Attack the Center

People who train in WT often have a misunderstanding of fighting our center to the opponent’s center. We don't necessarily fight center to center. Instead, think of attacking their center. As you know, the centerline extends out from our centerpoint, becoming a 3 dimensional line to our opponent. We don't have to attack down his centerline, we simply need to use our own centerline to connect to his center. It is, in essence, our bridge to him. We want to send our strikes into his center, that is, his vertical mid-line, from wherever we are in relation to him. Think of his midline being the axle on a wagon wheel, and your centerline being one of the spokes that lead into the center. You don't have to face directly in front of him; anywhere you are in relation to him is another spoke leading in to his center. Use your centerline to bridge that gap. Of course there are other methods of attack...fak sau, lifting punch, etc, but they still seek the center(core) of our opponent. If your opponent is in a side facing position, he has provided his own flank to you. Control his lead hand and leg and attack into his center

The front does provide more target options, but the side approach has its fair share...temple, jaw, neck, armpit, ribs, kidneys, liver/spleen(depending on the side facing you), knee (also the knee of the leg farthest from you), shin/instep, ankle. Attacking the flank is not a magic bullet by any means, but it does limit your opponent access to his rear hand if their front hand is controlled properly, and takes away kicking if the front leg is properly controlled with leg pressure.