Southpaw Foot Positioning By Chris Camozzi

Being a southpaw in a world full of orthodox fighters can be an interesting one. There are certain things that as a southpaw that you have to keep in mind that orthodox fighters just don’t have to. This is because when you are sparring, you are probably going to be going up against orthodox fighters most of the time. This means that you're going to get used to fighting against orthodox fighters than orthodox fighters will be used to fighting against southpaws. This is called an open stance scenario, where both fighters' chests are facing in the same direction.

This is actually the source of what is called the “Southpaw Advantage” being the reason why southpaws tend to do disproportionately well in combat sports. It's because they just have flat out more experience against opponents in an open stance scenario. Opponent’s that don’t have that same experience. This is why if you are a southpaw, you need to know every little trick in the book against an orthodox fighter to take full advantage of the experience gap. 

This same logic also applies to orthodox fighters that don’t want to go into the southpaw trap. If you’re an orthodox fighter, you need to be aware of southpaw tactics. This is not only so you can defend against them but also use them yourself when you fight against southpaws.

Utilize Superior Footwork

In this video, Chris Camozzi goes over a few southpaw foot positioning tactics that he likes to use against Orthodox fighters. Chris Camozzi is an american kickboxer and MMA fighter. He used to compete in the UFC’s middleweight division and also competed in the middleweight division of GLORY kickboxing. He also appeared as a contestant on the 11th season of the Ultimate Fighter back in 2010. 

Technique Breakdown

The video starts off with Chris going over one of his favorite ways t o gain and maintain superior foot position in an open stance scenario. In an open stance scenario you want to have your lead foot on the outside of your opponent’s. This way your rear side power shots are lined up to land better than theirs. 

To gain this position, Chris likes to throw a lead leg low kick to the outside of his opponent’s lead leg. This way he can score a point and a solid hit and also gain or maintain foot position. This is because after landing the leg kick it is very easy and even natural to put your lead foot on the outside of your opponent’s. Chris throws this lead leg low kick in a pendulum style, meaning he brings up his back leg first and then slides in to land the kick. Landing hard isn’t the point, it’s landing and gaining that position that’s important. Doing this kick will also stop them from moving and plant their feet. tHis will make it easier for you to follow up with strikes.

After setting your foot down you can then go into other strikes and combinations. From this superior foot position Chris goes into a lead hook rear straight combination to finish off the video. 

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