Teaching southpaw

[LastKing]

I've taken over a karate club which has a couple if left handed members. When doing technique with another person, do you get them to face off southpaw to orthodox or orthodox to orthodox?

[DWx]

Personally I make everyone drill both left and right. Certain drills only work if the stances are open, or closed. They in free sparring they can use what feels more comfortable.

[sensei8]

Everyone should be ambidextrous, nonetheless, the only way to become such is to train both sides all of the time, albeit not allowing students to favor a strong side; all sides should be strong equally, no ambiguity whatsoever in that quest.

Imho!!

[Spartacus Maximus]

Most people favour their right side and will naturally use that side to attack. This means the first attack would likely be aimed at the left half of one’s body. This also means that most people will be naturally weaker with their left.

Those are two reasons why it is a good idea to train one’s weaker side twice as much as the other.

[LastKing]

Thanks for that. Let me clarify, say you're doing bunkai or technique which kind of requires orthodox stance for both parties to learn the technique, do you place the southpaw in southpaw so they can learn to adapt, or face them in orthodox so they can get the technique, and so the orthodox of the two can get the technique also (if that makes sense)?

[Chunmonchek]

While Goju Ryu is right side dominant, we train both sides. And some of us train Kata "lefty".

[MatsuShinshii]

If you are teaching them techniques it should be done on both sides equally.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for that. Let me clarify, say you're doing bunkai or technique which kind of requires orthodox stance for both parties to learn the technique, do you place the southpaw in southpaw so they can learn to adapt, or face them in orthodox so they can get the technique, and so the orthodox of the two can get the technique also (if that makes sense)?

Like has been mentioned, train it on both sides. Furthermore, everything should be able to work lefty to lefty, righty to righty, lefty to righty, and all the way around.

[sensei8]

If a student has some difficulty of training southpaw or vice versa, then, for training purposes, secure the dominate arm so it can't move. Forcing the non-dominate to learn. Slowly but surely, the non-dominate arm will learn what it needs to learn.

It goes down to familiarity, imho.

[MatsuShinshii]

If a student has some difficulty of training southpaw or vice versa, then, for training purposes, secure the dominate arm so it can't move. Forcing the non-dominate to learn. Slowly but surely, the non-dominate arm will learn what it needs to learn.

It goes down to familiarity, imho.

Man that is a blast from the past technique. An old instructor (boxing) of mine tied my right arm up for two months until I learned to use my left.

Thanks for jogging the old memory Bob. Great stuff!