Left Side Of The Box
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When considering the left & right sides of the Box, all references are from the users point of view, not that of the opponent. The simplest way to visualize this is to consider a stick in each hand, and have them both pointing vertically upwards. Your left stick forms the left side of your Basic Box.
The left side is sometimes called the inside of the box. This reference is commonly used when one hand holds a weapon and the other is empty. For example when defending an attack to the left side of your body (e.g. a strike to Zone Three) it would be inadvisable to defend with your (empty) left hand. The weapon hand (here the right-hand) moves across the body to become the Left Side of the Box - in effect, your right arm is striking out from the inside of your defensive Box. The above example is known as an Inside Three, as a strike to Zone Three is defended with the Inside of the Box.
When using the inside of the Box as a defence, care must be taken not to over-turn, thus facing the incoming weapon instead of your opponent. This common mistake catches many students out of position and unable to defend the next incoming attack. The error is easily avoided, however as speed & power increase with experience the same simple mistakes often re-occur.
As with the other components, the Left Side of the Box may also be performed with two weapons in various combinations as needed.
Learn more about the other components of the Basic Box below;
- More about the right side of the box
- More about the roof/top of the box
- More about the base/bottom of the box
- More about the corners of the box, also known as the Areas Of Doubt
The Left Side of the Box is used in conjunction with the other components and the five striking zones as part of the entire Basic Box Theory. You can read more about this in other areas of this site.
