Choosing Your Position Against a Strike
When defending against a strike, one of the first tactical decisions is whether to move to the inside or the outside of your opponent’s arms.
These terms simply describe your position relative to the attacker’s body.
- Outside means you have moved so that both of your opponent’s arms are on one side of you.
- Inside means you have moved between your opponent’s arms.
Neither position is always right or always wrong. Both have advantages and disadvantages, and experienced practitioners learn to use each according to the situation. However, understanding the strengths of each will help you appreciate why many Kempo techniques are taught the way they are.
The Advantages of the Outside
Against straight punches, our basic preference is usually to move to the outside.
From here, you are generally farther away from your opponent’s free hand, reducing the immediate risk of a counter-attack. Your position also gives you better access to your opponent’s side and back, making it easier to control their balance, create angles for striking, or transition into throws and locks.
Perhaps most importantly, moving outside often allows you to avoid meeting force with force. By changing your position rather than simply blocking, you can defend while creating opportunities of your own.
This is why many of our fundamental defences against straight attacks emphasise stepping to the outside while counter-attacking.
When the Inside Is Better
Swinging attacks, such as hooks and haymakers, present a different problem.
Moving away from the attack often leaves the strike with room to develop its full power. Instead, our basic response is usually to drive forward on the inside while protecting ourselves and striking simultaneously.
By moving towards the centre of the attacker’s rotation, you effectively shorten the blow. The strike has less distance to accelerate before it reaches you, reducing its potential power. At the same time, closing the distance makes it more difficult for your opponent to launch further swinging attacks.
Rather than remaining at striking range, you quickly enter a position where clinching, grappling, throws or finishing techniques may become appropriate.
Principles, Not Rules
Like many ideas in martial arts, these are principles rather than fixed rules. Real confrontations are unpredictable, and your response will always depend on the nature of the attack, the environment and the opportunities available in the moment.
Nevertheless, understanding the distinction between the inside and the outside provides a useful way of thinking about self-defence. Instead of seeing techniques as isolated movements, you begin to recognise the tactical ideas that connect them.
As your training progresses, you will find yourself asking not just “How do I defend this attack?” but also “Where do I want to be once I have defended it?” That change in thinking is an important step towards understanding the principles that underpin effective Kempo.
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