Southpaw training

[Bruce888]

Hi All,

I have been going to a muai thai gym for about 3 months now and am really enjoying it. However one thing that is a bit of a pain is i seem to be the only southpaw in the gym.

All the punches / kicks / combos etc are all demonstrated in the orthodox stance. Its not that hard to convert it to southpaw but sometimes i think maybe i should just train like all the other guys to make it easier on everyone (training partners).

Also becasue i am a southpaw alot of the moves the coaches are showing dont work on me so well because my stance is not like that demonstrated.

Some of my training partners, particularly other beginners, get frustrated because i am not in the stance the coach has just demonstrated. I hope i dont get a rep in the gym as being awkward to train with, no one will want to train with me.

Does anyone have any advice, similar problem, words of encouragement?

Cheers

[Romeoblood]

I am also southpaw

it has its drawbacks and its positives when it comes to training but it is a weapon when it comes to fighting

Master your southpaw techniques and mix that in with some orthodox stuff and you'll have no trouble being a successful fighter

[hurricane]

i love training southpaws.

[Allan Shrek]

They should all be drowned at birth.

[H1SSY]

If you are just going over techniques let your opponent practice on you in orthodox stance and then switch when its your turn to do the technique. In sparring aswell, you will be a blessing for anybody fighting a southpaw as you will be the only natural southpaw.

any good trainer should be able to manage fighters in both stances easily.

[vileniall]

i'm a southpaw my training partner is southpaw and at our mma club its about 40% southpaw.

[RichH1]

Being Southpaw is awesome, its nothing but a help for your other training partners as they will be used to them, and for you its a good weapon for when you fight as your opponent will spend most of a round to get used to it

[Knowls3y]

They should all be drowned at birth.

how rude im a southpaw.....but yeah you got a point we should be drowned at birth....saves us and the world a lot of trouble ;)

[thaison]

I dont find southpaws as hard to deal with in thai or mma as they are in straight boxing.

Your coach is obvioulsy clued up enough to have you stand with your stronger side back so he should be cool to tailor everything for you to learn how to fight southpaw, depending on factors such as age and previous expierence if its that much of a problem you could be taught how to fight aurthodoxed from day one.

Alot of thai's can fight pretty comfortable from both stances also which obviously gives them more attacking and defensive possibilities

[waikru]

I'm also a southpaw and didn't have any training issues but I did learn to fight both styles so I could switch during technique training.....any good coach can teach to both styles.

[mr_nev]

Stick with it, its great being a Southpaw, its big advantage when it comes to fighting/sparring but you are right can be a pain when training with a partner in a class situation as you will often be shown things that won't work from your stance. It could be a good idea to discuss this with you coach.

If something isn't working for you, you could try and adapt it, try stepping at a different angle etc, switch part way through or whatever (switch hitting can be a usefull thing to learn). Or ask your coach for an alternative techniques. Myself I ended up often changing the drills to ones that came more naturally (obviously be sensitive to what you coach thinks about this, it could come across as arogant if you just start doing your own thing i.e - you think you know better!). Or as H1SSY suggested just switch, not the most satisfactory answer but sometimes its the least frustating option.

Obviously you will develope your own style over time but I have found the following usefull:

For sparring the standard advice is to rotate right keeping yourself away from their cross. Keep your right foot to the right of their lead foot. If your in that position your in a much better position to attack & they are at a disadvantage, they'll need to turn & face you. I've found the jab to be much less affective as a southpaw but a good snappy cross punch to bang them with is very handy you something they will very often be vurerable to :cool:

Against orthordox people I've had I have alot of success with the following individual techniques:
Cross
Lead Hook
Lead over hand (somewhere bettween a hook & a jab)
Rear over hand (like a long range hook).
Lead body hook
lead uppercut
Inside leg kick to there lead leg (you'll need to step out to your right first).
Rear leg push kick (practice it enough and you can throw it really quick - its powerful & people dont expect it.
Rear leg body kick. (works best if thrown at a deeper angle, more directly into the front of the body)

[qixing]

Stick to southpaw, its better anyway, better to be more awkward for opponants.I disagree quite strongly with you practising orthodox to accomodate the class and your training partners.Unless you want to learn how to be orthodox that is, but I would definately stick to your guns.If your instructor is any good then they should be able to easily adapt everything for you if your training partner is orthodox.To be honest I think a decent instructor should be able to switch stance and comfortably be able to demonstrate in either stance.Im orthodox, but have spent a lot of time practicing southpaw just so I can easily instruct and pad southpaws, its not hard!

Anyway as you get better if your the only southpaw you will be an asset not a hinderance to all your triaing partners as they get to practice with a southpaw.You never know they meet one in the ring one day!

[waikru]

Anyway as you get better if your the only southpaw you will be an asset not a hinderance to all your triaing partners as they get to practice with a southpaw.You never know they meet one in the ring one day!

I totally agree and being a southpaw myself I can definately vouch for that..........

[MrHillman]

am orthordox but regardless, when doing techniques I always always do set with orthordox stance and switch to southpaw, I train both, but I need to really, Right handed, but "Left Footed" so I enjoy switching and confusing the fuck out of people, do what you do, and switch stance.

[starwar1]

I am southpaw as well but can fight Orthodox as well. When sparring i all so like to mid way through the fight like to swap stance and mix it up. I am one off the lucky one in that one of my MMA instructors is all so southpaw. I recommend trying to learn to fight both Orthodox and southpaw as i can give you a big advantage in a fight.

[Dr Sick]

If anyone is interested, we put up a few videos and an article on the subject. It was written and shot to assist orthodox fighters in dealing with Southpaws, but it really doesn't matter. The techniques and theory work the same in reverse. Just step to the right and use the Straight Left rather than stepping left and using the Straight Right.

The public video is here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT-le47w31g

You can read the full article with a couple few extra video clips and tricks here:

http://damagecontrolmma.com/how-to-fight-a-southpaw/

Finally, two months ago we had 4 guys fight in a local promotion Steelfist Fights. They put out a highlight video and you can see our guys in it. Our student Curtis Johnson breaks his opponent's arm with an Omoplata (guy wouldn't tap), but that's kind of beside the point. The other three of our fighters that night used these basics to deal with their left handed opponents.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjLDuYXXH1Q

Kensei Sato used the step left right kick to catch his opponent off guard and drop him with a follow up left hook. Then Sterling Nitsuma and Daniel Berry both used the fundamentals to KO their opponent's outright with the step and slide left, straight right.

Best of luck.

I hope to meet some great people on here and make more friends form the UK!

[Mattchoo]

Don't train in orthodox just to make life easier for your training partners. If they can't manage to hold pads in the opposite stance for you then choose somebody else to train with as it is an effortless task!

It's good that you are southpaw like people have said anyway as you will only be helping your partners out, also in sparring switch between stances as I think it is very important to be able to do both or you are half the fighter in terms of creativity.

[lindajamison76]

thanks for the info..


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[dunny]

train both ways, it gives you more options, especially if you get your leg took out or you break your hand. versatility is the key