# The Combat Stance: One Platform for Pistol, Rifle, and Hands

> By Ron, Founder of Tactical Fitness Austin
>  Last updated: July 2026

## TL;DR

Most people build one stance for pistol, another for rifle, and a third for hand-to-hand, then find none of them under stress. Here’s the single platform that works across all three, checkpoint by checkpoint.

> [Watch this drill on Instagram →](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXZiwdOjVxH/)

Watch someone train at a typical range.

They have a pistol stance. A different rifle stance. And if they’ve done any hand-to-hand work, a third stance for that.

Three platforms. Three sets of habits. Zero chance the right one shows up under stress.

**I call mine the combat stance because it’s my stance for everything: hand-to-hand, pistol, rifle. One platform, consistent across all levels of combat.**

That’s not a style preference. It’s how you make sure that under pressure, your body only has one answer to find.

## Why it matters

A real encounter doesn’t announce which tool you’ll need. It can go from verbal, to hands, to a firearm in seconds, and if every phase requires a different stance, you’re rebuilding your foundation mid-fight. A single consistent platform means the transition is just what’s in your hands, not what’s under your feet.

## The combat stance, checkpoint by checkpoint

**1\. Feet staggered.** Non-dominant foot forward as the default, but you can switch it depending on the situation. Never squared up, never bladed sideways.
 **2.** Feet flat on the ground for shooting. The one exception: in the hand-to-hand fighting stance, the back heel comes up so you can drive and move.
 **3.** Knees slightly bent, legs flexed. A locked knee is a platform that recoil, or a shove, tips over.
 **4\. Core tight, head forward.** Weight into the fight. Shoulders slightly in front of your hips. If someone pushed you right now, you should absorb it forward, not stumble back.
 **5.** Hands stay up. In the fighting stance, at hand height. Behind a pistol or a rifle, still up, still in the same workspace. The hands never live at your sides.

Same skeleton every time. What changes between hand-to-hand, pistol, and rifle is minor. A heel, what you’re holding. The base doesn’n’t move.

One more piece from the hand-to-hand side: movement never crosses your feet. Moving forward, the front foot leads and the back foot adjusts. Moving back, the back foot leads. Sideways, same rule. Push off, step, adjust, and the stance travels with you instead of falling apart the moment you move.

## Why most people never build this

They learn shooting at a range and fighting (if ever) somewhere else, from different instructors, with no one connecting the two. Each discipline hands them a different stance, nobody makes them move in it, and they only ever train standing still on flat concrete. The platform never gets tested, so it never gets fixed.

**This is what Combat Club is built around.**

One platform trained across firearms and hand-to-hand work, week after week, with instructors correcting your base, not just your hits. It’s a qualification-based training community, so everyone on the line is there to actually build the skill.

Train hard,

Ron

Founder, Tactical Fitness Austin

P.S. Test your platform this week. Get into your stance, no gun needed, and run the checkpoints out loud: feet staggered, knees bent, core tight, head forward, hands up. Then have someone give you a firm push on the chest. If you rock back on your heels or step to catch yourself, your weight wasn’t into the fight. Fix it, then try moving forward, back, and sideways without ever crossing your feet. If the checkpoints survive the movement, you have a stance. If they don’t, you have a pose.

[See if you qualify for Combat Club →](https://tacticalfitnessaustin.com/training/combat-club/)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a combat shooting stance?

A combat stance is one platform used for hand-to-hand, pistol, and rifle instead of three separate stances. Feet staggered with the non-dominant foot forward, flat on the ground for shooting, knees slightly bent, core tight with head and shoulders in front of the hips, hands up in the same workspace. What changes between tools is minor, a heel or what you are holding. The base does not move.

### Should your shooting stance be different for pistol and rifle?

No. Separate stances for pistol, rifle, and hands mean three sets of habits and no guarantee the right one shows up under pressure. A real encounter can go from verbal, to hands, to a firearm in seconds, and if every phase needs a different foundation you are rebuilding it mid-fight. One platform makes the transition only about what is in your hands.

### How do you move without losing your shooting stance?

Never cross your feet. Moving forward, the front foot leads and the back foot adjusts. Moving back, the back foot leads. Sideways follows the same rule. Push off, step, adjust, and the stance travels with you instead of collapsing. Most shooters only train standing still on flat concrete, so the platform never gets tested and never gets fixed.

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Source: https://tacticalfitnessaustin.com/combat-shooting-stance-austin/
Last updated: 2026-07-21