I thought I would share some of my knowledge about how I use my understanding of a stance to help make me a better fighter. I'm not a master, I don't even call myself an expert or advanced student. The things I will discuss are things that I've learned, observed, and tested in an effort to really understand the basics of stances.
Observation #1: Stances determine how strong everything else will be. Having a strong solid stance makes it possible to deliver strong and powerful strikes. It allows grapplers to execute incredible take down techniques. It helps to make defense stronger. It helps make mobility and movement faster. A small injury to the foot or leg greatly affects the performance of everything up top. Muay Thai fighters understand this as they are more than willing to damage their opponent's ability to use a strong stance. Things such as sprained ankles, stumped toes, and even in-grown toenails, make it difficult to produce powerful striking, kicking, and grappling techniques. From a self-defense perspective stomping the toe when someone grabs you from behind seems stupid and impractical to do. From a functional and more practical perspective stomping the toe or the foot when the person is facing you is not only much easier to do but is often done by accident in the form of "Stepping on the foot." The true benefit of stomping on someone's foot isn't that it's painful, but it reduces the ability to create a strong stance. If the stance is weak then everything else is week.
Observation #2: This is where the topic of this post really begins. Every Martial Art and fighting system and even in sports uses some type of specific stance that make it easier to maximize the effects of the techniques of that system. Basketball players uses a stance that makes it easier for them move around on the court, to dribble and protect the ball, and to guard. Baseball players use stances that help them to be able to better hit, throw, and field the ball. Stances are so identifiable that we could watch a videos that show only the legs using stances and determine what activity is being done. Many of us will be able to even recognize the specific sport based on how the person is standing. What's even more amazing is that we would be able to tell what types of actions are mostly to be possible by the way a person stands. Martial Arts is no exception this and the more Martial Arts you expose yourself to the better you'll be able to distinguish how the stances vary and what actions and motions are better suited for that stance. Some stances allow better forward and backward movement, while other stances allow better side to side movement. The type of technique a martial artist uses is going to vary based on the stance that they are in. There are very few exceptions to this.
Observation #3: For most people out there, foot position is going to determine direction. The reason why this is the case is because we only have 2 legs so movement in one direction or the other is going to require that we place the foot in the direction that we want to go in. You will find it very difficult to lift your right leg and move to left without either hoping on the left leg, or moving the right leg in the direction that you want to go. By understanding this you'll be able to narrow down your opponent's options for directional movement based on how they are standing.
Observation #4: Certain techniques can only be done when in certain stances. This one is my favorite observations because I'm always trying to draw out the techniques that I want my opponent to throw by using my stance. I can fight both in open and closed stance, but I only use one of the two stances to understand my opponent and his stance. If the person is standing in a side stance, then I know that an attempted shoot on my legs is very unlikely because the stance doesn't favor that. I also know that a rear hand power shot is also not on the table while in that stance as there is too much distance to cover while in a side stance.
A person that takes more of a square up stance is looking to make use of both of his hands, most likely in a forward advancing series of punch combinations. This stance is a feet point forward = fast forward and back pedaling speeds. Fast movement in angles will also be quick. The down side is that stability will be sacrificed for speed. This means I'll have an opportunity to interfere with the movement of the feet where I can interfere with the movement of the feet. This is where Observations #1, #2, #3 come into play at the same time. Fast feet that move often = opportunity to trip or sweep. This type of movement is often common with boxers who greatly depend on their footwork and body movement to get them into and out of attack and defenses, without grabbing.
Anyone who is willing to dedicate time and effort to study and analyze stances will gain a big advantage over their opponent.
Tip #1: When sparring create enough distance between you and your opponent for the main purpose of analyzing your opponent's stance. Your opponent will do 1 of two things. He will either give chase or he'll stand still and and wait for you to re engage. Chasing usually (not always) means that the person is eager to engage with you. Use his eagerness to create counters to his attacks. If he stands stills and barely advances then he is seeking to take a defense approach. When this happens be careful of counters to your attacks. You will be able to verify if this holds true by the way he stands. I recommend that you try this with someone of a lower skill level than you, if you have never tried this before. A lower skill level opponent will give you enough time to figure things out. Someone one the same skill level as you or a higher skill level than you, will mean that you have less time to figure stuff out, and you may get hit if you they catch you looking too hard.
