Uniform stance vs. Mirror stance

EdwardA

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Bill Wallace always has his left side forward.

bill-wallace-1.jpg


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According to wikipeda Wallace had to kick with his left leg due to a judo match injury of his right knee. He did a good job, they called him "superfoot" for a good reason. I watched maybe 3-4 of his televised matches...way back then. His apponents tended to end up on the canvas from that kick.

I was trying to find out if he was right handed or left. I didn't see that.
 

EdwardA

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He was right handed but often fought in a Southpaw stance.

Ever wonder why?

It's called "strong side forward". If you're referring to Lee. He wrote about it extensively. I started training that way 1971. We've been talking about it for several posts. No offense intended.;)
 
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Ivan

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- In uniform stance (you and your opponent have the same side forward), your opponent's powerful back leg roundhouse kick can only hit on your back.
- In mirror stance (you and your opponent have different side forward), your opponent's powerful back leg roundhouse kick can hit on your chest. Of course your powerful back leg roundhouse kick can hit on your opponent's chest too.

People like to stay in uniform stance to avoid that back leg roundhouse kick. People also like to stay in mirror stance to take advantage on his back leg roundhouse kick too.

For striking art, is mirror stance more aggressive than uniform stance?

Your thought?

Uniform stance:

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Mirror stance:

uniform-stance.jpg
At my old boxing gym, my main sparring partner (the guy closest to my age as we was the youngest there), was a southpaw. I found that this meant his chin, was closer to my lead hand, and thus I found it very easy to unload lots of consecutive jabs to his face. I think your answer will depend on the type of fighters here. I personally am strongest with my jabs and lead hand hooks, and prefer not to use my back hand as it leaves me more exposed and it's slower. So for me, mirror stance is the more aggressive variant for me. As someone who likes to use his lead leg to kick more than his back leg, I find mirror stance is more comfortable for my consecutive kicks too.
 

JowGaWolf

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Many people train to use uniform stance, with other people who like uniform stance.
This is why mirrored stance works for me. What I've discovered is that people mainly fight according to power hand back, power kick back. As a result people find themselves in the Uniformed Stance. Which is why people often have trouble fighting against SouthPaw fighter (left handed fighters).

When I switch to mirror stance my opponent will often try to switch their stance in order to keep the Uniformed stance. This creates a problem for them as now there power leg is forward which means they are kicking with their weak leg and that their power hand back, is their weak hand. When this happens I can just stay in the stance that I took because I know they will eventually switch back a few seconds later, if they want to have their power hand back.

For me I can fight power hand back or power hand forward with no problem.
 

JowGaWolf

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I tried to be completely ambidextrous, but that left side....side kick? Nope,
When you train your left side don't train it to do exactly what the other side does. Pick the things that you are able to do well with your left side and train that. So if your left side kick doesn't work, then use a different kick with that left leg.
 

JowGaWolf

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But I train 2 sets of skill, one set for uniform stance, one set for mirror stance.
I do this as well. I don't care much about left side being able to do the same thing as right side. There are certain things that I'll only do with my left-side and certain things that I'll only do with my right side. 2 different skills sets with each side doing what it does best.
 
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Kung Fu Wang

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He was right handed but often fought in a Southpaw stance.

Ever wonder why?
He believes in strong side forward. I believe in strong side forward too.

The reason is simple, I want my strong hand to be as close to my opponent's face as possible. When I put strong side back, if my opponent moves toward my side door, my strong back hand cannot reach him.
 

Monkey Turned Wolf

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I typically train right side forward, which is my strong side. I can do left side forward, but I try not to for too long, and there are specific reasons that I'll switch. Doesn't really matter what my opponent is doing, although I prefer mirror stance, since most aren't as used to that.

Although for me, the reason is a left shoulder injury. I can't be throwing jabs with my left shoulder, so I need my better arm at the front to keep distance until I close in.
 

Oily Dragon

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It's called "strong side forward". If you're referring to Lee. He wrote about it extensively. I started training that way 1971. We've been talking about it for several posts. No offense intended.;)

Eh, none taken. I don't think you understood what I meant.

Lee's writings are, shall we say, superficial.

The concepts he wrote about are at least a thousand years old, but probably much older.
 

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