Lefty Combat

Category: Theory

  • Control, Not Aggression

    I can’t count the number of times I have heard someone told; “You need to be more aggressive.” The result of this advice is that the fighter starts to close distance with other fighters and swing more. On the surface, that doesn’t seem too bad; the fighter is getting into range and throwing shots. Those seem like much…

  • The High Cross

    High crossing isn’t inherently bad, it is just a terrible opener. The idea that high crossing causes you to leave lanes open is accurate, but it is incomplete. If you open with a high cross, you are definitely leaving a lane open; you’ve done nothing to close that lane and will probably get killed if…

  • The Role of Speed in Combat, Part 1: Perception

    The Role of Speed in Combat, Part 1: Perception

    “So Fast.” This is one of the most common compliments I hear about top fighters, but it is also one of the most inaccurate. Most top fighters do not have reaction speed any greater than that of the average player. Some are even slower than average. Yet the perception of “so fast” persists. There are…

  • Ask the Champion: Dealing with Tracers

    Dear Champion: How do I deal with tracers? With some fighters, as soon as I throw a shot, they throw a shot. So I end up with a lot of simos. Sometimes I kill them and just lose an arm, sometimes they kill me and I just wound them. If I don’t throw a shot,…

  • Ask the Champion: Overcoming Overthinking and Uncertainty

    Dear Champion: I often find myself not doing anything because everything I can think of will get me killed. I have been taught a number of different shots, but I avoid throwing them because I’m terrible at them. What should I do? Overthought and Outfought Dear Overthought: The answer is really simple: throw a shot.…

  • Ask the Champion: Choosing Something to Work On

    Dear Champion: I have a laundry list of things I need to improve; footwork, stance, guard, shot accuracy, shot selection, feints, baits, combos…. I’m overwhelmed. Where do I begin and how do I go about improving in a smart and logical fashion. Overwhelmed in the Wetlands Dear Overwhelmed: That is an excellent question. The answer…

  • Ask the Champion – Footwork

    Dear Champion: I often hear people say that footwork is important to being a good fighter, and several times I have been told I need to work on my footwork, but no one has ever explained to me exactly what I should be doing or how I can get better at it. Can you help…

  • The Rules of Combat, Part 1

    Everyone who has ever had to take an English class has heard about the rules of good writing; don’t end a sentence with a proposition, don’t split an infinitive, don’t begin a sentence with “and” or “but”, and so forth. These are hard and fast rules for beginning writers, but experienced writers break them all…

  • Body Alignment

    If you’re uncertain about a term used in this post, please check the Terminology page. Revised 09/18/2013 As a lefty, there are some concepts that apply to the majority of your combat that do not apply to the majority of righty combat. One of these concepts is body alignment. Body alignment is the term for…

  • Throwing to the Outside

    If you’re uncertain about a term used in this post, please check the Terminology page. Someone recently asked why throwing to the outside is wrong. They correctly pointed out that throwing to the outside on a lefty draws a somewhat predictable return and that there is potential to capitalize on this predictability; the righty can…