I have read many opinions on why the majority of Thai practitioners are left handed, I have settled on one theory that makes sense..... how about you guys/girls out there. what are your thoughts?

I'm a southpaw. What's your theory?

My whacky theroy.

When you go to Thailand there are tons of southpaws.
There are only a few over here generally in the west (inclu europe and usa).
This comes from the perverse Christian susperstions, where leftys were burnt as witches.
When I was a kid i used to do everything left handed, but my mum forced me to be right handed.
I still eat and play guitar southpaw though.
I am a closet witch!

I've wondered the same thing myself. In boxing, there are plenty of Japanese, Korean, and Filipino fighters that are orthodox. I wonder if this southpa thing might be related exclusively to Muay Thai? There are plenty here posting that have lived plenty and trained in Thailand. Any ideas?

A phisiological background seems to make as much sense to me as anything else ive heard. Simply, the "southpaw" stance has been adopted to take the left hand side of the heart as far away from an attacker as possible. (The heart being non-symmetrical, with the left side larger) This originated (in my humble opinion) with Krabi Krabong and has hence carried on through to Muay Thai.

Any other ideas/research/comments/opinions?

Not to high jack the thread, but does the southpaw
"advantage" really matter in KB or MT
where the stance is a bit more squared than
in straight boxing?

(not talking about Thailand, where everyone is accustomed
to SP oppoenents-hence no real SP advantage)


dan

The advantage can also be a disadvantage. Depends on how youve trained i guess.

I'm naturally SP and i fought a guy who i'd never seen before, who, one we were in the ring turned out to be SP also. Right balls up, i'd been training solely for an orthodox fighter, and so had to change game plan on the spot.

My rule as a SP is to ALWAYS keep my front foot on the outside, as im assuming it is for others. Which is why the combination tends to lead to a messy fight, both vying for the outside foot position and tripping over each other. If a SP doesnt get the outside possie then i would suggest they are at no advantage whatsoever.

Good question.... interested in hearing others input

Best is `BOTH PAWS`! :-0 :-p :-)



ive always trained / fought ( when i was fighting ) And Teach
Both Guards ! Best Of Both !
Why Only Do `1` ?

Agreed Sandy, instructing as a SP can be a pain when demonstrating techniques when maj of the students are orthodox, hence ive pretty much always trained with both. Apart from when preparing for fights, in which i revert to my left-handed-ism.

Any idea from you Sandy as to why the apparent majority of Thais fight SP?

Nice-1
And Im only Guessing as its Coz 90 of Farangs etc: Take Left Guard / orthodox
so to Counter and confuse the orthodox Guys ( and works too )

90+ %

most of it in Thailand is down to how the kids started out, if they feel more comfortable fighting as southpaw thats how they fought. I remember when I was up in Ubon with Nungubon and he had the idea that all the kids should change to southpaw as they are more difficult to fight, its very hard to see and block a hard fast rounkick from our opponents back leg when he is in opposite stance rather than when its coming towards your front leg. What happened was they all switched for about two months, no one won a fight and they all got told to switch back to orthodox! :)

Interesting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Southpaws do have the advantage of kicking to their opponents' livers easier.

I started doing everything as a lefty when I was a kid too! My frickin idiot dad made me change to righty though so I am sorta stuck in some middle ground.

I can sorta box lefty pretty well but prefer righty.

Anyways, who knows why there's more left handers in thailand. I have noticed that when people are first learning they tend to stand right foot forward even if they are right handed, just as a natural instinct... Maybe they just never force them to change in thailand? Pfft, I dunno :-\

being a lefty myself, i fight a lot in orthodox, its a con trick really, as it means you have a cracking jab / lead hook (dominant hand), this hopefully means your opponent stays the hell away from your rear hand,thinking it is stronger, which might not be the case. oh well, that's my secret out, better retire...another thought is, are all those thai's fighting s.p. actually left handed?

I am right handed and left footed, which can make it very difficult to come to terms with at first. It was very frustrating, but once mastered can prove quite lethal. I can punch almost as equally as hard with punches in both hands, but with differing shots, but my right leg is solely for standing on!

In Europe, being left handed was considered the sign of the devil and this superstition was used for years and can still be found in some convent or more religious schools across Europe.

P.S All lefties should be shot - they do my head in!!!

Im a leftie shoot me !! Im right handed and left footed as well,but if yowant to know the absolute truth i was orthodox for a couple of years at the beginning and then after watching so many successful (how many c and s??) thais were southpaw i tried it and it stuck so i can actualy fight as well but different from orthodox but dont.

they should all be banned

They are great lovers,handsome and clever,modest people.

As this is about southpaws, and I have no idea why there are so many southpaws in thailand, I feel I should say something. I read Vinny's post before and thought Vinny isn't a southpaw and then I rememberd that my most serious long term injury in 21 years of training came when a true soutpaw perforated my ear drum with a right hook when sparring more years ago than I can remember.

Cheers Vinny, nearly deaf in one ear means I have an excuse for not listening to my wife tell me to sort the kids out, I will but you a drink next ime I see you

Maybe, because we think boxing put your strongest hand behind you, but perhaps the Thai's have a preference for having the strongest hand in front, does it always follow, that if your right handed your right leg is therefore stronger. I think that the argument doens't follow that its easier to do anything to an orthadox fighter if you are soutpaw, as most Thai's are southpaw and they all start fighting each other...

And Sandy, you always teach from both, come on.......

Dazza sorry about that was a bit eager in the past,Southpaws are left handers that are in their natural stance a mirror image.
Samart was a southpaw,as was dok mai pah,Ronnie green is a left handed,Oscar dela hoya,Sugar ray robinson,joe frazier.
Thais switch when fighting europeans etc to kick arms and stop the right hand as was the case with Jomhod and Colak bust his arm.
Talents talent be it southpaw or not but my favourites are right handed fughters.

I'm right handed but I fight as a southpaw.

No worried Vinny it wa a peach still remember it to this day ( and the feeling later that night when I couldn't even stand up!)

I get every that friday.

I personally like the kind of style used by fighters from the Brendan Ingle stable. Nassem Hamed, Junior Witter they all have that switch hitting unorthodox style with massive power in both stances... may not be the most practical but surely makes things exciting!

Lots of this comes from the Romans who belived left handed people where evil as posted above, Sinister = Left Dexter = Right....

Hence the phraze.

Im very like Shaun, right handed but left footed! so i learned to switch hit! most fighters will back off and try to work you out if you swtich during a round.