The Fighting Stance: Your First Step to Confidence
THE PATH TO POWER SERIES - ISSUE 1
A Biweekly Self-Defense Micro-Lesson with Lisa Davis
U.S. Marine Veteran | Former Police Officer | Self-Defense Instructor
What the Fighting Stance Is and Why It Matters for Self-Defense
Your fighting stance is the foundation of real self-defense. It is the position that prepares your body to react, move, defend, and make decisions under pressure. When people first hear “fighting stance,” they often imagine something aggressive or confrontational — but in reality, it is simply a strong, balanced, ready position that helps you stay in control.
This stance is not just for physical altercations. It is a tool for confidence and personal safety in everyday life. Anyone, at any age or fitness level, can learn it. Whether you are walking alone, navigating a parking lot, entering a new room, or feeling unsure about a person or situation, your fighting stance gives you stability and awareness you can rely on.
It is the first skill every student learns in my classes because everything else — striking, blocking, escaping, and reacting — becomes stronger and safer when this stance is correct.
Real-Life Situations Where the Fighting Stance Helps
There are countless moments in daily life when you may need to ground yourself quickly — not because you’re in danger, but because you feel uncertainty, discomfort, or surprise. Your fighting stance reconnects your body and mind so you can respond instead of freeze.
Here are common situations where I’ve seen a fighting stance make a difference:
- When walking into a room that feels tense — you instinctively know something is “off,” but you can’t yet explain it.
- When someone enters your personal space unexpectedly or without permission.
- When you feel like someone is watching or following you, even for a moment.
- When approaching your car at night and your instincts feel sharper than usual.
- When a stranger’s body language changes and you sense a shift before you consciously notice it.
- When you’re startled or surprised and your body needs a second to recover.
During my time as a Marine and later as a police officer, I watched countless people struggle not because they were weak or untrained, but because they were caught off balance physically. Without a grounded stance, people become easier to surprise, easier to push, and slower to react.
I’ve had students tell me that learning the fighting stance helped them feel more physically steady in everyday situations. By grounding their feet and improving their posture, they felt less reactive and more aware, especially in places like parking lots or unfamiliar environments. The stance doesn't create confidence by itself, but it supports the physical readiness that allows confidence to grow.
How the Fighting Stance Works (And What Most People Get Wrong)
Your fighting stance works because it places your body in a position of balance, readiness, and awareness. When your feet are grounded, your chest is open, and your hands are lifted, your brain interprets this as a signal: I am steady. I am ready. I can handle this.
Here’s what the stance does for you:
- Lowers your center of gravity, making you harder to knock off balance.
- Keeps your chest open, which improves breathing and mental clarity.
- Positions your hands in a natural guard, protecting your head and allowing faster reaction time.
- Aligns your spine, helping you stay calm and reducing the physical signs of fear.
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Improves your awareness, because your eyes and body are already oriented forward.
The Most Common Mistakes People Make
Even confident people often make simple errors when trying to look prepared or assertive:
- Standing too narrow, which makes you unstable and easy to move.
- Locking the knees, which freezes the legs and slows escape movements.
- Dropping the hands, leaving the head and neck unprotected.
- Hunching the shoulders, which closes the chest and makes breathing harder.
- Holding their breath, especially when startled — the fastest way to lose focus.
- Leaning backward, which signals fear and reduces mobility.
In every self-defense class I teach, these mistakes show up again and again — especially when people are nervous or trying too hard to appear confident. The good news is that the correct stance is simple, natural, and easy to practice at home.
Why the Fighting Stance Changes Real-World Outcomes
The fighting stance seems simple, but it has a powerful impact on how you respond to real-world situations. When your body is aligned and ready, you react faster because you’re not trying to correct your posture before taking action. A strong stance also communicates confidence in subtle ways — people who carry themselves with awareness and calm presence are far less likely to be targeted.
Another major benefit is that the stance helps prevent freezing, a very common human response to fear. Freezing happens when your brain becomes overwhelmed and your nervous system doesn’t know what to do next. But if you’re already in a ready position, your body has fewer decisions to make under pressure. This reduces panic and gives you precious extra seconds to move, speak, or escape.
Your fighting stance also improves your ability to defend yourself quickly. When your hands are already up, you don’t waste time lifting them from your sides. When your knees are soft and your feet are grounded, you can step back, redirect, or strike without hesitation. This means you feel more mentally in control, even when something unexpected happens.
A solid fighting stance gives you both physical readiness and mental clarity, and those two qualities are what truly change outcomes in self-defense situations.
Try This Today — Your 5-Second Fighting Stance Reset
Here’s a simple practice drill you can use anywhere, anytime at home, in public, at work, or whenever your instincts feel activated.
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Place your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Allow your knees to soften (not bend — just relax).
- Lift your chest one inch to open your posture.
- Bring your hands up near your chest in a relaxed closed fist guard.
- Take one slow inhale and one steady exhale.
- Change stance to feel comfortable with both sides
Say quietly to yourself:
“I am ready.”
This is your fighting stance — your physical anchor for balance, readiness and self-defense.
How the Fighting Stance Connects to Your Self-Defense Training
Your fighting stance is much more than a beginner skill — it is the core of your entire self-defense foundation. Every movement you will learn in this series builds on this stance.
If your stance is strong, your strikes become stronger and safer because your body has the structure to generate power from the ground up. Whether you’re learning the jab, reverse punch, palm strike, or elbow strike, the effectiveness of each technique depends on your stance. When your feet and posture are correct, you can create leverage, rotate properly, and protect your wrist and shoulder from injury.
The fighting stance also supports all defensive techniques. Blocking becomes more effective because your hands are already in the right position, and escaping from grabs becomes easier because your legs can drive power instead of relying on arm strength alone. Even verbal boundary-setting improves because a strong stance changes how your voice projects and how others respond to you.
This stance also plays a crucial role in creating space and reacting under pressure. When you learn to step back, pivot, or shift weight from a fighting stance, every movement becomes more controlled and intentional. You are less likely to freeze, hesitate, or lose balance — and more likely to make decisions that protect your safety.
Mastering your fighting stance means you’re not just learning one technique. You’re learning the physical and mental foundation that makes every other skill more effective, more natural, and more instinctive.
Ready for the Next Step in Your Training?
If you're ready to learn how the fighting stance connects to real-world striking, escaping, and defensive techniques, my online self-defense course walks you step-by-step through each movement in a clear, confidence-building way.
Explore the full program anytime at PowerUpWithLisa.com.
