In this lesson you will learn how to do a Left Lead Muay Thai Fighting Stance. In the beginning, you should practice your fighting stance in front of a mirror. Once your stance is good, you can start walking forward and backward, and then you can start practicing the basic Muay Thai kicks, knee strikes, punches, etc. Find more Muay Thai instructions at Muay Thai Main. There is also a new video section with Muay Thai videos from Thailand.
Execution
In a left lead Muay Thai fighting stance, you stand with your left leg and your left hand forward.
The right hand/glove should stay on your temple the whole time. The right forearm is aligned vertically and the elbow stays close to the upper body.
The left hand is about one fist in front of your left eyebrow, and the elbow is close to the upper body, so your forearms are almost parallel and protect the upper part of your torso. You’re not supposed to lower your lead hand below chin height. Muay Thai fighters with a low lead hand usually have weak shin blocks, weak elbow strikes, or just weak shoulders.
Keep your chin down and look straight forward. Don’t turn your head to the side.
Keep your upper body upright and don’t hollow your back. You can keep your abdominals tight, but don’t cramp or round your upper body too much.
Don’t turn your upper body more than 30 degrees to the side. Stay pretty straight, but not as straight as in Western boxing.
Relax your hips.
The knees are bent slightly (but almost extended). A lot of beginners crouch down too much.
Elevate both heels. Traditionally, both heels should be about three fingers off the ground.
When you look at your stance from the front, there should be between one shoulder-width and one foot of space between your feet. There should also be at least one shoulder-width of space between your feet when you look at your stance from the side. If the space is too big, you won’t be able to move fast enough. If your stance is too small, it will be easy for your opponent to wipe you off your feet.
Advice
When you practice the Muay Thai fighting stance, stick to this form as closely as possible. In the ring, nobody cares about perfect technique. But if you start practicing with a bad stance, your stance in the ring will be even worse.
Practice all the basic techniques from the Muay Thai fighting stance.
In this video, former Lumpinee Champion Kru Phon from Muay Thai Santai is teaching one of his students the Muay Thai fighting stance.
Again, in Muay Thai you are not supposed to lower your guard below chin level. That’s because kicks to the mid-section are blocked with the shin.
Videos
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