Does anyone fight both stances?

[FadeIntoViolenc]

Curious, if there are any real "switch-hitters" on this forum, that feel comfortable from either stance.

I've always fought/boxed right-hand forward until I started Muay Thai because my right leg is a lot more coordinated, so I changed to orthodox.

But now my left kick is starting to get there too and I'm wondering if I should start drilling off of both stances equally and if it would be beneficial. The thing is my left side is actually STRONGER despite being right-handed, it's just LESS COORDINATED.

Yes, I know footwork is different for a southpaw...

I'm starting pure boxing again too to supplement my Muay Thai's handwork, and I'm going to be boxing solely off of Southpaw.

Thanks

 

[flikerstance]

Ive messed around trying south paw but the way i see it is it took me years to be as fluent as i am now and ide much rather just try to profect 1 stance

 

[KickFromHell]

I suck at throwing right hook when im at orthodox stance. So sometimes I switch my stance for a few seconds... :/

 

[256]

I switch often in fights.

I recommend sticking with one stance until you become comfortable there before switching up.

 

[xilliun]

It's definitely good to be proficient at both southpaw and orthodox. I'll mix it up from time to time, switch southpaw and throw a combo or two and switch back.

 

[ssullivan80]

Personal Opinion, it is not beneficial to try and work from a different stance until you are fundamentally and technically sound in your regular stance, and that applies to both the pads, bags and in sparring. Once you reach that point it is good to periodically train and practice from the opposite stance, not necessarily because you are going to switch stances in sparring/fight, but because sometimes you end up in the opposite stance by default and it is important to be comfortable enough to re-set and maintain composure. As for fighting in the stance opposite your "natural" stance, again I don't think it is very beneficial unless you are at a high enough level to understand why your doing it and how to be effective, even then it is usually a temporary tactic....... I see allot more fighters (pros included) that do more harm than good when they switch away from their "natural" stance. Of course their is exceptions, but generally speaking that is the case.

 

[surfer dude]

We do all our kihon waza both sides; so after years of it, you just get comfortable throwing either way. It is damned handy to try SP on someone, and find you have borked their distance and timing, because they have limited experience against it.

 

[SAAMAG]

Personal Opinion, it is not beneficial to try and work from a different stance until you are fundamentally and technically sound in your regular stance, and that applies to both the pads, bags and in sparring. Once you reach that point it is good to periodically train and practice from the opposite stance, not necessarily because you are going to switch stances in sparring/fight, but because sometimes you end up in the opposite stance by default and it is important to be comfortable enough to re-set and maintain composure. As for fighting in the stance opposite your "natural" stance, again I don't think it is very beneficial unless you are at a high enough level to understand why your doing it and how to be effective, even then it is usually a temporary tactic....... I see allot more fighters (pros included) that do more harm than good when they switch away from their "natural" stance. Of course their is exceptions, but generally speaking that is the case.

Hit the nail IMO. I used to fight southpaw the majority of my life till I was about 25, where I was forced to switch to orthodox due to an injury. Now I can effectively fight from both. Though I only go to southpaw now (consciously anyway) of I see opportunities for the lead right hook.

 

[Doughbelly]

But now my left kick is starting to get there too and I'm wondering if I should start drilling off of both stances equally and if it would be beneficial. The thing is my left side is actually STRONGER despite being right-handed, it's just LESS COORDINATED.

Is is natural for many righties to develop better left side kicks. This can pay out in the long run even if you remain orthodox.

For most people who develop this way, the difficult is developing a natural southpaw upper body. Most people who try this end up with a low/lazy right hand, over rotated/bent upper body hooks and a weak left straight.

OTOH, you said you are a natural southpaw so this might be worth developing for you.

What do you trainers/coaches think?

On coordination, this is often a function of the pad holder. Most people, including professional trainers, favor orthodox and are themselves slightly awkward when doing pad work with a southpaw. Try working with a southpaw trainer and some people will feel suddenly more natural and coordinated in their kicking. Attacking a stance that is mutually open as opposed to mutually closed can feel awkward at first.

