There are a couple of ways that someone can take a fighter's stance. One is the classic boxer's stance with the hands at the level of the jaw or ears. Ideally you want to keep your hands up while you are training. If you drop them, there are cueing techniques that can be employed as a shot of awareness that you have dropped them and you have to raise them up. Relaxation is key here. When you launch a strike you are exploding from a relaxed position. This means you are going through periods of relaxing and exploding. Relax and explode is the mantra!