This Article is part of te Kickboxing Beginners Series.
In Kickboxing, there is no hard and fast rule about the exact stance that you should adopt. Everyone is different and so is suited to a slightly different stance.
There is however a basic stance that you can use and gradually tailor to yourself as you improve and progress.
First, we need to think about what your stance is for. If we understand it then we can tailor it to our needs and be able to tell whether the change has been for better or worse.
Your stance is your base. It’ purpose is to provide you a solid grounding from which to throw your techniques.
It also gives you mobility with balance and grounding. From your stance, you should be able to move around freely and throw techniques at any point whilst remaining balanced at all times.
Your stance should allow you to flow freely and allow power to be developed and be directed freely through the body.
Ok, that’s what your stance should do, but how do you find your stance?
In Boxing a right handed fighter is called an orthodox and fights with their left hand/foot forward. A left handed fighter is called a southpaw and fights with their right hand/foot forward.
I am going to describe everything from the point of view of an orthodox fighter. You can simply reverse everything for a southpaw.
Stand facing forwards with both your feet together.
Take one easy step forward with your left foot.
Move your right foot out to your right about half a step.
Rotate your back foot out about 45 degrees ( to about half past one on a clock).
Make fists and bring your hands up to your chin (just above your chin so that you are protecting your face).
Bring in your elbows so that your arms are protecting your body.
Bend your knees slightly and come up onto the balls of your feet.
Relax! You should be comfortable and balanced in this position.
That’s it! That covers the basic stance.
You can check your stance is alright by bouncing up and down on your toes. You should find it relatively easy and should not struggle to maintain your balance.
N.B.
If you follow the instructions exactly then this won’t be a problem, but it is a mistake that I see lot of people making early on.
Do not line your feet up. Draw a line between your target and your back foot. If your front foot is on or close to that line then you are poorly balanced. You will struggle to move from side to side easily and a push from the side (like a round kick) will push you off balance and possibly knock you over.
If you are orthodox then your front foot should be at least half a step to the left of that line and half a step to the right if you are a southpaw.
Next - The Jab.