysdale and near the end of the Q&A he said the best advice he could give all of us "that he bet none of us would do" would be to pass to the right. Or at least to try it sometimes.

He said people aren't used to playing on their left hip besides DLR and that sometimes even trying a pass to the right can work the first time because they aren't expecting it.

Do you think it's better to be good at all passes equally on both sides? Or do you go with that Marcelo philosophy of having a pass you can do well on both sides (even if it's not the same pass)?

For years I passed to the left like everyone else, in 2012 when I moved to a new school my coach only passed right and it messed with me so bad that I started doing it. It really does make a huge difference in how comfortable people are trying to defend the pass.

Incidentally, my guard game is pretty different left side and right because for years I only had to worry about my coaching passing right, so on that side my whole game is basically anti-my coach.
 
Had a thought last night. Given the first hand that comes into contact with an opponent in an othordox Boxing stance is your left one, is it more efficient, with your left foot already being forward to learn throws left handed?

Bit of a noobish question, just thought it made a bit of sense and wanted to get the opinions of the Judoka on here.

Im right handed naturally, but Ive never done any formal grappling training.

You will have a harder time learning your opposite side.

Also, typically a right hander would lead with his left foot, then switch to right foot forward after gripping. So it's no problem in MMA either to go from boxing distance to clinch.
 
You will have a harder time learning your opposite side.

Also, typically a right hander would lead with his left foot, then switch to right foot forward after gripping. So it's no problem in MMA either to go from boxing distance to clinch.
Even if ive never grappled before?

I remember when I tried out archery i learned to shoot left handed and it felt fine. After awhile the idea of shooting right hand was alien too me.
 
Even if ive never grappled before?

I remember when I tried out archery i learned to shoot left handed and it felt fine. After awhile the idea of shooting right hand was alien too me.

I don't have proof or experience, but I think it will be harder than archery because of higher complexity and precision required.
 

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