Part 1
Introduction
In fighting, a good rule to understand is there are no rules. At any time, a fist could come from any angle to sever one’s consciousness. That being said, there are many rules that can be applied to good effect. One of the golden rules in open stance match ups – meaning one fighter orthodox and one fighter southpaw – is that the fighter with their foot on the outside has the advantage. This is often, but not always true.
Through this 3-part article we will explore some of the ways the inside foot position can be used advantageously. Part 1 will focus on applications of the lead hand. Part 2 will focus on the ease of diagonal movement from the inside position and part 3 will focus on obtaining and using the T position. Bear in mind that these three points often work in tandem and are much more effective when used together. I’m not saying the inside position is the only way to fight in an open stance matchup. nor that the outside foot position is wrong. There are many applications of the outside foot position, and I will surely do a series of articles on it at some point. Anyway, onto the article.
The lead hand
During a typical open stance matchup you often see fighters predominantly fighting with their back hand.
One of the reasons for this is that, in a typical open stance matchup, the lead hands are placed very close together. This obscures their path to the intended target (hands in way of face) making it relatively hard to land lead punches in open stance matchups. This is why you often see lead hands pawing against each other (or, in Darren Tills case, frantically flapping) rather than being used as an offensive weapon. *Gif of obscure lead hands*
This has led to a metagame of stepping to the outside of your opponent to set up the rear hand.
Having the foot on the outside brings the rear shoulder in line with the opponent’s head and, as we all know, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line
(Author’s note. I held true to this as a postman, and I’d like to apologise to anyone’s garden I stamped through in the name of efficiency. Except Number 10 Brunel road. I’m glad I walked through your garden just to experience an old person shout “Get off my lawn)
.. Anyway, having the shoulder lined up with the head allows the rear straight to be thrown the shortest distance meaning it’s going to be the fastest strike. The threat of the left straight also sets up the infamous southpaw double attack (as seen in Edwards vs Usman).
Now here’s the kicker.. or puncher. When a fighter lines their rear hand up with their opponents’ head. They also line up their opponents’ lead hand up with their own head. This gives the lead hand an unobscured path and allows it to be used unhindered. Now that both fighters have open lines to their targets, one with their lead hand and the other with their rear, the rear punch will still tend to come off better. This is due to the rear punch typically having more power.
Experience partially mitigates this risk. You see, a fighter that more often fights in open stance matchups will be more aware of the opponent lining up the rear hand. Knowing what’s coming is the first step to successfully countering it.
An example of this is Joe Calzaghe. Joes an unusual southpaw in that the majority of his work is done on the inside. Knowing that the rear hand is coming he’ll often use a pull combined with a lead hook to counter it. Knocking his opponent off balance he’ll follow his hook with a combo before escaping on a 45-degree angle (covered in part two) Or inside pivot to a T-position (covered in part three)
A different application is demonstrated by the hilariously misinformed Manny Pacquiao
(Author’s note: most famous for his iconic quote “gay people are worse than animals because even animals are not gay” *Not verbatim* When you see this, Manny. I suggest you read ‘Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity’).
Manny would use his jab to dart in on the inside angle. Using his speed and the surprise of an underutilised technique to catch his opponents off guard. He’d then combo off 3-4 punches before, Like Joe, retreating on an angle or inside pivoting to the T-position. This works exceptionally well because the lead hand is placed closer to the opponent than the opponents’ rear hand and therefore gets to the target faster.
A final point. This position is effective simply because it’s where the lead hand can generate the most power. A punch is at its strongest when the point that the fist connects is in line with the puncher’s lead foot. If the point that the punch connects with is outside the foot the punch will not have as much distance to travel and have less speed. If the point is on the inside, the puncher punches across themselves, sacrificing balance.
To visualise this. Imagine your lead food lined up with a punch bag and throwing a lead hook. The lead hook would hit with its maximum power. Now Imagine the punch bags outside your lead foot. You would not be able to fully rotate before your hands meet the bag. If the bag was inside your lead foot you would end up punching across yourself which lessens power and risk you losing balance if you miss (analogy still stands (unlike people missing the punchbag) because we’ve all seen people miss a punchbag)
Summary (Tldr)
In summary, the lead hand on the inside position: Has a clear path to your opponent. Has a speed advantage due to being closer and hits as hard as a lead can hit.
Outro
So. I hope everyone had as much fun reading this as I did when making all of this up.. I mean, researching and writing this. I’m aiming to release this series weekly, so to my mum and the three other people reading this, stay tuned.
