| Introduction: What you will learn | | | | the neck) and eyes are looking straight at your |
| An adage in boxing: move like butterfly, sting like | | | | opponent/bag |
| a bee. A good fighting stance and footwork is the | | | | - Fist clenched lightly, held up at palms-in position, |
| fundamental foundation to efficient and effective | | | | - Knuckles are in line with the cheeks and elbows |
| strikes. | | | | stay close to the body |
| In the following paragraphs, you be brought | | | | - Shoulders are down in relaxed position and are |
| through the main guiding principles and tips of | | | | ready to react or attack |
| maintaining a fighting stance. | | | | (C) Importance of weight distribution and limbs |
| (A) Guiding Principles | | | | positioning |
| The 1st thing that one could learn in kickboxing | | | | More advice which I recommend to my students |
| would be to stand properly. Sounds easy? A | | | | are: |
| "proper" or "good" stance differs from person to | | | | - Capitalise on the fact that 80% of your weight |
| person. In my opinion, you would have achieve a | | | | is supported by the lead leg. The rear heel can be |
| good stance if you are able to attain the following: | | | | lifted off the ground slightly. You can do a small |
| - Body to be relaxed and able to react and | | | | shifting of weight to the front and back to avoid |
| engage in offensive and defensive moves | | | | being static and rooted to the ground. |
| - Strikes are accurate, fast, and powerful. | | | | - This could also help you as it masks your |
| Nonetheless, there are still some guidelines to help | | | | intention and makes your strikes less telegraphic |
| you attain the stance that's most suitable. Again, I | | | | - It also helps you be mentally and physically |
| reiterate that there are many schools of thought | | | | prepared to engage in strikes or other defensive |
| and what's presented below are gathered from | | | | moves and counters. |
| my experiences in Muay Thai based kickboxing | | | | - Chin down to protect most part of head. |
| style. | | | | - Probably you can take lots of strikes to the |
| (B) Details of foot placement and weight | | | | arms or legs. But after a few, especially |
| distribution | | | | consecutive head shots, I am sure you would be |
| Consider a person with the master (stronger) arm | | | | seeing stars soon. That's why you got to keep in |
| on the right. This is a typical "orthodox" fighting | | | | mind to keep your arms up and chin down and |
| stance. | | | | maintain the guard. |
| - Left foot lead (placed front) and the right foot is | | | | - While keeping chin tucked and arms up, the |
| placed at a 45 degree angle at the back. | | | | elbows stay close to body, this in turn form a |
| - Hip is square (parallel) to the front and 80% of | | | | tight defense and can absorb body shots/kick to |
| your weight is supported by the lead(front) leg, in | | | | the ribs and mid-section. |
| the orthodox stance it's the left | | | | If your master hand is the left, just perform the |
| - Chin is tucked in (almost touching the base of | | | | above the opposite side. |