That said, you should probably stick with orthodox until you're fully comfortable before taking off after a wild hare.

 

[mjw1]

It's always good to be somewhat decent in your off side because you never know exactly how you will end up in combat....

 

[Byrd]

IMO, your footwork is most important. Whichever way you are more comfortable and able to move around better is the way you should fight, regardless of your dominant side. 99% will go naturally to their dominant side, but some are backwards. One good way to tell is to stand with you feet side by side about shoulder width apart and have someone push your chest back. whichever foot goes back naturally, is usually the one that should be in the back for you.

 

[SAAMAG]

IMO, your footwork is most important. Whichever way you are more comfortable and able to move around better is the way you should fight, regardless of your dominant side. 99% will go naturally to their dominant side, but some are backwards. One good way to tell is to stand with you feet side by side about shoulder width apart and have someone push your chest back. whichever foot goes back naturally, is usually the one that should be in the back for you.

What happens when someone pushes you a number of times to test the theory and you stepped back with both feet in equal instances?

 

[barnowl]

What happens when someone pushes you a number of times to test the theory and you stepped back with both feet in equal instances?

Then your an ambi , or you have had a lot practice on both sides.

My MT coach taught/practiced a switch hitting style of MT. He always fought from the opposing stance to yours and taught us to do much the same thing. That has rubbed of on me and I am about as comfortable in either stance, to point I don't really think about which one I am using.

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

I've VERY comfortable switching stances. In fact, I've began to feel better with my power hand in the front.

 

[RealDealSteele]

I fight both sides a lot. My trainer also started me off using both sides too.

 

[WarriorWill]

I started training about 3 months ago and from day 1 I was tought to work both sides. I think it helps working both from the ground up.

 

[MMABullrider]

When I was wrestling, I used to switch stance depending upon my opponent. I've always been very comfortable in either stance, so it was an advantage to either be able to match up toe to toe with a STRONG lefty, or to be able to mess with a RIGHTY's head by swapping step on him (if a guy ONLY circles one direction, you can totally de-rail his game by swapping stance and pushing him in the other direction).

So naturally, I like to train kickboxing both ways. My instructor is a 23-0 Brazilian national kickboxing champion and pro MMA fighter, and he has us train half and half, never favoring one side or the other. He teaches us to stay in one stance until we INTENTIONALLY switch, but he says it's important to be proficient with both stances.

If for no other reason, consider Faber vs. Brown, when Urijah broke his hand... If a guy breaks his right hand, he can use an orthodox stance to deliver jabs, followed by weaker right hand strikes in his combos, then swap stance and use lighter, ranging jabs to lead the power from the "healthy" left hand.

One example of my own experience with the benefit of training both ways... From orthodox, I threw a head kick, but dropped my right hand too far, and got stung by a hard right cross. I failed to recoil the kick, so I stepped directly down into south-paw stance, in WAY too short of range for comfort after taking a bell-ringer. But since I trained lefty so much, my auto-pilot took over and my right hand snapped back up and started jabbing as I circled away. A few steps coupled with a double right jab, left cross, and left angle kick and I dropped back into orthodox stance... With my bearings back in tact. To me, I felt like having the south-paw competency right then meant the difference in going strictly defensive and scrambling to avoid getting my ass kicked, OR throwing a few lefty strikes and getting my shit together and getting back in the game.

 

[boboplata***]

i only switch stances when i go for takedowns. i love my right hook but my left straight fucking sucks, so i stopped fighting southpaw when i intend to strike. i only mix things up to make my spar mates think that i'm going for the takedown.

 

[IronFistDragon]

My counter punching is much better southpaw, My kick are better othro, setting up for takedowns is about equal. I spend alot of time in clinch range where it does not matter.

 

[lparnes]

i do both southpaw when im light sparring and orthodox on high contact sparring.