Strong Side Forward

[honoluludesktop]

There are many pros and cons to this. I think it is what you are accustomed to, and what your opponents do. Typically, left handed fighters may have an opening advantage against fighters that are only used to right handed fighters, but at the top levels, it matters little.

If your whole club fights from the strong side forward, you will have no advantaged when fighting with a weak side forward fighter. Practicing to win over your fellow club fighters, remains a small part of the world.

[tallgeese]

I think it's one of those things that is a perfect legitimate tactic. Like anything else, you're comfort level due to reps will dictate how well one can utilize it under stress.

I also thing that the support side lead is also perfectly acceptable. Again, it goes to training and repetition. There are so few solid, absolute answers when we start discussing tactics that it is often foolish to label right and wrong.

I do think there are a few absolutes, but I don't think this is one of them.

[Shizentai]

You know, being an ambidextrous person, I always did find the notion of having a preferred side rather interesting. I can value the advantage of putting your strongest side in front: setting up for an ippon strike might be improved, it puts a strong defense much closer to the opponent, you train your "weakness" to become strong, etc. I can also see the advantage of having your strongest side in the rear: there's more strength in the counter attack from that position, and it puts more strength in cross-blocking as well.

However I am ambidextrous. I have no strong side. So I cannot base my choice of sides in kumite on my own body. Instead I tend to strategize based on my opponents.

When I am fighting most right-handed people, I do usually step out at first with my right side front because in my style almost all righties stand with their left (weak) side front, and it throws them of a little bit. Then, if the match is not over by the time the novelty of that wears off, I sometimes switch back to shake up their routine again.

However, I find fighting left-handed people is very complex. Not only are left-handed people better at initiating the match from right-front than I am (because they specialize on that side and I do not), but they are extremely accustomed to fighting people who stand the opposite way, because there are simply more of them. I feel like ambidexterity doesn't give me any advantage there.

[bushido_man96]

I like Lee's idea of strong side forward, and sparred that way for a very long time. I still do from time to time, but now I try to work with my strong side back more often, because its a better habit for defensive tactics usage when I am at work. My strong side is my gun side, so I want to keep my gun side back away from the bad guys as much as possible.