The overly wide stances and the leaning backward postures seen in tournaments may help prevent the opponent from scoring but they cause bad habits. Under other conditions, such as on the street, the habits expose you to leg kicks and expose the upper body due to the lowered guard.

• Reliable Stance. Elbows in front, fists near cheekbones, palms inward, chin tucked. Stance wide enough for stability yet narrow enough for mobility. Torso angled enough to the side to present fewer targets yet not so much as to prevent use of the reverse/cross punch. Knees bent for mobility and jumping.

• Fighting Posture. A fighting posture, whether it be offensive or defensive, should radiate confidence and intimidate the opponent. Usually, fighters use a loosely based front stance with a slight bouncing motion while shifting weight forward and backward and using footwork to ensure distance between fighters is not fixed. Knees are bent and the stance is flexible. Fists guard the body and point toward the opponent ready to punch, snapping back to this position after each attack.

Lefties Rule

Left-handed people have been found to be more prone to some health problems, suggesting the trait ought to disappear naturally over many generations through natural selection. However, left-handers continue to make up a small proportion of the human population, hinting there could also be some evolutionary advantage to being left-handed. In addition, the ratio of left-handers to right-handers is higher in successful sportspeople than it is in the general population, suggesting there is an advantage to being left-handed. The researchers hypothesized that, because of the advantage in sports, there could be a similar advantage in fights; the theory being that right-handed competitors are less accustomed to facing left-handers.