Judo stance when hitting

For a right handed person the favoured judo stance is right side forward. For me this feels natural when grappling. In thai I am told to stand left forward. This is fine for striking (I used to box) but awkward in a clich due to prior judo training. I am always changing sides when going into the clinch but the coach does not like this. Any idea why this might be bad? Any ideas to deal with this problem?

I understand, you just have to pick a side. I start everything out with my striking so im trying to switch everything to grappling with my left side forward.

If your grappling is better than your striking, then i would take the southpaw stance and work your striking from there.

the only problem with switching as you go from striking to grappling is the balance issue. even in judo when people switch stances in the middle of the action there are sometimes moments of poor balance. id say so long as you dont have that big of a balance issue and you feel comfy with it thats fine.

if i was gonna teach throws to a right handed striker though i'd make him a left handed thrower.. just cause its easier overall.

I can see I'm going to have to change either the grappling or the striking. I'm thinking striking at the moment but I can't kick with my left leg at all.

I came from a striking background.

I am now a judoka.

I am now a judoka who stands left foot forward.

You throw left but you are right handed?

More, please. I also have not reconciled these things in myself. I tend to stand left forward, grip left first, and throw right. Hmmm...

I'm right handed but learned to strike as a southpaw.
My stance has worked well with throws. So naturally
I want to learn to throw left side. Go figure, we
always want what we don't have.

Ogami Itto: I tend to stand left forward, grip left first, and throw right. Hmmm...

How does that work? Surely you're balance is all wrong if you grip left and throw right? How do you create the throw?

I'm going to try to learn to strike as a southpaw I think.

You throw left but you are right handed?correct. in judo I'm considered a "lefty". but I'm right handed. I stand in a boxers orthodox stance. (actually modified to stand a little more square)I've found being a lefty in judo can be very advantageous and sometimes problematic. (not unlike being a southpaw in striking) but if you are going to train in san shou or mma (or others eventswhere striking and grappling are combined) You will need to establish which side you're more comfortable with and stay with it. "switching" between left forward striking and right forward grappling will only create problems.

I'm just the opposite of Bull. Converted Southpaw here.

yep. either way, you've got to switch something and stay with it. of course esp, with grappling it's good to know throws from both sides.

h2o, the problem I have with a "converted" southpaw is unlike a natural southpaw, you're forward hand is your most powerful hand. so your cross, overhand, & uppercut are weaker than would be if you were switched.. I just don't like the idea of power hand front. This doesn't make it right or wrong, just my opinion..

Well yeah, a lot of people look at it like that. Here's how I look at it. I have a much more powerful jab. I can hurt people with my jab. My lead hook has become vicious.

I don't think that I would say my left hand is now weaker. I'd say that the power between my hands is now even.

I also like to step up into a left lead quite often to throw either a roundhouse, knee, or cross with the right side. Throw a combo, and instead of backing off with the jab, step up and throw another combo right on top. 1-2-3 step 1-2-3.

Not to mention that my power hand is forward for clinchwork.

So there're advantages as well as disadvantages.

Ooops! I almost forgot...

HI JUDOWOMAN!!!

So there're advantages as well as disadvantages.very true.

Eh, it depends... I learned to box when I was little with the left leg foward, so I wrestled left handed, and I do judo left handed... Even though I am right handed.

Hell, I even Fence left handed now.

Originally, when I start my martial arts training when I was a young boy it was all striking focused. Back then my instructor, Randolph Young, taught to be able to fight from an orthodox stance or southpaw stance (which is right handed in Judo but left in striking). When I started grappling I would just do both. After I continued to compete and the level of competition increased I decided to pick just one stance. This to me seemed to be the best idea so I could focus completely on one side. I decided to go southpaw because I found I liked my strong leg forward in sports that I could strike and grapple. This reason came about because I wanted my front leg to have great control so I could use it more effectively and hopefully not get taken down so easily (Kind of like a jab). As I started Judo, I found that this was a good choice because most people seem to be right handed and have a hard time teaching left handed.

ChanceDuBois,
what is your concern, getting confused in competition, proper stance for self defense, MMA or what?
Off the bat I say in a boxer's/kickboxer's distance, keep you left foot forward which is natural for you. You are not gonna grab from that distance anyway so it doesn't matter if your right foot is back. When you move in to clinch, step in with your right foot - this will automatically put your right foot forward for throws.
If you're in the clinch, I don't see the Muay Thai coach's reason for getting upset. Being able to switch either leg I would think is an an asset for throwing knee strikes from either leg and to keep your opponent off balance/confused.

Mike

I'm too old for real mma comps now so that isn't my main concern. Really its just something I've been thinking about recently. I think my main problem isn't anything to do with my upper body: I can box southpaw ok and have been boxing for years, I also find I can do upper body grappling ok with the left forward- provided its a tight clinch .

Its more a problem with my left leg which is good for nothing at all. I can't kick or knee with it in a southpaw stance, I cant shoot in with the left leg leading, and most importantly I cant use it as a lifting leg in a judo type way. Its just way too weak and uncoordinated.

At the moment I'm switching stances going into the clinch which seems to work ok for me but is a bit weak and slow I guess.

If I change to one side only I either have to put up with an inability to kick or knee and somewhat weaker hands (southpaw stance), or I lose the strong leg forward approach from judo and my grappling suffers (conventional).

What I meant was I start off left hand and foot forward because that's just generally how I fight from a kickboxing background. I grip left first - usually sleeve. Then I work throws to my left (tokui = tai otoshi). That is "throwing right," isn't it? Because the right hand is on the lapel doing the powering.

Is this bass ackwards for judo? My feet tend to switch back and forth in the clinch. Maybe that's why I suck!