Do you have a different punching and kicking stance?

[RW]

When punching, my stance is almost frontal, like boxing. My guard is very much like boxing as well. With this stance, I am not very good at kicking, except for the very basic front kick, in a muay thai teep kind of way. Maybe a low but powerful mawashi geri kick, that's it.

When kicking... my whole stance changes. I stand sideways, my arms are up covering my face... a lot like taekwondo (funny, I do karate!). I can do mawashi geris, side kicks (my bread&butter kick) some front kicking, ushiro geri, hook kicks... but I am not very good at punching. Front jab, that's it.

How can I overcome this? Does this happen to any of you?

I blame the fact that in sparring you do all these funky strikes (haito, uraken, etc) which you do not use outside sparring.

[JusticeZero]

Chose the structure base you WANT to use, and drill that hard instead of structures you wish to avoid; force yourself to do all of your techniques out of that stance in sparring, and heavily drill the kicks/punches that are based out of that stance.

Yes, that means you will lose for awhile while you're adjusting. Do not use any technique in sparring that you would not use outside of sparring, ever.

Sparring is a means to an end, and if you are focusing on "winning" sparring rather than using it to develop your skills, then sparring is a hindrance rather than a help.

[joesteph]

It's been said many times that you'll fight the way you train. In an actual altercation, I'd rather do the boxing stance, guard up, front and Muay Thai kicks; i.e., nothing fancy.

I think your sparring is more towards sport for yourself, and I imagine you enter tournaments. Nothing wrong with that at all. Do what's fun, what makes you happy, in the martial arts.

Personally, I think you've mixed real-world capabilities with sport. The best of both worlds?

[Kuma]

It's definitely best to have just one universal stance. I tend to kick and punch from the same stance, although if my opponent's defense is poor or if they're just lacking in power I will square more up on them for more power.

[bushido_man96]

Chose the structure base you WANT to use, and drill that hard instead of structures you wish to avoid; force yourself to do all of your techniques out of that stance in sparring, and heavily drill the kicks/punches that are based out of that stance.

Yes, that means you will lose for awhile while you're adjusting. Do not use any technique in sparring that you would not use outside of sparring, ever.

Sparring is a means to an end, and if you are focusing on "winning" sparring rather than using it to develop your skills, then sparring is a hindrance rather than a help.

I agree here. Take the stance that you want to use, and work from it. If you have to switch stances in sparring to kick instead of punch, you are setting yourself up, because the opponent will figure out what you will have coming. You should be able to develop your kicks and punches from the same position.

Now, during your technique combinations, you may transition from one stance to another, and that is fine. Just keep in mind that if you have to transition out of necessity, then you give away your game.

This can be bad for self-defense, too. Find a stance that you feel that you can defend efficiently from, and then work your techniques from there.

[tallgeese]

I agree, one single stance for everything. If there are things that just won't fit or you can't make fit in it, take a long hard look and see how much you really need them. Espically if you have a good athletic stance that you can move and defend from.

Personally, I use a more frontal stance. It's very akin to what Lee advocated in JKD as a frontal stance. Not quite, but close. I use it for all my work, even weapons. Heck, even my shooting stance is close to it. That way everything works off the same platform and there's no shuffling around for optiamal position.

[DWx]

I'd go for the single stance. No good being in a situation where a kick or punch would be ideal but then you're in the wrong stance to actually do it. Its hard but you've just got to train yourself to do it that way.

[Wa-No-Michi]

The only problem I have with the word "stance" is that it sounds so static / dead.

I don’t think I have a preferred stance. I move into what I need - correct movement is the key to fighting imo.

WNM

[tallgeese]

Granted, but you've got to have some defensible core pattern from which to build. Stance is about the best term to encompass that that I've heard.

[The BB of C]

As far as I can tell, they're about the same. I will either be in a tall side stance when I'm kicking and punching or I will be in a long front stance when I'm punching or kicking.