@ what point in Royce's carrer did he switch his fighting stance? i used to watch ufc 1-4 over & over to study how royce would get the clinch. i know for sure that he would stand southpaw for these 4 ufcs. i even asked him if he was a lefty when he came to hawaii, & he said he wasn't but he felt more comfortable fighting like that.
i too am right handed but feel more comfortable taking a southpaw stance. so i thought that was cool to base my game off Royce. then he took time off from fighting & ended up back in japan.
i don't have a lot of his fights since his return so i don't know @ what point he started fighting right handed. i did notice that Royce's stand up looks a lot worse than now than when he fought southpaw.
the old Royce shot in fast & threw front kicks that looked decent. now (right handed stance) he looks a little more uneasy on the stand up (doesn't move as freely) and doesn't throw any front kicks & his roundhouse kicks look like he is scared to throw them or doesn't follow through with them. the way he trys to clinch his opponents now remind me of how Rickson does it. it's like he's hopping into the clich rather than shooting (a lot slower than his southpaw stance) & leaving himself a little more open.
since he isn't trying to learn stand up to trade with his opponents do you think it was wise of him to change his stance? shouldn't he have stuck to southpaw and learned stand up from there?
i'm rooting for him cuz he is my friend & my bjj idol but i just wanted to see if anyone could answer my question.
-todd
wow so many royce fans & no one knows.
He changed when they outlawed the front stomp kick.
All bjj and judo standup is right side forward for right handed fighter. It is the same as wrestling.
I guess what happened is that Royce started getting striking training and the trainer got him to stand the conventional way with left foot forward and this has messed up his shoots etc. Since grappling is Royce's strong suit I think he should have learned striking as a southpaw.
Interestingly Yoshida has this same problem..he even commented on it in an interview. Grappling based fighters would do better learning southpaw striking for the most part.
thanks for the info.
yeah i noticed the same with kerr & coleman. it was so obvious when they were planning on striking & when they were going to shoot in.
chance, that's why lefty's have an easier time learning to strike w/ takedowns imo. maybe should just learn left-side judo.
"All bjj and judo standup is right side forward for right handed fighter. It is the same as wrestling.
I guess what happened is that Royce started getting striking training and the trainer got him to stand the conventional way with left foot forward and this has messed up his shoots etc. Since grappling is Royce's strong suit I think he should have learned striking as a southpaw."
that's interesting. makes a lot of sense
FCTV, I've been trying to find that Yoshida interview where he talks about the striking messing up his judo stance, it is interesting read.
"maybe should just learn left-side judo."
Heh, I would say keep the right sided judo and learn left-side striking. Notice how guys like Caol Uno, Kid, and Gomi all stand right side forward (southpaw) for their striking? It is so as not to compromise their takedowns I would guess.
"Heh, I would say keep the right sided judo and learn left-side striking."
i would say so too, but if you're strength is grappling i would think it easier to learn the opposite stance in that rather than going w/ the powerhand front for striking. at least that's what my boxing coach says.
ps. kid and gomi i think are exceptions for sure.
yeah - who outlawed that kick to the knees? PRIDE UFC? It seems you can still kick directly to the knees from your back (in buttscoot).
You are still allowed to kick the knee with a round kick though, am I right?
FCTV808 you box? you gotta show me tomorrow @ practice.
for the last 1.5 years, all i've been doing is a 1-2 combo. over and over and over. everytime they try to teach me something else, it's always the same after a few minutes, "fctv, why don't you just go back to throwing the 1-2 combo again" and then a loud sigh from coach mike who's always shaking his head.
:-(
I too am a righty that fights standup lefty; however, I feel as though it affects when I shoot for the double leg takedown and even sometimes in trying to shoot in for a high-crotch...although if I have the chance to switch-step and shoot righty, it feels much smoother.
What's funny is, my power punch in a literal sense is my right hand, but I just dont feel comfortable standing in a righty stance. Also in Muay Thai, my switch steps and righty kicks are much stronger than my left, but I just feel right standing and moving as a southpaw...my Kru says that if time to learn wasn't an issue, everyone should learn to box/fight from both sides, but that rarely happens...
anyway, I'm getting long here...anyone have any thoughts regarding this or think maybe Royce might be facing some of the same issues?
Thanks!