Both of these are much maligned practices in MMA now, but I want to point out a couple of things.

1) All the boxers I have known (an ex-golden gloves guy I used to spar when I first started learning kenpo and a couple of amature boxers I've met along the way) ran for distance as PART of their trianing. None of them ran with long smooth strides like a marathon runner. They all bounced along while occasionally practicing combinations in their head in time with the bounce. Now, if this had been the sum of their training they would have sucked, but for someone who may have to spend many rounds mobile and on their toes, it seemed pretty useful in its place.

2)When I started doing Judo, I found that I had much strength and stability in the clench--more than many senior and very fit judoka at the school--from all of the low stance holding that we had done in Kenpo. Again, if this was the total of my training, I would have sucked, but it turned out to be a very useful part of my trainin and one that I continued to good advantage while studying Judo.

My point: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I have see lots of people call these training methods useless. They are not. Neither are they the holy grail. They are extremely useful when practiced correctly for the right purpose.

Fire away.

In case it sounds like I'm tooting my own horn, let me qualify some things:

The boxers that I sparred with all soundly schooled me at their game (which is why I sparred with them), though when we opend the rules up things got more interesting.

I did not mean to imply that I walked in and started beating the senior Judoka at my old school. They were very good and competed regularly. Their technique was awesome and they moped the floor with me (literally) at first. But many of them commented to me that I was unusually hard to trip or throw, especially for my size--I was far from the heaviest person in the room.

yeah, i agree.

another thing that i enjoyed about stance training is learning how to read and develop intent.

you know what they say... know yourself and you can know your enemy.