3 Common Mistakes With Your Fighting Stance

Fighting Stance is one of the most widely debated topics in Martial Arts and there’s a seemingly endless set of variations on how you should stand and fight.  But, here’s some basic mistakes that will most definitely help you!

A common Fighting Stance mistake is you’re not focusing on protecting your neck.  If you just focus on protecting your neck, everything else will be fine.  It’s incredibly dangerous if you get punched in the neck; so, it makes sense that you do your best to protect it.  If you’re protecting your neck, you’ll have your hands up, your chin down and your shoulders forward – perfect!  Beginners to Kickboxing will keep their hands up – this is great!  But they’ll have their chin up – this is no good.  When you’re sparring, focus on one simple thing – protecting your neck – and everything else will fall in place!

When people start Kickboxing, a common mistake is they’re WAY too stiff!  Relax your arms and relax your shoulders.  Pretend that you just ran an ultra marathon for 12 hours straight.  Slouch like you’re exhausted.  Let your arms hang like they’re wet noodles.  Now bring your hands up to your chin.  Easier said then done but the key thing is to try and stay relaxed when you’re Boxing and Kickboxing.  Stay relaxed and your performance will skyrocket!

There’s no perfect fighting stance.  The key thing is to adapt to the circumstances, protect your neck, always be in a position where you can strike and be aware of your opponent’s attacks and counter attacks.  Sometimes you need to be more upright so you can throw a Side Kick.  Sometimes you need to be tighter, lower and more compact to protect your body.  And sometimes, you need to drop your hands in an attempt to bait your opponent so you can counter attack them.  The point is, there’s no perfect way to stand and fight.  A common mistake is to think that there’s only one way to stand and fight. The key thing is to adapt your fighting stance so that it best suits the situation.