Establishing An Inside Foot Position In The Open Stance With Chris Camozzi
Boxing is not a game, but it can be played in many different ways. Most people are used to see boxing fought in a closed stance (when both fighters use the same stance), but if we look at an open stance (where both have the opposite foot in front), we will notice that the tactics and skills available for us are changed almost completely.
The main thing that changes when we enter an open stance is the battle to position our foot outside of our opponent’s foot and create a line of power for my rear hand so we can land the punch, and he can’t land his.
Many fighters that are new to the open stance will not know what to do and play the game wrong as they do not address the small battles that need to be won in this stance. Ignoring those battles can happen in many ways, but the main thing that can happen is letting our opponent establish the outside foot position and move to an angle.
To deal with this problem, we must understand that even if the opponent is quicker than us and gets to the outside position, we can still follow him by staying connected to him and touching his lead hand. By touching him, we gain insight into where he will move, and we can follow him by the sense of feeling and not the sense of seeing, which is much slower in reaction.
In this video, UFC veteran Chris Camozzi will share some of his tactics when fighting with his foot positioned inside.
Who Is Chris Camozzi?
Chris Camozzi is an American professional kickboxer and MMA fighter. Chris is a UFC veteran and still fights these days professionally. Chris began his career as a wrestler in high school, but as he grew older, he became more interested in Muay Thai and BJJ, which he later used in his MMA fights. Other than an MMA career, Chris fought as a kickboxer for the lucrative organization Glory Kickboxing and managed to secure three wins with only one loss.
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Working The Inside Position
To start the video, Chris explains that when we are fighting as a southpaw against an orthodox, the optimal foot position we want to have is outside of our opponent’s foot. This way, we can line our power hand with our opponent’s centerline to land a powerful punch.
But this is not always the case when we are fighting as it is “organized chaos”. Often, our opponent will be quicker than us and will beat us for the outside position every time, making us fight with what seems to be a disadvantage.
Although Chriss shares with us that he deliberately allows his opponents to get the outside position in a lot of his fights, this might seem like a bad position as his power hand is ready to fire. Still, it also makes him predictable, as we know he will throw that right hand.
Knowing what will throw at us, we can anticipate and make the disadvantage an opportunity to counter him and catch him on his rear hand.
Chris reminds us that there is no safe place to circle into; If we circle to the right, we are open for lead punches and kicks; if we circle to the left, we are open for his power hand or leg.
So whenever we choose a side to circle into, we must make a deliberate effort and analyze what he is probably going to throw at us. For example, if we circle to the left, it should light up a red light for him to throw the rear hand or leg, and we can draw it from him, making the inside position our advantage.
Learn More From Chris Camozzi
If you liked to learn how UFC veteran Chris Camozzi uses his knowledge to make disadvantage into an advantage, you would love to check his entire system - “Southpaw Striking Fundamentals - By Chris Camozzi” available exclusively on Dynamic Striking.