Why Stance Matters: The Foundation of Offense and Defense

Stance

Your stance seems to be one of those things that people know is extremely important—even if they don’t know exactly why. In a word: readiness. A good stance allows you to be ready both offensively and defensively. Here are a couple specific things you want to strive for with your stance, and what you should be aiming to feel:

Hands and Arms: Your hands should be high—probably higher than you instinctively feel like they should be. Your fingers should generally be able to touch your temples, and your elbows should be under your hands, not flared out too wide. Be mindful not to waste energy by keeping your hands constantly clenched; only tighten your hand into a fist when you punch. Generally, keep your hands near the sides of your head, but not stuck to it with no motion in your arms.

Offensively, this allows you to quickly and easily throw punches and elbows without telegraphing your intentions. Defensively, you’re just inches away from being able to block or parry/catch any strike thrown at your head (defense priority #1). Those inches make a huge difference when you’ve got fractions of a second to react.

Feet and Legs: Imagine a line from your center straight toward your opponent on the ground (use an actual line when you’re practicing!). Your feet should be on each side of that line, but not directly on it. If your feet are too narrow, you won’t have lateral balance. Additionally, keep your front toe pointed toward your opponent—not inward.

Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart so you’re able to lift either leg easily and balance on it for a few seconds. This last point is important: you want both legs in play at all times, ready to check kicks and throw them with ease and speed.

If you want a case-in-point example of the power of a good stance, check out Petchmorrakot’s defeat of the incredibly experienced and Wiley Saenchai utilizing an incredibly tight and measured stance (among other things), in one of Saenchai’s rare defeats.