When you're doing your self defense techniques, do you also train them on the opposite side?
What is the "opposite side?"
When you walk, what side do you walk on? Do you walk on the "opposite side?" If you have two working legs, do you not use them both to walk?
Can a person learn to walk with only one leg? Yes. Can a person learn to fight on only one dominant side? yes. "Superfoot" Bill Wallace did, and was very successful in the ring, but that was under certain rules, and due to a knee injury. Would it be the best for self defense in the street? One advantage he had (besides amazing speed and flexibility) was that the one leg he used was his left. This is awkward to defend against for most people who fight "right-handed."
In Boxing, the left side is often called a "South-Paw Fighter." A "right-handed fighter" often has to adjust when facing someone who fights on the left side, just like a right-handed pitcher in baseball has to adjust when pitching to a left-handed batter (also called a "South-Paw hitter"). However, Wallace stood the same as a right-handed fighter, he just used the left front leg to an exceptional ability, rather than the power hits of the right, rear leg that most right-handed fighters prefer.
Therefore, it is not only an issue of what kinds of techniques you can do with the one side of your body that is your dominant side, but what kind of an affect will it have on your opponent. In the Taekwondo training that I have encountered all my life, we always learn every technique on both sides. When I fight, I will comfortably and naturally switch from one side to the other, as though I were born ambidextrous. I believe it is also done in downhill snow-boarding, or even skate-boarding, where either foot is placed in the front position, and frequently switched as they go. This is done in order to encounter and negotiate obstacles from either direction, quickly, effortlessly, and without hesitation or awkwardness.
Think of the gunfighters in the the old west of America's frontier. Some were fast on the draw, and accurate with their aim, but I believe the best of the best (and the most dangerous) were those who wore two guns (one on each hip) and could draw and shoot equally as well with either, or both at the same time. There is an excellent Western gunslinger movie that displays this talent very well. It was called "The Quick and the Dead." It starred Gene Hackman, Russel Crowe, Sharon Stone, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
In one scene, John Herod (Hackman's character) is about to have a gunfight with a self-proclaimed expert gunfighter named "Ace" Hanlon - a tall figure with long hair, and dressed all in black. As they step into the street, Herod says "Mr. Hanlon, I wanted to ask you about Indian Wells. Did that fight really take place?" Ace replies "Sure did." Herod says, "Then its true that you gunned down four men." Ace brags "Two with my right hand; two with my left. You see, the truth is, that I am just as good with either." Herod says, "You must be the fastest gun in the west.... that or the biggest liar!" Ace says, "It's a pity you weren't there to find out."
Herod grins and chuckles, "Oh, but I was Ace. You see, I was the one who
really killed the Terrence brothers. And I doubt that a lying little chicken-**** like you was even in the same state. Ace's smiling face turns to fear as he attempts to out-draw his opponent, but Herod draws his right pistol faster and shoots Ace's right thumb off just as his gun clears the holster. Herod replaces his right pistol in its holster and asks, "How about that left hand, Ace?" Herod calmly places a cigar in his mouth, and as he strikes a match off the side of his belt with his right hand, he asks "How about that left-handed draw?" Herod slowly moves the lit match up to the cigar as his left hand hangs near his left pistol. Ace attempts to draw left-handed, but again, Herod beats him to it and blasts a hole through the back of Ace's left hand. Herod then re-draws his right pistol and fires both guns into Ace's chest which propels him to his back - dead.
I love that movie! I also believe, while training on both sides is not absolutely necessary for success, it gives me an advantage over someone who is not prepared for both sides, and I like to be prepared for anything! I don't consider it a waste of time which takes away from anything because I have plenty of time to train both sides equally as well.
That's just my opinion on the subject :ultracool
CM D.J. Eisenhart
I'm finding out as I go that there are other techniques that respond to the reverse, so I'm not as diligent about doing both sides.
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