It is important to have a good fighting stance, but remember that a fighting stance is meant to improve your fighting and not destroy it.
Far too many martial art students are being corrupted when they are taught certain skills such as stances.
You need to realize that stances are meant to teach you the concepts behind standing a certain way. They are not supposed to be used in sparring exactly as they are taught to you! If you do this then you will look very mechanical and inhibit your ability to properly think, your mobility, your balance, your speed, and your techniques.
Remember this for your next sparring session because it will help you a lot.;
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A little but important detail on your fighting stance is the concept of "lead".
This basically means which side you prefer to keep in the front.
It is normal for fighters to keep their strong side in the back because that is what they have been taught by their instructors, but before this should even be established you need to figure out the purpose of why you are learning to fight.
Is it for sports? For self-defense? For Street fighting?
Whatever the reason you need to know that the reason most instructors teaches their students to fight with their strong side in the back is either because that's how they were taught to fight or because they are teaching competitive sports martial arts.
By keeping the strong side in the back, fighters are able to maintain their upper body strength and energy for longer periods of time than if they were to put the strong side in the front.
BUT!
If you are learning martial arts in order to defend yourself or to become better at realistic street fighting, then you should be encouraged to put the strong side in the front.
And here is why:

The front hand/leg is closer to your opponent so it will get there faster.
If the front hand/leg gets to the target faster, why not put the strong side in the front?
On the street people fight bare knuckled! Meaning that fights don't last for minutes at a time.



Footwork is very important also! If you are still not able to move around with very little effort then you have a problem because having good footwork is key to being able to throw good techniques, maintaining correct distance to your opponent, and having a good defense.
Footwork can be improved through various agility drills, regular workouts, and by teaching yourself to use explosive movements.



Many beginning martial art students have problems with staying natural after they start learning all the techniques the instructor is teaching them. This is not bad for a beginning student since it is simply caused by the absence of training, but if a student has been practicing for a couple of years and is still showing very unnatural and mechanical movements then it becomes a problem.
This student HAS to be stripped of that bad habit!

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It is obvious that in order to fight you will need to know the necessary techniques. Make sure that you know at least one technique for attacking straight and for attacking at an angle.
Here are a couple of examples of straight and angled attacks:

Straight:

(Punches)

Jab
Cross
Straight punch
Straight lead


(Kicks)

Straight kick
Front snap kick
Side kick





Angled:

(Punches)

Hook
Hammer fist
Back fist


(Kicks)

Roundhouse kick





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Simple techniques are ALWAYS better because they are more likely to work in a fight. Know this!
The shortest distance is always the better solution which means that straight techniques usually works better. By keeping this in mind you will be able to get to your target a lot faster than if you were to use angled attacks.
This brings me to another issue regarding sparring matches which is the usage of complicated and advanced techniques...
When students are sparring it is very typical to see them throw various spinning kicks or punches, but if you have been sparring for a while you should at least know by now that spinning techniques are dangerous to use.
Yes they look very cool! But they will also force you to break eye contact with your opponent AND they take a lot longer to hit the target because of the traveling distance.



Every fighter has a fighting range where they are most comfortable fighting. It is important that you train this range in order to get the advantage when you are fighting. Footwork should be used in order to keep the opponent in the preferred range to give you the upper hand.
Also remember that it is important to train the other fighting ranges that you are worse at because it is very likely that you will be forced into other fighting ranges than the one you are comfortable with.



Have you ever been in a sparring match against someone who seems to know exactly what you are going to do before you even do it? This is because your opponent have learned to read body language.
Reading body language is an important skill that HAS to be learned!
It is learned through practice and experience so if you are wondering what type of training is required to learn it, it is sparring.
Don't worry there are also other ways to learn to read body language but they are not as effective as sparring... (Go to step 12 to figure out how)
Being able to read body language will make sparring A LOT easier because it will make the fight more comprehensive.
 (VERY IMPORTANT)


If you have reached the point in your training where you can't see yourself improve much further, it is time for you to start developing your own personal research. This research is the most important part of the ongoing training process that will help you create your own personal fighting method.
Researching is the only way for you to excel beyond the capabilities of your instructors! Isn't it logical that if you only learn what the instructor has to offer then you will only be able to reach the same skill level as your instructor...?
Remember! That the instructor is only there to guide you. It's up to YOU to improve beyond that point!
So how do you research....?

First you question everything you have learned!
Then you try out what you have learned in sparring to see if it really works by focusing on a single skill, technique or strategy at a time.
If a certain skill, technique or strategy doesn't work for you then you discard it!
If a certain skill, technique or strategy works for you then you keep it and try to improve it!
Then you start researching for alternative skills, techniques or strategies that you can add to your training!
Then you start the process all over again by questioning everything you have learned...


This way you will know exactly what works and what doesn't.
Remember that the only person who can tell you what works is you. We all have different strengths and weaknesses meaning that no one fights the same way.



After you have figured out which techniques works and which ones doesn't you will need to be able to put it all together in sparring. Try using as much of the above and try to make it part of your own fighting method.



Instinctive training is a type of training meant to help you be able to use what you have learned on instinct rather than trying to remember it all the time.
The reason this is important to learn is because if you have to spend to much time in a fight focusing on which techniques to use then you will get beaten.
Also if you were ever to get attacked on the street, the adrenaline in your body would only allow you to remember the techniques that are instinctive.
Some examples of instinctive training drills include having a training partner flash focus mitts at you or the partner punching at you while wearing gloves. This will teach your brain to react with a strike as soon as a target opens up or teach you to recognize punches thrown at you.
Instinctive training is basically meant as an introduction to sparring because it will allow a fighter to take it slower if he/she is still not comfortable with sparring.
It can also be used by experienced fighters to split the various skills required for sparring into segments in order to improve them individually.



Technical training is where you take the techniques you already know and work on each one of them in order to improve them even further.
There are many ways you could improve the techniques including:

Power

Muscle strength
Explosive movement
Kinetic linking
Punching through the target
Footwork
Hip/Shoulder rotation


Speed

Reaction speed
Initiation speed
Movement speed
Retraction speed
Snap motion
Non-telegraphing





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It is always a good idea to be in good shape for a fight no matter what type of fight it is.
Conditioning will improve your overall stamina whether it being for a sports match or for running from a street fight...
Remember than when strength training it is better to improve the muscles in a way that enhances you striking ability, don't train just to achieve a higher muscle mass because this might make your punches/kicks slower.
Try using explosive movements when training since this will HIGHLY improve your initiation speed.



Your mindset towards fighting is the highest determining factor for if you will win or not!
If you walk into a fight and don't think that you will win then you won't win... You need to tell yourself that it doesn't matter if you win or not, as long as still manage to deal some damage on the opponent. Be careful though because if you fight while angry it will make you a worse fighter so don't fight angry, fight determined instead!
Be comfortable in your stance.
Leading side.
Footwork.
Be natural.
Learn the techniques.
Simplicity is better.
Know your preferred fighting range.
Learn to read body language.
Research!,
Learn to apply your techniques.
Instinctive training.
Technical training.
Physical training.
Mindset/Attitude training.
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