Right handed punchers who are left legged kickers, a dilemma?

[Replay19]

I am generally under the impression that if your dexterity and coordination in the hands and feet don't match, you're in for a struggle. Why, because if you punch a hard right, but throw a hard left kick, it means that your "power strikes" are in opposite leads and therefore you must always resort to switching stance in order to deliver a power shot. Maybe some fighters out there have overcame it, but I think generally this isn't the best way to fight, and could lead to years and years of incorrect training. What do you guys think?

 

[eternaldarkness]

I am generally under the impression that if your dexterity and coordination in the hands and feet don't match, you're in for a struggle. Why, because if you punch a hard right, but throw a hard left kick, it means that your "power strikes" are in opposite leads and therefore you must always resort to switching stance in order to deliver a power shot. Maybe some fighters out there have overcame it, but I think generally this isn't the best way to fight, and could lead to years and years of incorrect training. What do you guys think?

um, no. most people that are right handed step off with their left leg first (left leg dominant). nothing works better off a right hand than a left high kick. the step up left knee also follows on from the right hand nicely. it is a lot easier to throw with force off the opposite leg to the punch, left hook-right leg kick or right hand to left body/head. switching can help add power to any lead kick or knee and is quite natural. it's a lot harder to reload a strike on the same side actually.

 

[eternaldarkness]

interesting point you bring up though. i used to hate watching people try kicking off the same side as they punched from as it usually turn into a weak strike. i have seen it be successful on a number of occasions so i have changed my opinion a bit though. machida does it a lot and catches people off guard with it. this is how a superman punch is meant to work, your basically faking a right leg kick and doing a little hop thingy to convert it into a right hand. you rarely see people do it properly in mma these days. yves edwards had a sweet superman punch. i'm not really a fun of jumping techniques as there are no air brakes. that is how fedor knocked out andre.

 

[shincheckin]

i would call this a advantage

 

[Replay19]

I'm confused.

interesting point you bring up though. i used to hate watching people try kicking off the same side as they punched from as it usually turn into a weak strike. i have seen it be successful on a number of occasions so i have changed my opinion a bit though. machida does it a lot and catches people off guard with it. this is how a superman punch is meant to work, your basically faking a right leg kick and doing a little hop thingy to convert it into a right hand. you rarely see people do it properly in mma these days. yves edwards had a sweet superman punch. i'm not really a fun of jumping techniques as there are no air brakes. that is how fedor knocked out andre.

What do you mean by same side? You mean like throwing a lead left roundhouse kick and following up with a lead left hand strike?

 

[eternaldarkness]

I'm confused.




What do you mean by same side? You mean like throwing a lead left roundhouse kick and following up with a lead left hand strike?

yep that's exactly what i mean, right leg right hand or left leg left hand is more difficult to throw than left leg right hand or right leg leg hand. sorry about the confusing way i wrote it. i'm only a scrapper with a eight grade eduction.

 

[georgegreece]

yep that's exactly what i mean, right leg right hand or left leg left hand is more difficult to throw than left leg right hand or right leg leg hand. sorry about the confusing way i wrote it. i'm only a scrapper with a eight grade eduction.

This happens because you spend too much time on youtube and sherdog, if you punch w the right you use the momentum from retracting the punch to lunch the left kick forward, the human body is like an X, left lat works with the right buttchick and vice versa, if you try to punch n kick w the right you then have to retract, load and shoot the right leg, that's two more steps. You should take a larger step forward and use the forward momentum of overthrowing the punch to shoot the right leg instead of doing all the extra steps or retracting and loading but it depends on the situation because you can get countered easier.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Half the people I’ve held kicks for have had a stronger or more coordinated lead foot. It’s not that rare or much of a Big deal

 

[j123]

Half the people I’ve held kicks for have had a stronger or more coordinated lead foot. It’s not that rare or much of a Big deal

It happened to me at first, and my coach said its most likely because my right hip has more flexibility compared to the left which is why kicks from the left seem strong

It was that way with me for awhile, but after more time with lots of right kicks, things are the way they should be now

 

[ARIZE]

+ there are some martial arts that are heavy on the lead leg, like TKD. And even for MT, a good lead teep, with a good switch kick can work wonders.

 

[Inquisitus]

I'm right handed but left kick is faster, has quicker release, and has better aim. Comes down to a more developed supporting (right) leg. Right kicks are still harder though

 

[Azam]

+ there are some martial arts that are heavy on the lead leg, like TKD. And even for MT, a good lead teep, with a good switch kick can work wonders.

