Which is more important for MMA?

Date: Wednesday, 19 March 2008

Let’s say you’re in a mixed martial arts match.  I don’t mean a pay per
view cage match or anything like that.  I just mean you’re working out
with your sparring partner on the mats and takedowns and ground
fighting are allowed.

It’s a friendly match with gloves and headgear, and both stand up and
ground fighting are allowed.

By the way – I do not like full-contact sparring, unless it’s
restricted to striking a heavy chest protector.  I don’t care what
people say about full-contact preparing you for “real” self-defense.  I
think you’ll get more injuries (some potentially chronic) from regular
full-contact training than you will from that street fight that may
never happen.

If you’re into sport full-contact or it just happens to be your
training preference, fair enough.  What I like to get out of sparring
is a chance to try out whatever I’ve been working on lately, learn
something from my partner, have some fun, and get a great sweat going.
If I can do all that, I consider it time well spent . . . and I’ll have
gotten some preparation for the street too, even if it wasn’t
full-contact.

Keep in mind though, with a heavy chest protector, you can have the
best of both worlds.  That is, a friendly match that still allows some
injury free full-contact training.

Anyway, back to my topic.  You’re in a mixed martial arts match with
your buddy.  Here’s the question:  which is more important, stance or
footwork?

Some people think stance is because you need to be able to shoot in for
a takedown, and sprawl when your partner shoots in.  This means you
need to use a version of a wrestler’s forward facing, hips away stance.

Others say footwork is king because it adds power to your strikes, can
be adjusted as you shoot in, and can keep you out of range of your
opponent when he shoots.

So which is it?

Well, nothing is 100%, but I favor footwork.  That’s not to say someone
who fights entirely from a wrestler’s stance can’t beat you.  People
get you with what they’re best at, and if they’re better at what they
do than you are at what you do, it’s not too hard to predict the
outcome.

Still, even the wrestler is going to have his footwork figured out, but
he has generally adapted it to wrestling, not striking.

Personally, I prefer a boxers stance, but a little deeper to give me
power for my kicks, and to give me a base in case I get caught off
guard when my partner shoots in.

You can find out how a nice flexible stance sets you up for strong
kicks, and blitzes on my “How to Hit Faster Than The Other Guy” DVD at
http://www.kungfufightingtips.com/products/hitFaster.php.  With the
right footwork you can make a modified boxer’s stance work for both
striking and grappling . . . which is why they call it mixed martial
arts.

Train like you mean it.