Left hand/right hand

Gyck

Here's a thought provoking article . I'm right handed, and train with a right handed bias. Anything I learn has a right handed bias, despite an acknowledgement that it's more than useful to cultivate a balance between sides. So, do fighters with a left hand bias have a better chance against the rest of us right handers?

dabhal

That a pretty weak arguement, all theroy(interesting) and no fact.
It never crossed my mind that left could be better than right.
BTW I'm a leftie

Dyr

you could look at it this way, left handed people are more violent due to being frustrated from childhood by can openers, copybooks etc and are more likely to kill peaceful, well adjusted, right handed people

I find being left handed useful even if lots of the stuff i train is right handed, my "bad" left hand is a lot better than all the righties ones. When we spar or work on power shots with weapons i regularly switch hands.

oisín

Cake Fiend

It could potentially hold a tactical advantage - most people are used to sparring with right-handed opponents, so they could be less used to defending against a left-dominant fighter. Defences mightn't be as effective, or counter-attacks from successful defends mightn't be as effective. Also, most people simply wouldn't expect a left-sided attack as much as they would a righty.

I consciously overtrain certain left-sided techniques because of this. People often don't expect or are not ready for a fast front-leg snap kick for example. This is a great little number for catching people off-guard.

Another possible advantage would be the fact that most training does tend to lean towards a right-sided preference - drills are most often begun from the right side, or the right side might simply be blatantly trained more than the left (sanbon/gohon kumite anyone?). Because of this, a left-dominant person would have the advantage of a natural effectiveness with their own preferred hand, while undergoing constant right-preferential training in the dojo/club. So, theoretically, a left-handed fighter might have a more ambidextrous skillset than a right-handed fighter. I know I personally have far more control over my right-sided techniques than my left (despite the fact that ideally I should be training both equally well )

Colm_OReilly

As for the article, it's a very tenuous connection. There could be some reason that the gene 'for' left handedness also affects the gene 'for' fighting ability. The research falls down as it doesn't count what stage of development each country is in, the different amount of resources available (which is linked to how 'violent' a society is) and other factors.

As for left hand/righ hand in a fight, it doesn't play much part in the Clinch or Ground ranges.

Colm

Gyck

I'd agree with your argument in that the research pertains to unindustrialised societies. Does this mean socially unsophisticated? I'd assume that as a culture evolves martial practices, these practices would negate or factor in 'handedness'. I can also see that any advantage handedness might have would diminish beyond or within a certain range. Still, it made me think!

Dyr

hmm i tried switching hands a few times tonight, the other lad picked it up straight away and switched his stick to the left too, he was confident enough in his left not to fight off a mismatched lead. I have more power and speed in my left but its not as educated as my right so the advantage wasnt huge, just made him a bit more predictable. but then so was i guess :rolleyes:

pma-ire

All credit to the Moderators I don't mean to drag up an old thread...

But I'm a leftie and fight right handed style. As I find the drills being right biase make my less controlled hand (right one) better. The fact the my stronger left hand is used for my jab and the such give me a better sting.

Bruce Lee used to fight strong hand forward also