trouble with a southpaw

[theranch]

hey sherdog im new here but I was wondering if anyone has some advice for sparring a southpaw under dutch kickboxing(ish) rules-no knees or elbows and only occasionally allowed to use throws.
opponent is a few inches taller than me and about 10-15kg heavier, he comes from a point kickboxing background so is very upright and side on and fights almost exclusively off his back foot.
I tend to rely on push kicks and round kicks to try and maintain distance with limited punches, I have tried working my left foot outside his right to get a dominant angle but still cant land anything.
any help is appreciated

 

[nomilkforsanta]

hey sherdog im new here but I was wondering if anyone has some advice for sparring a southpaw under dutch kickboxing(ish) rules-no knees or elbows and only occasionally allowed to use throws.
opponent is a few inches taller than me and about 10-15kg heavier, he comes from a point kickboxing background so is very upright and side on and fights almost exclusively off his back foot.
I tend to rely on push kicks and round kicks to try and maintain distance with limited punches, I have tried working my left foot outside his right to get a dominant angle but still cant land anything.
any help is appreciated

When you fight a southpaw, for now, focus on 3 things(assuming you are orthodox).

1) limit switch kicks, your main kick will be a right leg body kick
2) make sure you circle to his back and not into his power
3) watch out for a leading cross and hooks.

 

[D1wrestla]

Keep your left foot on the out side of his right foot and use a lot of right leg body kicks. Also in punching combos lead with the right straight.

 

[a guy]

Probably one of the most important things to keep in mind is that your left hand still works.

Keeping the lead foot outside is a good thing to learn for now, but it's a grossly oversimplified and in many cases harmful piece of advice as you advance. Recognize it right now as one aspect of fighting a southpaw, not the key. I laugh every time I see two guys walk to the center of the ring, then walk awkwardly to the side as they both try to step outside.

Retreating towards (past) his power side correctly makes it much harder for him to hit you with his rear, and makes it easier for you to hit him with yours if he chases.

Your left hand still fucking works.

It is much harder to defend kicks that come from the opponent's left when you're orthodox. I recommend a lot of drilling your defense first. If you can't comfortably defend those kicks in drilling, your opponent can spam left kicks to the legs, body and head while you swat and flinch at them. Circling away will only work if you're running and/or he doesn't know how to cut you off.

If your opponent is side on, try a very quick lead leg kick to his hopefully exposed calf, put the foot down outside his and step in with your right hand. If he moves his head, drill it to the solar plexus. A right straight to the body is going to be much easier to land against a guy with his weight back than one to the head.

It's hard to give any actually good advice without seeing the situation. If you feel like posting a video you'll get better help.

 

[theranch]

thanks for the responses guys I will try the concepts/techniques mentioned and see how they go and at some point maybe post a video

 

[DoctorTaco]

As a southpaw, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but here you go: hunt the liver. We fight liver forward, so think about stepping offline and landing your left kick under your opponents right arm. Lead hooks, straight rights to the body- purposely attack the liver.

 

[a guy]

As a southpaw, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but here you go: hunt the liver. We fight liver forward, so think about stepping offline and landing your left kick under your opponents right arm. Lead hooks, straight rights to the body- purposely attack the liver.

Foolish. Brave but foolish.

 

[fightingrabbit]

The best way to fight a southpaw is to kick his ass.

 

[TheFinerDetails]

The best way to fight a southpaw is to kick his ass.

I like this sort of approach. It's generally the best way to fight anyone tbh.

 

[Kanka]

Id mainly use overhand rights and right round kicks

 

[DoctorTaco]

Id mainly use overhand rights and right round kicks

OHR has too far to travel, and most SPs tend to circle away from it. If your looking for SP specific punches, develop an over hand left. Throw it over the jab

 

[SanShou01]

he comes from a point kickboxing background so is very upright and side on and fights almost exclusively off his back foot.

What usually messes up southpaws are other southpaws. In the average gym, there's usually only like 1 or 2 SP's, so they always train vs. orthodox stances and get really used to the open guard. While orthodox hardly ever trains with SP's, so are at a disadvantage. Even more rare is when SP vs SP.

Try going SP vs. him and see what happens. When I switch stance, my power leg is now leading and it's the spamming of fast and stronger sidekicks, used instead of teeps that throws off SP's. But if he's better than you, then that's how it is. Also, if he's from point KB, then probably some Karate joint....which means that he trains both stances, so you may be screwed anyway.

 

[Pope Leo VII]

What usually messes up southpaws are other southpaws. In the average gym, there's usually only like 1 or 2 SP's, so they always train vs. orthodox stances and get really used to the open guard. While orthodox hardly ever trains with SP's, so are at a disadvantage. Even more rare is when SP vs SP.

Try going SP vs. him and see what happens. But if he's better than you, then that's how it is. Also, if he's from point KB, then probably some Karate joint....which means that he trains both stances, so you may be screwed anyway.

Man I love going against a fellow southy.

The switch kick, and rear leg kick are open 24/7

 

[SanShou01]

Man I love going against a fellow southy.

The switch kick, and rear leg kick are open 24/7

Well he's a beginner. As a fighter, I would hope that you train to fight other SP's as your opponent would also do the same. These same kicks would be open to him also.

 

[wallysparx]

1) limit switch kicks, your main kick will be a right leg body kick

I wouldn't limit them, per se. If you pop the switch and land it, you're also in a great position to follow with a cross.

 

[SinkOrSwim]

Probably one of the most important things to keep in mind is that your left hand still works.

Keeping the lead foot outside is a good thing to learn for now, but it's a grossly oversimplified and in many cases harmful piece of advice as you advance. Recognize it right now as one aspect of fighting a southpaw, not the key. I laugh every time I see two guys walk to the center of the ring, then walk awkwardly to the side as they both try to step outside.

Retreating towards (past) his power side correctly makes it much harder for him to hit you with his rear, and makes it easier for you to hit him with yours if he chases.

Your left hand still fucking work.

I'm a southpaw, but I'm not a kickboxer, was a boxer. The original advice I had was keeping the lead foot outside, while its a good general rule - as 'a guy' said its way over simplified. If someone keeps walking around you in one direction its not to hard ot recognise where hell be next (a step to the right from where he was a second ago).