I'm in sort of the same position as LL. My coaches always say to keep our hands up and I feel awkward and have trouble seeing shots coming. Last week I was working a little on defense and I found I felt a lot more comfortable with my left low. I could catch more punches on my shoulder and I had a lot easier time parrying with the right since I could see better and the left wasnt up there in the way. I also noticed that it feels a lot more natural standing sideways to an opponent that way... i tend to want to square up more when i have both hands up.