Different Stances & Guards | A Full Breakdown

Today we look at the pro and cons of different stances and guards. There is no right and wrong (for the most part). There is simply understanding each, trying it out and establishing what works best for you.
Basically don't knock it until you try it. Watch the video, try out the different stances and guards, and see which works best for you.
If you enjoyed the video please like, share and/or subscribe 🙏🙏🙏
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[mykulpierce]

Stances:
1:42 Muay Thai
2:47 Traditional Kickboxing / Dutch
3:29 Summary of Muay Thai and Dutch
3:49 Lengthened stances
4:40 Narrow and Long / Karate / Bladed
Guards Intro 6:18
6:23 Muay Thai
7:08 Traditional Kickboxing / Dutch
8:02 extended lead hand + tight rear
9:40 Philly Shell
11:09 Long Guard

[Joselopr]

Do a breakdown of Stephen "Woderboy" Thompson, Raymond Daniels, Michael "Venom" Page and Conor McGregor's styles

[wanabisufi]

I'm an Okinawan/traditional karate guy that transitioned to MMA and I teach both.

What frustrates me about traditional karate stances is that so many are transitional, yet karate people insist on trying to stay in those stances and fight from there instead of the stance that Gabriel highlights above (Which are awesome)

[oldschoolkarate-o]

this is the best stance breakdown on youtube, i’m a karate guy who just recently got interested in kickboxing . thanks sir

[mykulpierce]

A note about the Philly Shell and the long guard.
Philly: as you mentioned with the long stance you have the option to lift the front leg. Which is exactly what Bill superfoot Wallace did during his undefeated reign in PKA. The way you deal with kicks is by counter kicking. Jabs combo to lead kick attacks and vice versa.
The long guard can be used with an arrow stance, but what you do is not try to deflect strikes directly but to smother them by pressing on the inside of the elbow. Great example of this is George Foreman's return to boxing and his later career.

[rqcgxje]

This is awesome Gabriel, I've been brainstorming a lot on how to incorporate different stances into my own unique fight style depending on type of opponent, distance, etc... so thank you!

[MatadorM]

Ah dude, as a TKD practitioner I felt that burn. To be fair one is instructed in keeping the arms up but a lot of people in competitions keep their hands down because of the fighting rules. In TKD you are not allowed to punch the face so they only need to worry about kicks. For self defense it’s different. We train hitting the whole body and we train elbow and knee strikes as well as takedowns.

But I have to agree that the way KB and MT way of training and competing is much better to train for a real fight. I’m thinking about training either of the two and some MMA/JJ. And your passion for KB has inspired me. Great videos!

[nvanguy]

Gabriel i was sparring this guy at my muay thai class that was fighting me like a point karate fighter i found it super frustrating and akward
He would just explode w single shots and had akward timing. I normally leg kick karate guys cause they stand bladed but this guy was in a square stance. I feel like i should have pressured him with boxing, but he had fast reaction time . Another annoying thing he was doing was when id leg kick hed just pull his leg back about 6 inches and i was hyper extending my foot on his leg😂😂😂
I am going to use this, it was actually very effective

[sergiobatista]

This is definitely one of the best instructive videos about martial arts and fighting in general (be it for sports combat or real fighting). I knew about most of the stances, but I have learned a few more things with this video. Thank you for the video (and also all other videos in general).

[chucknorris]

This is an incredibly important video. Great job. Favorited. People, esp people who just got started, who train Muay Thai or something similar(or even boxing) should watch this video.

I also built my fighting style around my guard, protecting my head, like you. In fact you could say I modelled my fighting style somewhat on yours; though our kicking style is somewhat different. I fight with a priority on protecting my head and thus I use a high guard normally. I'll deflect punches and counter, or attack, and my guard deflects their counter(s), and I can continue my combo. Assuming all goes well of course. I like low kicks and body kicks, and body knees(provided Im clinching: I can only rarely land standing knees, flying knees slightly more success).

[paulpelle]

Yeah, that Ramon Dekkers guard that u showed in another vid, I’m gonna start trying that style in my sparring, but definitely need to alternate guards depending on opponent, circumstances, and distance. 🙏

[KeastKannegaard]

This the only video im missing in defensive course. This video is just that good on explaining stances and guards.

[blakerunyon]

Extended lead hand for me. Also known as the intelligent left. Works well for me especially if you’re into using quick footwork for evasion. Great vid champ as always!

[jamesthorne]

I like to use a hybrid stance of the karate and long kickboxing... Shortening it sometimes for power kicks going long for lead leg attacks and power punches n knees

[yosigam]

This is absolutly one of the best videos you made! Awsome work!

[brandonseibert]

P4p greatest YouTube kickboxing instructor 👊 keep it up this channel needs to blow up!

[MdLif]

I think the lengthened stances are better for kicking styles of Karate or Taekwondo. I did train in both of them for a total of 7 years so I'm using around 60%-70% of different kicks(round kicks, horse kicks, frontkicks, headkicks, etc...) and for kick like horse kicks I must to turn my front leg around to turn the whole body and fire the kick, and with Muay Thai stance it's almost impossible to kick like that and keep balance.
Also I'm tall guy so it's good to keep my distance and use it for my advantage.
I think that your height and kicking styles is also things to consider and can be helpful when choosing stance, and wasn't mentioned in the video.

[SelfRighteousBasterd]

Great video, probably the most underrated and least covered topic in fighting sports. Do you think that a personal fighting style should be built from the defense up or from the offense down? I've always looked at stance/guard as a foundation to a house, solid foundation makes for a solid building platform. Cheers!

[MagicMartin]

Thank you for breaking them down, plus pros n cons

[khuraym]

Absolute legendary video I wanted to see this and when will you make the spin kicks without losing balance video ?Thanks