Southpaw vs orthodox

[knightxrider1]

Im a righty. but Ive always fought Taekwondo southpaw. Ive been very successful for nine years now. I can kick well w both legs. I can switch legs and still be as good as the other side. I once remember a TKD coach asked me if i was a righty or lefty.. I said righty.. And he said. "oka.. as long as your comfortable."

I snowboard goofy, Skate goofy.

I went to a MMA/kick boxing class today. And the guy insisted that i stay orthodox, Right hand (power hand) in back. It felt really awkward. The circles and side to side are completely new to me. The footwork is completely different than TKD. It feels better and easier going SouthP..

I was wondering.. Starting a whole new Martial arts and your experienced opinion.. Wat do you think? Should i keep SP or try to practice in orthodox even tho... Its really awkward.

 

[sohclubkid]

IMO... I say if your already feeling comphortable southpaw, then work on your ortho... once your good with that, working southpaw will be easier... and being good at both will obviously have its advantages.

 

[31dev31]

When I trained Goju-Ryu a couple years ago, I always had my power side to the back and the weaker side to the front. In this case; right hand and foot in the back and left hand and foot in the front.

 

[oddeb707]

I would stay in your comfort zone since you're an amateur at this new discipline. Then after, when you get the hang of everything, experiment with the orthodox stance. In MMA you pretty much are square with your opponent anyway to avoid take-downs. Switching stances doesn't require much movement.

 

[knightxrider1]

thanks for the comments everyone. i think im going to try sticking w ortho because its true. you can punch harder w power hand in back.. And im guessing.. The circles and side to sides will become easier w practice. but if all else fails. definitely switching to wat im used to for nine years.

in the end. i dont think im going to join this school. the class wasnt impressive.. the teacher was kinda stubborn and.. i just didnt get a good "hardcore vibe" i barely broke a sweat.

But.. off to other schools i guess.

 

[bizoneoeh]

alot of e-fighters go South paw

 

[obracer12]

to tell you the truth it is so much harder to fight a southpaw then an ortho.. but if your comfortable one way stay with that..

 

[JiuJitsu_greg]

When trying out a new school I would recommend you stay for a week or two to get the total feel of the place. Personally when I teach I like to run my students through the ringer and try and break them mentally. I usually extend our warmups to 30-45 minutes of takedowns, bear crawls, sprawls, suicides, elbow escapes, jacares then follow it with the technique/rolling. But my instructor keeps things more basic with a light warmup mixed with technique and then rolling. Sometimes as a coach your have to have a few days to see how hard guys want to be pushed. I have had many guy tell me that they call the gym to see when I teach because they don't like the amount of work I put them through. To each there own but when looking at a gym look for lineage, where the trainer comes from and see if you get that "i'm home" comfortable vibe that you would want to have in a gym.

As for your stance. YOu will be told to stand many different ways depending on your trainers background. The TKD stance is something that not many people do in mma because of the fact that the bouncing that most tkd guy do is easily timed. your trainer from the sound of him probably has boxing experience. The whole idea behind boxing is that you blind the guy with the jab and hide your power hand. I'ts hard to see a right hand coming when you are being jabbed successfully. But all of this said you have to be comfortable with your stance and the only way you will find them one that works for you in putting in that time not only behind the pads but most importantly sparring. Before you start to break down your game I think you need to find a home to train at so you can experiment on a regular basis.

 

[knightxrider1]

greg: i think he was taking it light on me because he didnt wanna scare me away because it was my first day.. im definitely going to try staying right hand back until i know for sure that its just too hard. as for the school itself.. i really wasnt impressed at all by the size of gym... how many classes per week. and how long.

after the 50 min workout he pulled me right in and started talking about money. which was a real turn off for me. i cant stay for a week and make my mind then? even after suggesting it... and the payment was a Paid in full deal.. So... Id pay him 700 up front.. or 350 350 which... was not a good go for me.

theres 3 more schools in the area. so im still shopping. but i wanna get back into a fighting sport..