UFC Style Stances

[Aces Red]

I was wondering, why is it most MMA fighters fight from a forward fighting stance, but not a cat or course stance? I was also gandering, are there any martial arts competitions which allow different stances to be used, but with a rule set similar to MMA? Thank you and good-day.

[ps1]

They are allowed to utilize any stance they desire. However, most choose to use a boxing style stance. This is because it allows for an excellent balance between protection of vital areas and good mobility. I'm not saying it's any better or worse than other stances, just that these are the reasons most MMA fighters utilize it.

It is important, however, to remember that stances are not stagnant. That is, you don't adopt any particular stance and fight with it only. That was/is not why we learn them. Quite the opposite, in fact. We practice stances in order to learn how to move through a variety of positions that occur during combat. If you watch more carefully, you'll see that most fighters move through many stances. Cat-type stances when kicking, front stances when moving forward, back stances upon retreat. Even panther and tiger stances occur in the ground positions.

They may not train the stances the way a traditional martial artist does, but that doesn't mean that they do not use them.

Hope that's helpful.

[MMA_Jim]

I wouldnt even say that MMA fighters use a boxing stance- its much more a thai stance if you will.

A brief synapsis:

Cat stances, or any other type of stances which keep your balance uncentered (ie your weight is on the back foot, or in the front foot for a front stance) arent practical when having to defend against takedowns. Deep low stances suffer this as well. Rooting your stance low, or otherwise staying immobile, will allow your opponent to pick you apart with whatever he wants, be they kicks, punches, and especially takedowns.

Boxing stances are more sugar footed- that is, they stand sideways similar to what you'd expect a karate/tkd point fighter to do. The difference being the handwork. This is a good stance for limiting the striking targets of your opponent, but is still very vulnerable. A sideways stance doesnt allow you to check low kicks, which means your opponent gets to tee off on your lead leg. This stance also doesnt allow you to sprawl, so one is very succeptable to takedowns from this stance.

Wrestling stances arent favorable for obvious reasons- you want your hands protecting your head when someone can throw punches and kicks at you.

The thai stance is arguably the best one because its more square and allows for good mobility. Leg kicks can be checked, and the stance allows for a good sprawl to defend takedowns.

[bushido_man96]

ps1 has a very good explanation. The stances are very much transitional, especially in fighting.

MMA_Jim also brings up very good points on the stances.

When you take a stance, you have to consider two things: stability, and mobility. Now, the higher and narrower the stane (in general), then the more mobile you are, at the expense of stability. However, the lower and more stable you make your stance, then you sacrifice mobility. Therefore, when you have to move and react to an opponent in a fight, then you want to be in a place that allows you to be mobile and stable in varying degrees at the same time, which is why the Thai stance is so good for this, as MMA_Jim mentioned.

Now, if someone shoots a takedown on you, then one of your best defenses may be to sprawl. By sprawling, you sacrifice your mobility to stabilize your position. This is the transitional phases of stance work, in its essence.

[ShoriKid]

Like others have said, you can use whatever you want in most mma events. They have found though, that high, mobile and squared up stances work the best for them in initial phases of a fight. It allows them to move and keeps all of the weapons open. By that I mean that the more squared stances leaves both hands and both legs able to react offensively and defensively. Taking a side on stance cuts down the use of the rear side hand/leg. It is also murder on the thighs for leg kicks in that stance. Cat happens in transition, as does forward and you might even spot a staggered horse stance when someone is tee-ing off on a staggered opponent.

I would disagree with MMA Jim on the boxer's semi-side on stance not being good to avoid take downs. When I wrestled we did call it sugar footing. You were baiting that shot with the lead foot. Your sprawl had to be solid and quick or you would get caught, but you knew it was coming 90% of the time. I've seen a lot more of this stance, or at least I think I have, in recient years for the UFC/MMA events. It's not quite as side on as true boxers use, but not nearly as squared as Thai guys get. The biggest problem there, to me at least, is how open it leaves you to the inside leg kick. That inner thigh takes a beating, and the knee seems to buckle outward, destroying your balance/stance more easily than outside kicks.