As I'm particularly small (5ft7 & 70kg) and almost always give up reach sparring taller people. I've pretty much had to do this. For the longest time I wasn't though because in kyokushin I don't think it matters as much.

Nowadays though my right hand/foot is first (strongest hand first). My left kicks are nowhere near as good as my right kicks - a good switch kick is soo underrated.

I think something that a lot of people don't do is be ambidextrous and be able to fight out of both orthodox/southpaw. It fucks up people so much when you're constantly melding in out of orthodox/southpaw.

 

[ARIZE]

I think something that a lot of people don't do is be ambidextrous and be able to fight out of both orthodox/southpaw. It fucks up people so much when you're constantly melding in out of orthodox/southpaw.

I used to be classic orthodox in MT. Since cross training TKD, i love to switch. That's one of the big plus of TMAs. Getting good with both stance, and mixing it during fighting. Downside is that it takes a lot longer to be good at it. A 2 year kboxer or nak muay will pulverize a TKD green belt... In my mind, it's starting balancing out at least 5 years in...

 

[Replay19]

I think something that a lot of people don't do is be ambidextrous and be able to fight out of both orthodox/southpaw. It fucks up people so much when you're constantly melding in out of orthodox/southpaw.

Mike Tyson was sort of ambidextrous when it came to boxing, so yeah I agree, knowing how to fight both sides is important.

 

[georgegreece]

@Replay19

Tyson didn't really switch stances he had parallel feet, it's hard for the brain to adapt at switching sides, it's way harder than you think, that's why most boxers that try it get KTFO. The more you practice on one side the harder it is to switch to the other side. Try writing with the non dominant hand, there are some people that were forced to write with their non dominant hand , switching for these type of people is way easier, it's really part of how the brain works, left hemisphere controls right hand and vice versa. A fighting stance doesn't require that much of motor control as writing but the switching requires for different parts of the brain to be active to maintain accuracy.

 

[shunyata]

um, no. most people that are right handed step off with their left leg first (left leg dominant). nothing works better off a right hand than a left high kick. the step up left knee also follows on from the right hand nicely. it is a lot easier to throw with force off the opposite leg to the punch, left hook-right leg kick or right hand to left body/head. switching can help add power to any lead kick or knee and is quite natural. it's a lot harder to reload a strike on the same side actually.

This.

I'm right handed, i grew up with my left leg being the strong one due to skateboarding and snowboarding "left" or "goofy" footed. Coaches would even say, "I like your left kicks, the right we need to work on".

You kickbox orthodox stance and your left leg is already out in front. High kicks, front kicks, lead knee, it's all right there.


It isn't a dilemma at all.

Recoil from returning the right hand to guard powers the left kick, etc.

Jab, right cross, left hook, right cross, left kick/knee.


Honestly I thought this was an advantage, not a dilemma.

 

[TheMachinegun12]

um, no. most people that are right handed step off with their left leg first (left leg dominant). nothing works better off a right hand than a left high kick. the step up left knee also follows on from the right hand nicely. it is a lot easier to throw with force off the opposite leg to the punch, left hook-right leg kick or right hand to left body/head. switching can help add power to any lead kick or knee and is quite natural. it's a lot harder to reload a strike on the same side actually.

I would not take the righthand>left high kick theory as gospel. Left straight, left high kick (and vice versa right hand right highkick) works just as good if not better because it is more suprising. Look up a Ernesto Hoost highlight, he does it all the time.

 

[shunyata]

I would not take the righthand>left high kick theory as gospel. Left straight, left high kick (and vice versa right hand right highkick) works just as good if not better because it is more suprising. Look up a Ernesto Hoost highlight, he does it all the time.

Oh that works too, the point is if your left legged right handed there are tons of options from orthodox.

 

[martijn]

The basics of a combination in kickboxing is always a balance-shift. So left jab- right kick right cross-left kick. This gives a nice flow to a combination. To confuse your opponent you can interrupt this rhythm by using the same side twice. IMO Kicks should be fairly even skill wise, with the left being a little faster and the right being a little more powerfull

 

[BillytheFish]

I write left handed, throw balls (orthodox stance) with my right hand and kick harder with my left foot.

I've learned to be ambidextrous with my hands since I was young but not my feet...luckily I preferred boxing to kickboxing etc