Having a solid foundation in stance is important in all martial arts.
This post will look specifically at the muay thai stance in 3 different parts.
- Why stance is important and why you should and can practice it a lot
- Stance Fundamentals
- Aspects that make it unique and distinct
1. Why Stance is Important
One area of Muay thai and all martial arts that can be practiced and mastered effectively with solo training is the stance.
It can be practiced virtually anywhere, anytime and should be done whenever you have free time to really lay a good and solid foundation for yourself.
Chinese kung fu used to require 1-2 years of horse stance alone before a teacher would teach the student the basic techniques.
While not as extreme as past Chinese kung fu practices I think you all understand how much a strong and solid stance meant to former kung fu masters and why you should practice stance as much as possible.
The good thing is you can practice almost anywhere, anytime with just a little bit of space.
Next let’s look at the fundamental aspects that make up the muay thai stance. The last three discussed aspects are for me the most distinct features.
2. Muay Thai Stance Fundamentals
Feet “About” Shoulder Width Apart
It doesn’t have to be exact but you should balanced and and be able to move in all directions as well as defending attacks and launching your own.
Slightly on the balls of your feet
You should rarely ever be flat footed. Keep your heels slightly off the floor.
Rear foot slightly heavier
More weight on back foot.
This allows for the lead leg to always be ready to defend and attack. This also allows for the distinct muay thai “bounce” or “marching” movement.
But this will change throughout a fight or sparring session to 50/50, lead heavy – so it is more fluid and not strictly to be done all the time.
Power at rear
Power side i.e dominant side, left or right handed is at the rear.
Orthodox – right hand and right leg at rear. Southpaw is left hand and leg at rear.
Both hands touch the face.
Your gloves should slightly touch both sides of your face for a solid protected guard.
As you get more advanced your hands will be more fluid and use different guards such as the distinct muay thai long guard.
Chin tucked and head down and shoulders raised
Think of a turtle. Chin tucked head down together with raising your shoulders keeps you in the “turtle shell” and in a safer position.
*Back slightly rounded or slouched* : This is a distinct feature of the muay thai stance and with the shoulders raised and chin tucked head down position, this is favored among nak muay to use for clinch entries and defenses.
*Elbows slightly out*: Another unique feature of muay thai is the elbows a little out from the body. Again this is to defend clinch and make checking and defending kicks more efficient as well.
*Hips square to opponent*: Unlike other striking martial arts like boxing, karate and Taekwondo which favor a more bladed stance (think Connor Macgregor style stance).
3. Unique Aspects of the Muay Thai Stance
The last three aspects of the fundamental muay thai stance just discussed above are the three that to me make distinct and easily recognizable.
Some of the reasons these aspects are part of the muay thai stance are due to the scoring system and favoured techniques favoured by muay thai fighters.
The rules in muay thai and scoring system would favor a more traditional muay thai stance due.
Three main aspects that make the muay thai stance distinct also are the most effective defensive and offensive stance characteristics.
These are the muay thai stance aspects of:
- elbows slightly out away from the body.
- hips square to opponent.
- back rounded or slouched
Elbows slightly out : Clinch Defensive and Attack/Blocking Body/High Kicks
The muay thai clinch is a major, major part of muay thai fighting and training.
Clinching allows a fighter to display dominance over their opponent and strike with knees and elbows which score highly.
Therefore having the elbows a little bit more out in comparison to boxing and kickboxing allows one to better defend against an incoming clincher and to be able to get a better defensive position in the clinch.
Hips Square : Blocking and checking kicks – Low/Body/High Kick Defense
The more squared up muay thai stance allows a fighter to check low kicks and middle kicks and block high kicks more effectively.
Blocking with your hands alone can be considered a score by the kicker in muay thai. And using the leg/shin to block covers up more of your body against kicks.
Therefore in order to keep ahead of your opponent on the scorecard its important to check kicks properly with the legs and hands. This is better achieved through the more squared up muay thai stance.
As kicks score highly in muay thai and body and head kicks are favored a lot by most muay thai fighters, its important to have a safe and effective kick defense.
Having a more squared up stance allows for this on both sides of your body i.e defending your opponents lead and rear kicks.
Back rounded – Clinch and Head Defense (turtle shell)
Having your shoulders raised is common in virtually all striking arts to protect your chin in the “turtle shell”.
In muay thai this is more emphasized with the round back which is quite a distinct feature of the muay thai stance from other martial arts stances.
This aspect of over exaggerated hunched shoulders and a rounded back is also used in judo.
In making this comparison its easy to see why this part of the stance is crucial to defend against clinchers.
Especially if your clinch game is not strong and your opponent is far superior in the clinch you need your arms, neck, shoulders and traps all active to be able to slip out when your opponents tries to clinch or when you do inevitably do get clinched up, getting and keeping yourself in a strong and stable defensive position.
Muay Thai Stance Final Thoughts
So I have just basically discussed some of the important aspects of the muay thai stance.
You will notice that a lot of these aspects are common across most striking martial arts.
I have also pointed out three important and distinct aspects of the muay thai stance that make it easily recognizable and how these relate to the overall technique set and rules and scoring in muay thai matches.
Importantly if you do practice muay thai the stance is one foundational aspect that you can practice virtually anywhere anytime and should be practiced a lot especially when a beginner but throughout your muay thai learning and training.
