Fight Stances

[Jag-Isshinryu]

I have a sparring class coming up this Thursday, and as I went over some basics and techniques in my basement, I started paying more attention to how I held myself and the specifics of my sparring stances.

 

Do you have a particular stance you assume for sparring or fighting?

 

Does it reflect your style/discipline, or is it wholly you?

 

Personally, I've come to adapting a neko ashi dachi (cat stance) or teiji dachi hanmi (raised-heel T-stance) for a lot of sparring lately. My Sensei noticed it first, remarking on how odd it was, but it seems to work for me. Otherwise I use the traditional parallel foot fighting stance, with my hands en guarde, fist and knuckles canted forward, as if to grab.

 

Now that I've noticed it, I seem to devote a lot of time thinking about stances and their impact on my sparring.

 

Thoughts, observations, or comments?

[Kicks]

Thoughts, observations, or comments?

 

I have an thought to think about. If you are describing what I know as a cat stance in Korean TKD terms, then your forward heel is raised and your weight is 70% on your rear leg. This would indicate a front leg fighter. Is that typical in your style?

 

I know some people who are front leg fighter, using their front leg for over 75% of their kicks. I find it fairly to defend against them since they are reasonably predictable.

 

To use the rear leg you would have to transfer your weight to your front leg. A well seasoned fighter would catch that movement and either launch an offensive counter or move out of range of the foreseen kick.

 

However, you did say it works well for you. Can you explain how? YOu might have a few tricks up your sleeve I can use!

[ShotokanKid]

I like the regular fighting stance, but I also use neko-hatchi-dachi so I can quickly kick off the front leg.

 

(cat stance)

[Jag-Isshinryu]

What you're describing sounds just like our cat stance, Kicks, and you raise an interesting point. You're right, a seasoned fighter would interpret a front-kicking opponent from my stance, but it makes a feint to start the fight off with.

 

You can even go so far as to feint a front kick, but turn it into a jump kick if you think you could get away with it, or drop the foot to slide forward, or apply a spinning backfist if you're any good at it.

 

With the sparring partners I've had (aside from the best blackbelts we have, who have 15+ years of experience for the most part), feints have proven to be especially effective, so I tried to adapt that into my stances and techniques. This might be impractical, that I may be growing too familiar with something that won't work anywhere else.

[cross]

The stance i use as my "starting point" is similar to the boxing stance (hands in a fist or open during sparring and open when doing scenario drills). From there my stance changes based on the techniques im performing.

Edited April 16, 2005 by cross

[markusan]

A relaxed boxing stance heels on the ground weight on the front balls weight a bit towards the back foot so the front leg is ready to shin check the thigh or knee kick. I do TKD where we don't do leg kicks but I have a few training buddies from karate and kick boxing who like hamering the outside thigh. I like keeping my heel on the ground for an extra point of balance. I feel much more balanced that way specially bobbing under a hook or a high spinning kick. But again with more weight on the front inside balls.

[italian_guy]

My fighting is stance is pretty standard: foot spaced a little more then an ordinary step, feet pointing forward, (in left stance) left harm forward elbow bent 100 to 150 degrees, right hand in a fist at half-sternum level (I had to change this from my kickboxing practice before I use to keep my right hand at jaw level an my forward harm bent 90 degees or less).

[isshinryu5toforever]

My stances tend to be neutral. I stay slightly on the balls of my feet, I don't bounce like they do in TKD. I tend to stand either a bit tall, or I put a little more bend in my knees and drop my weight a bit. Although others may not notice this, I do, that when my weight is down more I tend to punch more. Only slightly however, I still keep about a 65/35 split. When my weight is a little more up, I tend to kick just a hair more at about a 60/40 punch to kick split. When I spar for my TKD team this number is more like 10/90 punch to kick. Of course, this is accounting for the rules.

[karatekid1975]

Thoughts, observations, or comments?

 

I have an thought to think about. If you are describing what I know as a cat stance in Korean TKD terms, then your forward heel is raised and your weight is 70% on your rear leg. This would indicate a front leg fighter. Is that typical in your style?

 

I know some people who are front leg fighter, using their front leg for over 75% of their kicks. I find it fairly to defend against them since they are reasonably

 

I used the "cat" stance in the past. And I was a front leg fighter. You are the first person I heard say that, Kicks LOL. I mean, about the front leg fighters being predictable, specially being a TKD guy. I learned to kick/fight off my front leg in TSD, and when I use it in TKD, it throws people off. I guess they're not used to someone using it. Because they don't "train" like that. Not here, that is.

 

Anyway, back to the topic. Now I use more of a neutral stance. Since I tend to fight with both legs equally now, the "neutral" stance makes it easier for me to do so.

[tkdBill]

I don't like using traditional stances because they tend to be too fixed and rigid. I like to be light on my feet and able to move or kick with either foot quickly.

 

I keep my feet parallel and turned about 45 degrees. By keeping a fairly narrow stance, with both feet right under me, I don't have to shift my weight or skip to launch a fast kick with either leg. I stay on the balls of my feet so I can move easily and quickly. I don't like to be a stationary target.

 

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