It's not true. The only difference is that the square stance feels safer than a bladed stance. I use both through out sparring and the only thing that determines how I stand is my strategy and what type of techniques I may be against. Based on what I've heard and have seen from Kung Fu Wang. He'll probably make a person for having their feet in a square stance.
Even though the square stance may feel safe (probably because both hands can reach the same distance) A blade stance has numerous advantage but those advantages require training and quite a bit of skill building. It's definitely not the fastest way to learn how to fight, but if you want a lot of options to choose from then a bladed stance will give you more options than a squared off one.
You are making things too complicated. 45Āŗ has less to doe about that and more to do about distance and timing. There are some other benefits of that angle, but they are small in comparison to the distance and time benefits.
The best way to understand 45Āŗ is to put gloves on it and use it during sparring. You'll get hit and kicked a bunch of times, but each time you get it correct you'll begin to understand that the math and the triangles over complicates things. Math isn't a good match way to explain the angles and the benefits because it's not constant and none of it is measurable. It doesn't take into context the opponent's ability, behavior, and psychology You can take that math and Kung Fu wang or some of these other guys can do something that forces you to change your angle and all of that would math would just go right out the window.
This all makes sense. That said, I feel like thereās a theme across responses and I want to add some more background.
Totally appreciate and respect that angles change and adapt throughout a fight, that timing/rhythm is complex and continuous, that feinting/deceiving movements are par for course, the need to maintain calm when hit to avoid panicking or worse overreacting, the adrenaline rush when the buzzer goes off and I have to deal with the problem in front of me. I wonāt pretend Iām a seasoned pro fighter, I make a living by other means.
I, personally, do better with an angled stance in my experience. I used to be overly squared until I found my hips, then I really exaggerated it and over shot. I found my balance at ~45d and like it for mobility (my strafing improved dramatically as I was effectively moving forward and backward relative to center), my lead and rear hand positions improved, my kicks were easier to chamber, my deflections felt sharper/smoother (which I didnāt realize until now was because the gates were narrower, hence the post), and itās just the game Iāve stacked up on. To each their game.
I love sparring, itās a rush and incredible workout. Itās made me a better fighter and forced me to check my assumptions over and over again. Iāve had fun sparring with other wing chun guys, a few Muay Thai folk, a few boxers, and this one BJJ guy. Iāve been hit plenty, have hit plenty, and take what I can from it every time.
Also want to make it super clear that the original post wasnāt meant to comment on or insult anyoneās style or thinking at all on this. Really just a very small, very singular, easily reproduced observation, with assumptions baked in of perpendicularity to the target line. It had just occurred to me, when asking myself just how much my gates narrowed, that I could draw it out and get a sense.
I think itās important to rotate between theory (using paper and pencil), practice (drills/abstract movements), and regular performance (getting in there and sparring with diverse backgrounds). To stay in one always is to never benefit from the vantage point of the others, and to be that much more limited in your growth.
Of course, you donāt just sit at a notebook and say āok, based on these calculations Iām a great fighter, let me tell everyone what they should do.ā Iām truly sorry if thatās what this came across as. But you should use the notebook to track progress, stuff you need to fix, visual aids to seat concepts that much further into memory, and totally bank on the kung fu of math to workout problems that are too complicated to work out in your head.
Iām really proud of this thread and the depth of information everyone shared. I feel like this thread makes for interesting insight for future members who read through it to better understand their own game and why it works.
Blown away by responses from pdg, hoshin, and others. A lot of respect for this community and the wealth of knowledge in it. Thatās why I post this kind of ish in the first place.
