stance?

[HerbM]

This is just an idea so try it but don't believe it (unless it works):

Stand with feet exactly under your hips naturally, feet pointed perpendicular to hips but with entire body and feet at 30-45 degrees to the right (power side) of the (imaginary) opponent.

Then pivot your front foot on the heel so the foots point towards opponent; your back foot stays almost stationary (it's going to stay at 30-45 degrees, right?)

(e.g., start facing the corner and turn towards the wall)

Adjust to become comfortable but without moving your feet very far.

You feet should be very close to the perfect distance (for you) while not being full on the target.

Also: Whenever I am messing with my stance explicitly and find that being self-conscious makes it difficult to get my "feet hip width apart" (Things just feel different when you are consciously doing something you normally do unconsciously) I make a SMALL JUMP straight up and land as SMOOTHLY as possible.

Your body will (unconsciously again) get your feet to the right place for balance and stability while landing quietly.

...Unless you are a total klutz or very drunk.

[cocobeware]

I see what youre saying youre stance should be as natural as posible and i think for me this is hip width apart,I think it probably feels so natural becuse this is the way you walk and where youre natural balance is and somethimes if you feel a little bit out of position all it takes is a little bounce or shuffle and you find youre balance point again but it seems like quite a fine line sometimes almost like walking a tight rope.

I do find that there is a tendancy to get a bit narrower when throwing the jab sometimes particularly if it's a really stiff jab and you put a lot into it but i think this is probably due to the natural motion of the punch,I wasn't sure if i should try to fight that motion or not but i have have noticed a lot of professional fighters also do this so i assumed it was ok.

I would say that the vast majority of fighters these days fight from the hip width type stance,Would anyone else agree?

[HerbM]

Why is your jab or any punch affecting your stance?

If you step forward into a jab (or other punch) you should generally be closing he back foot up to return to precisely the same stance you had before the jab started.

Twisting your back foot to add to a cross, (right) hook, or uppercut should be reversed as the punch completes, again returning to your best stance.

[cocobeware]

Why is your jab or any punch affecting your stance?

It's hard to explain but in some instances ie:throwing a stiff jab,Pivoting to the left and jabbing,Double jab or backing up with the jab i find have a tendancy to become slighlty narrower and have to reset.

I didn't really worry about it too much before as i thought a little bit of movment in the stance was inevitable at times due to the motion of the punch twisting of the hips.

[HerbM]

I think it is something you should work on IF it is not leaving you fully mobile and balanced for both follow up shots and subsequent defense.

Generally, we want to best stance always, and if we disturb that stance (e.g., simply by stepping) then we should return to that best stance at the earliest opportunity.

As to backing up: Do you have a problem when someone is pressuring you and you keep backing? If so, that might be partly due to altering you stance as you retreat OR it might be you alter your stance due to problems you have when under pressure (cause and effect might be unclear but it might be a sign of something you can improve.)

Or if you have no problems, it might not matter (for you.)

The key to improving is to first fix our glaring faults (beginner stuff), then find our biggest remaining weaknesses and locate the cause of those. Fix that until we are spending most of our training time fixing REALLY PICKY DETAILS.

What is the real difference between an expert and an intermediate? Probably the relative size of the faults they are each willing to tolerate or are working to fix.

The Japanese have a word for this process: Kai-Zen == continuous (small) improvements

Fight your strengths. Train your weaknesses.

[cocobeware]

I see what you are saying mate even though perfect form might not always be achievable 100% of the time I must strive to do so as this is how we improve.

[WayneFlint]

In general your stance isnt really the problem, you can box side on you can box someone squared up and each stance have their own advantages at times, what makes the problem is the situations and knowing what to use in which situation, break it down and at each step of the movement ask yourself can you move in all directions fast, controlled and on balance from here if need be? if you cant then there is a problem somewhere and it needs finding/correcting,

herb is spot on with what hes saying often ive had some somtimes annoying training sessions that have lasted 2 hours and have little or no fitness/strength benefits, but these sessions are dedicated to correcting the tiny little imperfections that make the world of difference when you throw the whole thing together. the more figured youve got the biomechanics, the smoother itll all be, often the little things are forgotten but its the little things that count and really make the difference in the overall quality of the end product. and its the even littler things inbetween those little things that make things really interesting or atleast for me it is, thats what i love so much about the sweet science, the attention to detail.

Sure it would be easier, less tedious and more fun to just do 6 rounds shadow boxing and 6 on the bag and 3 skipping, but no matter how annoying it may get i think this is what makes the difference between getting 100% from your training sessions and getting 30% from them like most do