Observation #1: Stances determine how strong everything else will be. Having a strong solid stance makes it possible to deliver strong and powerful strikes. It allows grapplers to execute incredible take down techniques. It helps to make defense stronger. It helps make mobility and movement faster. A small injury to the foot or leg greatly affects the performance of everything up top. Muay Thai fighters understand this as they are more than willing to damage their opponent's ability to use a strong stance. Things such as sprained ankles, stumped toes, and even in-grown toenails, make it difficult to produce powerful striking, kicking, and grappling techniques. From a self-defense perspective stomping the toe when someone grabs you from behind seems stupid and impractical to do. From a functional and more practical perspective stomping the toe or the foot when the person is facing you is not only much easier to do but is often done by accident in the form of "Stepping on the foot." The true benefit of stomping on someone's foot isn't that it's painful, but it reduces the ability to create a strong stance. If the stance is weak then everything else is week.
Observation #2: This is where the topic of this post really begins. Every Martial Art and fighting system and even in sports uses some type of specific stance that make it easier to maximize the effects of the techniques of that system. Basketball players uses a stance that makes it easier for them move around on the court, to dribble and protect the ball, and to guard. Baseball players use stances that help them to be able to better hit, throw, and field the ball. Stances are so identifiable that we could watch a videos that show only the legs using stances and determine what activity is being done. Many of us will be able to even recognize the specific sport based on how the person is standing. What's even more amazing is that we would be able to tell what types of actions are mostly to be possible by the way a person stands. Martial Arts is no exception this and the more Martial Arts you expose yourself to the better you'll be able to distinguish how the stances vary and what actions and motions are better suited for that stance. Some stances allow better forward and backward movement, while other stances allow better side to side movement. The type of technique a martial artist uses is going to vary based on the stance that they are in. There are very few exceptions to this.
Observation #3: For most people out there, foot position is going to determine direction. The reason why this is the case is because we only have 2 legs so movement in one direction or the other is going to require that we place the foot in the direction that we want to go in. You will find it very difficult to lift your right leg and move to left without either hoping on the left leg, or moving the right leg in the direction that you want to go. By understanding this you'll be able to narrow down your opponent's options for directional movement based on how they are standing.
Observation #4: Certain techniques can only be done when in certain stances. This one is my favorite observations because I'm always trying to draw out the techniques that I want my opponent to throw by using my stance. I can fight both in open and closed stance, but I only use one of the two stances to understand my opponent and his stance. If the person is standing in a side stance, then I know that an attempted shoot on my legs is very unlikely because the stance doesn't favor that. I also know that a rear hand power shot is also not on the table while in that stance as there is too much distance to cover while in a side stance.
A person that takes more of a square up stance is looking to make use of both of his hands, most likely in a forward advancing series of punch combinations. This stance is a feet point forward = fast forward and back pedaling speeds. Fast movement in angles will also be quick. The down side is that stability will be sacrificed for speed. This means I'll have an opportunity to interfere with the movement of the feet where I can interfere with the movement of the feet. This is where Observations #1, #2, #3 come into play at the same time. Fast feet that move often = opportunity to trip or sweep. This type of movement is often common with boxers who greatly depend on their footwork and body movement to get them into and out of attack and defenses, without grabbing.
Anyone who is willing to dedicate time and effort to study and analyze stances will gain a big advantage over their opponent.
Tip #1: When sparring create enough distance between you and your opponent for the main purpose of analyzing your opponent's stance. Your opponent will do 1 of two things. He will either give chase or he'll stand still and and wait for you to re engage. Chasing usually (not always) means that the person is eager to engage with you. Use his eagerness to create counters to his attacks. If he stands stills and barely advances then he is seeking to take a defense approach. When this happens be careful of counters to your attacks. You will be able to verify if this holds true by the way he stands. I recommend that you try this with someone of a lower skill level than you, if you have never tried this before. A lower skill level opponent will give you enough time to figure things out. Someone one the same skill level as you or a higher skill level than you, will mean that you have less time to figure stuff out, and you may get hit if you they catch you looking too hard.