PS1 mentioned the transitions and he's right. That is where you'll see most of the traditional stances show up. That long right hand might give you the forward stance. That instant before the knee is thrown into the man clinched on the fense is cat. Horse, I've seen Chuck in while pounding Tito on the fense. They happen, but don't expect the fights to square off, take a deep stance, set their hands and then go.

[MMA_Jim]

I would disagree with MMA Jim on the boxer's semi-side on stance not being good to avoid take downs. When I wrestled we did call it sugar footing. You were baiting that shot with the lead foot. Your sprawl had to be solid and quick or you would get caught, but you knew it was coming 90% of the time. I've seen a lot more of this stance, or at least I think I have, in recient years for the UFC/MMA events. It's not quite as side on as true boxers use, but not nearly as squared as Thai guys get. The biggest problem there, to me at least, is how open it leaves you to the inside leg kick. That inner thigh takes a beating, and the knee seems to buckle outward, destroying your balance/stance more easily than outside kicks. .

Im distinguishing between the two. For one, boxers tend to shell over to protect their front, that is, they over sugar foot, if you will. For another, even should you want to bait your opponent with a leg in wrestling, its not prudent in MMA. In wrestling you're aware that its a grappling only competition. In MMA, you can quickly become sidetracked when someone throws a quick jab to your face. This affects your balance, and the leg that was otherwise a bait is easily accessible for a takedown. Beyond all this, the name of the game in MMA is offense since you're not always fighting someone thats from the same base style as yourself

[ShoriKid]

I would still say that the stance in use by the better strikers in the UFC and other places is not nearly as squared as what I've seen in tradtional Thai only matches. That front leg gets out there a bit further, and if anyone would get serious on working inner leg kicks, they could make them pay the price. What that less squared stances gives up in kick defense, it pays back with a little more pre-set body torque to get into the rear hand when firing it at the opponent. They aren't getting so side on that they are hurt for take down defenses, and they are learning to carry their hands high and still transition them down as part of a good sprawl. The game is evolving a bit now, demanding that anything brought into it be modified from its mother art in some way.

A note on the wrestling stance, it's weakness is not in the trouble a jab or other hand strike would cause. Any wrestler worth his salt should have his hands high near his head while prepairing to shoot or jocky for grips. It's the extreme lean over that front leg, or over the more squared stance that would get him eaten up in mma. Defending the leg kick from there is hard, though the trapping of a leg is easier, if your still awake after it comes into contact. Its the loss of high end mobility that is the killer. You can move with the opponent, but the energy consumption to stay that low while moving throughout the ring is draining. And with the longer mma rounds, you want to keep plenty of gas in the tank to work with.

And I would completely agree that good offense is the key instead of shelling up defensively. It's not so much you don't know what the other guys style is. Everyone knows enough about what 90% of their opponents do to not worry about that. It's that you don't have a huge number of rounds to sit back and pick at a guy with an occasional shot here an there to make shelling up work. That, and the scoring of most matches will award more points to the more aggressive fighter, even if he's not doing a lot of damage for the out lays of energy and aggression.

[yingampyang]

they fight from that stance because that is a gud stance to attact striaght away.

[NightOwl]

A note on the wrestling stance, it's weakness is not in the trouble a jab or other hand strike would cause. Any wrestler worth his salt should have his hands high near his head while prepairing to shoot or jocky for grips. It's the extreme lean over that front leg, or over the more squared stance that would get him eaten up in mma. Defending the leg kick from there is hard, though the trapping of a leg is easier, if your still awake after it comes into contact. Its the loss of high end mobility that is the killer. You can move with the opponent, but the energy consumption to stay that low while moving throughout the ring is draining. And with the longer mma rounds, you want to keep plenty of gas in the tank to work with.

That's what I have heard, however the stability given is probably the best you can get (especially against those pesky double legs ). From what I've seen, most use a thai/boxing stance, although a very small amount sometimes use a karate influenced stance (like George st. Pierre).