cfr Posted August 17, 2004 Posted August 17, 2004 Howdy all. First post here. Looks pretty cool. Anyways, Ive been @ a particular school for a year now. A combination of Muay Thai, JKD, and FMA. I like it alot. But it will still be another year and a half till I can spar. Long story, thats just the way he does it. Anyways, Im pretty good at and like the Muay Thai part of it so I was think of going to a real MT school. Now heres my dilema. Im left handed. So by default, I fight with my left leg back. But at the school Ive been at for the last year, we fight with our strong side forward. Meaning Ive been training like a right handed person for the last year. (right leg back) So, now that Im going to just an MT school, should I switch back to southpaw stance? I dont really want to cause its a pain, but will I be missing out of being a southpaw in MT? Are there any advantages to it. Its taken alot of work, but my right cross is probably almost as powerful now as my left was. Plus Ive got a stong left jab because of it being my strong hand. So, do you more experienced MT guys think I would have an edge if I went back to fighting with my left leg back? Would it not matter? Be a disadvantage? Thanks.
kbgirl Posted August 17, 2004 Posted August 17, 2004 Wow! I can't believe you have had to train with your less dominant side back... that sounds strange to me. That said, I think if you feel comfortable fighting that way, you could keep it up... my suggestion would be to learn MT in your most comfortable stance. Once you're comfortable with the techniques, change it up and become proficient using both sides! I'm right handed and I HATE fighting lefties... it takes a whole different mindset and set of techniques to be effective against a south paw, and if you haven't trained that way, the south-paw will have the advantage (as most of the people you'd spar with would be right handed). The thing is, you'll be used to it, but many of your opponents won't be, unless their training partner is a lefty. If you can get good at both sides, you'd have it made... just MHO. Rank: Low-Black
4thkyu Posted August 18, 2004 Posted August 18, 2004 Hi, Iam a current student of Shotokan and have also studied Shorin-Ryu. I too am a southpaw. I also have been an amauter kickboxer, back in the 80's when the PKA was still active. I've had approximately 11 fights. Being a lefty isn't a disavantage but to a traditional fighter(righty) all the attacks come from a different angle. If you fight a righty you have noticed you are moving towards his job and away from his power, not to mean the job isn't powerful, but you see what I mean. If you can however use both sides equally well, you would have an advantage over ony normal righty or lefty. We normally favour one side or the other. As in any dojo you should strive to perfect all aspects of your training and if you can perfect both sides equally, I would consider that a good thing. Lefty / Righty its all a matter of how you see yourself. don't sell yourself short on being a southpaw. There are a bunch of us out there......
cfr Posted August 18, 2004 Author Posted August 18, 2004 Wow! I can't believe you have had to train with your less dominant side back... that sounds strange to me. Pretty common I guess for JKD and FMA.
SevenStar Posted August 18, 2004 Posted August 18, 2004 by having the dominant side back, he's in tune with the jkd principle of having your strongest weapons closest to the opponent. by having the weaker ones back, he's making them stronger in a sense, as they have more distance to travel and generate power. it's backwards from the thai method, but different strokes for different folks, right?
kbgirl Posted August 18, 2004 Posted August 18, 2004 Thanks! Learned something new today Rank: Low-Black
Vito Posted August 21, 2004 Posted August 21, 2004 what i would do if i were you is train both ways (its just more versatility, and if you have to chase someone with two kicks, what better way to do it.) with that, youll probably find you like one more than the other as you progress. "If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." -Machiavelli
valetudoisbest Posted August 23, 2004 Posted August 23, 2004 on a boxing note, the double edged sword of being switch from your opponent is your angled perfectly to catch the rear power hand in a cross or straight punch, and i assume its the same w/ a kick so watch for those especially look at me, i can dance, i know tae kwon do!
gdrum Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 Hi. I'm a left handed fighter also. I've been training muay thai for 16 years. When I first started training, I usually fought in a right lead stance because it was more natural for me as a lefty, but once I started sparring more, I discovered that I could counter more effectively when standing the same as my opponent. So I began training in both stances, but now I prefer to fight in a left lead stance. One advantage you will have is being able to quickly develop a devastating jab w/ your left hand as your lead. Greg
valetudoisbest Posted August 25, 2004 Posted August 25, 2004 Hi. I'm a left handed fighter also. I've been training muay thai for 16 years. When I first started training, I usually fought in a right lead stance because it was more natural for me as a lefty, but once I started sparring more, I discovered that I could counter more effectively when standing the same as my opponent. So I began training in both stances, but now I prefer to fight in a left lead stance. One advantage you will have is being able to quickly develop a devastating jab w/ your left hand as your lead. Greg do you really think that dominant/recessive hand makes that much of a difference in your snap punches? especially a jab?? i think u can train both hands to be equally as powerful on snap punches, cuz its more speed than stiffness the other thing is, when u throw a REAL rear power hand, like the kind they teach in boxing more than MT, your recessive hand can't handle the impact on solid objects (say a big heavy dude's chest) as well, its a real ez way to injure urself permanently look at me, i can dance, i know tae kwon do!
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