5 Key Muay Thai Stances - “Not one is Better than Another”

The choice of stance can significantly impact your performance in the ring. Unlike the common belief that Muay Thai has one definite fighting stance, we will explore five different stances. In this blog post, we will delve beyond the ORTHODOX and SOUTHPAW stances. We will focus on width, weight distribution, and how each of these stances contributes to a fighter’s style and strategy.

FOR REFERENCE HERE IS A DIAGRAM OF THE 

3 DIFFERENT WIDTHS OF THE MUAY THAI STANCE

1. Root Stance

This is your balanced 50/50, shoulder-width stance. This stance allows you to transition to any width of stance with one simple step. It is in the middle range of all widths of stances and also in the middle of all the different weight distributions.

2. Wide Stance

A wider stance allows you to have more balance and power when it comes to throwing heavier punches. This Muay Thai stance is great for Muay Mats looking to land heavy punches and even low kicks.

3. Short Stance

This stance is often used in combination with a 40/60 weight distribution (60% of your weight on the back foot). The short Muay Thai stance makes it easier to use teep push kicks and block kicks with our shins. This stance is very common in Muay Thai, as it favors the teep kick, a favorite weapon among many Muay Thai practitioners. The teep is equivalent to the jab when it comes to the legs. It helps you set up stronger attacks, measure the distance, stop your opponent from coming in, unbalance an opponent, and more.

4. Weight Distribution

• 50/50

This weight distribution allows you to transition to any weight distribution with a shift of body weight either forward or back. None of the legs are too heavy or too light, giving us access to both our legs fairly easily, for offense or defense.

• 40/60 - (60% of your weight on the back foot)

This weight distribution leaves the back leg heavier and the front leg lighter. The front leg may now lift up easier for teeps and blocks from that front leg. Fighters that use this type of stance usually cross-block against kicks coming towards their open side. The reason: the back leg is heavier, and hence, cannot lift up as fast to block a kick. This stance tends to be more defensive as the body weight is more set back away from attacks.

• 60/40 - (60% of your weight on the front foot)

This weight distribution leaves the back leg lighter and the front leg heavier. Fighters that use this type of stance often favor kicking or kneeing with their power leg as it is now lighter to lift. They tend to be more aggressive as their weight is forward and slightly closer to their opponent.

5. Clinch Stance

Clinch is a HUGE part of Muay Thai! Some might say, “it is like learning how to fight all over again”. It has its own dimensions, strategies, and of course STANCE. The clinch stance is a more parallel stance that allows better balance against sweeps, and access to close-range weapons such as Elbows and Knees.

Putting it All Together

As you can see, there are multiple Muay Thai Stances. They each bring their pros and cons, and being able to utilize all of them at the right moment can give you the upper hand. For example, if you are striking from the outside range, and now come to a clinching battle, you better change your stance to a clinch stance as quickly as possible or you'll be in trouble.

At the end of the day, we all tend to spend more time in one stance than another, based on our fighting style and our strategy versus a certain opponent. For the best results, choose which of these Muay Thai stances favors you most and adjust as needed. There is not one Muay Thai stance; there are many.

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