Marching Position One (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

Position Zero is the shape you take for your fighting stance. Left foot forward (orthodox) is the L-stance. Right foot forward (southpaw) is the J-stance.

Position One is about turning your lead foot into your new rear foot by turning it out, typically by stomping to the outside. Pretend there's a line leading out from your lead foot, step to the outside of that line. However, like all of our positions, there are degrees of freedom based on the context. You can also step and turn in place or pivot in place, or any combination. However, if you step into the turn, you're grounded and in a position to block a low kick. When you pivot in place, you'll be late to block and detached from the ground, leaving you susceptible to sweeps.

If you step forward with your rear foot, you're now in a new stance. In the above video, I am starting from L-stance, moving to Position One, moving to J-stance, moving to Position One, and so on.

I'm making sure I'm always breathing on the back of my hand. That way, as I switch stances, I always know to bring one of my hands back to cover my mouth. That general rule of breathing on the back of one of your hands will ensure you always have proper hand position, whether punching or kicking.

– Sam