50/50

[disgruntled]

My ajarn suggested the other day that although it is obviously wise to know techniques on both sides, it is best to only concentrate on one side. the believe is that if you only have so much time in a life to study, you should concentrate on one side to increase your ability the most. if you work on both sides equally you will be able to use both sides, but you will be weeker on both side than if you concentrated on one.

i understand his point, but i am not convinced that it would work that way physiologically. to be stronger you have to add muscle, and i do not know how much muscle you are really building when practicing..... i thought that is more to work on technique and such.... weight lifting and general conditioning is what i thought would increase strength, which you do equally on both sides..... thus you would always want to practice on both sides to strengthen technique. but i am not sure..... how much muscle do you think is built during class?

and further, do you think that you should concentrate on both sides, or master one?

personally i feel vulnerable and inhibited being limited to one side.... but my korean MAs have biased me and formed my personal style.

[sirdarksol]

I think it depends on what you are learning, and why. In the case of self defense, and particularly breakholds, learning only one side is a dangerous thing. Your opponent isn't going to be nice enough to grab the side that you want him to. (Of course, this is the way I have been trained in karate, so I am as biased as you are, disgruntled)

However, in many weapon arts, you train mostly on one side. Likewise, there are several strikes and kicks that I have learned mostly on one side because the other is awkward and weak. In those cases, I have to set my opponent up to use one of these attacks, rather than learn both so I can more easily use them.

[chokdee]

practise on both sides, if you practise enough it will get as good as the other side. he does teach the fighters to have power on both sides.
knowledge is power. it's really easy if its only coming from one side....

[nangel78]

I think having an understanding of both sides is good, but to focus on the other instead of both if that is what you need to do.

[tntma12]

I feel that training in both sides would make you a much more well rounded fighter. I agree that it could be dangerous to only train one side. How can you be taught to be prepared for anything when you are only half training. Just my opinion.

[sirdarksol]

A good point, though limited in aspect.

For example, if I practiced on both sides of my roundhouse kick and attempted to get them equal, I would be spending roughly twice as long on my left side as my right. Eventually, with enough practice, I will come close to plateauing on both sides, but at the beginning of that training, I will have a lack of strength (meaning literal strength, capability, technique, etc...) on both sides. Yes, I will be able to adapt my kick to either side, but I question the value of that adaptability when my kicks are weak. I prefer to focus on one side (still learning the other, though) and hit the plateau with my strong side before working on my weak side. Because my strong side changes from move to move (there are some kicks that I'm actually better at doing with my left side), I still have capabilities with both sides. My opponent may see me using my right side mostly and think that it's all I can use, start ignoring the other side, and then get hit with a rear snap kick from my left foot.

[tntma12]

I see your point, I just dont think its a good idea to ignore one side to make the other so strong. What happens if you are in a situation where you can only use your "weak" side to perform a technique and you freeze up?

You have a very good point, just playing the devil's advocate here

[disgruntled]

well yeah that can happen, but there are positives on both side.....

if you know one side really well, not ignoring the other side, just concentrating on it, you would have the strength to end the fight on your one side and would only need to set them up for it.

on the other hand, knowing both sides really well, but being weaker on both sides is good to keep you safe, but might make winning the fight harder due to the lack of power.

and that just kinda made me think about what the defining difference is.... concentrating on one side means that you have to set the person up, you are constantly thinking of ways to attack, a more agressive style..... which is not my style

the other is being a little more careful and safe. making sure that you are safe and defended, can switch things up to throw your opponent off. a much more defensive style, which is my style.

[tntma12]

I agree with ya there, I guess its up to personal preference and if your a aggressive or passive fighter.

[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by tntma12

I agree with ya there, I guess its up to personal preference and if your a aggressive or passive fighter.

Probably right.
In response to your previous question, it's unlikely that I'll freeze up do to lack of knowledge, as I will just react with a move that I have practiced on that side. I may, however, freeze up from my dislike of fighting .

I am not, by the way, advocating not learning a move on both sides. As I said, I work on learning both sides of a move, but it's about 75% good side and 25% bad side. Once I reach a plateau, then I practice on the good side and work on building the bad side. Being heavily influenced by weapons, it's my belief that each side had a particular purpose. For example, if I get into a knife fight, my left hand is going to be defense. If I have to cut my hand up to bind the attacker's knife hand before following up with a few strikes, I want it to be my left hand that gets hurt.