How do you train against knockout punches, Im not talking about dodging to avoid the punch, but how to get you chin more resistant? Will receiving repetitive impact to the head eventually make you more resistant?
You don’t.
You’re born with it, and if it’s a glass jaw then you’re fucked.
[quote]Mancador wrote:
How do you train against knockout punches, Im not talking about dodging to avoid the punch, but how to get you chin more resistant? Will receiving repetitive impact to the head eventually make you more resistant? [/quote]
Well before everyone starts debating about chins, I will add some basic boxing stuff that’s helped me absorb blows better in sparring: biting down on your mouthguard, slightly clenched jaw.
Try to watch blows so that even if they hit you they don’t catch you unaware… Would not recommend repetitive impact to the head… what works for your shins won’t work for your brain, any doc will tell you that.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
You don’t.
You’re born with it, and if it’s a glass jaw then you’re fucked.[/quote]
So a farm guy who was born with “steel jaw” but never trained would resist a knockout just as well as Chuck The Iceman would? I dont believe that.
[quote]Mancador wrote:
FightinIrish26 wrote:
You don’t.
You’re born with it, and if it’s a glass jaw then you’re fucked.
So a farm guy who was born with “steel jaw” but never trained would resist a knockout just as well as Chuck The Iceman would? I dont believe that.
[/quote]
I don’t care if you believe it or not. You’re born with what you’re born with- you can either take a punch or you can’t. Chuck Liddell was born able to take a punch. Other fighters aren’t.
If anything, it seems like once a guy get’s KO’s, his chin gets weaker… see guys like Ricky Hatton or Jermain Taylor for examples of guys who had never been KO’d before, but once it happened once it began happening alot.
I’ve heard that strengthening the neck muscles helps protect against a KO. No idea if that holds any water though.
[quote]chitown34 wrote:
I’ve heard that strengthening the neck muscles helps protect against a KO. No idea if that holds any water though. [/quote]
stabilizes your head, so your brain can’t shake around as easy… makes sense on paper at least
In any contact sport, a strong neck is a good policy.
Strengthening of the major neck muscles responsible for flexion and rotation of the head will help a bit, in my experience as a rugger
EDIT: There’s nothing like gettin rocked a few times, either.
[quote]Amiright wrote:
chitown34 wrote:
I’ve heard that strengthening the neck muscles helps protect against a KO. No idea if that holds any water though.
stabilizes your head, so your brain can’t shake around as easy… makes sense on paper at least[/quote]
Every fighter does that belt-and-chain thing where they strap the weight to their head and work out with weight… and maybe it helps to a tiny degree, but guys don’t fight with clenched necks that are braced for impact all the time, so I doubt it does much.
build this. it HELPS. but i agree that you either have it or you don’t. my god-given talent according to those who have tried, is to NOT be knocked out.
You’re right, it doesn’t do much. The OP is asking about what he can do to help himself. “Being born with it” doesn’t help him much. The fact that “every fighter” does it must say something at least, right?
I do completely agree with you, though. Some guys will go out like a light while others are like hitting a brick wall. The reason you don’t see big time guys with glass jaws is because they were never able to make it to that level.
-Josh
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Amiright wrote:
chitown34 wrote:
I’ve heard that strengthening the neck muscles helps protect against a KO. No idea if that holds any water though.
stabilizes your head, so your brain can’t shake around as easy… makes sense on paper at least
Every fighter does that belt-and-chain thing where they strap the weight to their head and work out with weight… and maybe it helps to a tiny degree, but guys don’t fight with clenched necks that are braced for impact all the time, so I doubt it does much.
[/quote]
True. A short thick neck can help to prevent a KO, but it’s still going to be largely dependent on whether you were genetically predisposed to having an iron chin or not.
And even then, it really depends on where you get hit. If someone hits you right on the button (temple, mental nerve, carotid sinus) and hits hard enough, then you are gonna “flash” (at least), no matter who you are.
Honestly you’re much better off working on your defensive skills, head movement, and positioning skills to minimize the chances of getting KO’d/hit, than you are trying to figure out exercises to allow you to just stand there and take someone’s best shot. Sure, still do the neck exercises too, as they certainly won’t hurt. But don’t make it priority #1.
Ive also heard about strengthening the neck.
If its purely genetics then there is nothing you can do that will help much.
Ok, and what about being able to stay conscious(cant find better word. maybe avoid blacking out) through the “flash” that Sentoguy mentioned. That would be of extreme help. IMO it is something different. Ive heard of training that consists of rotating with closed eyes around your own body axis and as soon as you stop start the punching.
Thats one kind of exercise. Trying to concentrate and fight right after stopping an exercise designed to get you dizzy or the closest possible to what a “flash” would feel like.
[quote]Mancador wrote:
Ive also heard about strengthening the neck.
If its purely genetics then there is nothing you can do that will help much.
Ok, and what about being able to stay conscious(cant find better word. maybe avoid blacking out) through the “flash” that Sentoguy mentioned. That would be of extreme help. IMO it is something different. Ive heard of training that consists of rotating with closed eyes around your own body axis and as soon as you stop start the punching.
Thats one kind of exercise. Trying to concentrate and fight right after stopping an exercise designed to get you dizzy or the closest possible to what a “flash” would feel like.
[/quote]
The “flash” is basically a mini KO. It’s a momentary loss of consciousness which is not possible to remain conscious through.
Spinning in circles with the eyes closed and then opening them and punching would be a decent method of teaching oneself how to fight when disoriented, or to attack as soon as consciousness was regained. But it’s still not going to negate the momentary loss of consciousness.
Not a bad drill. But again, focus mostly on good defense, footwork/positioning, and headmovement if you really want to avoid getting KO’d.
Example tonight - Jermain Taylor gets KO’s in the final seconds. There you go.
There’s nothing that will help with what you’re talking about, even strengthening your neck. if you just naturally can’t take a punch then you’re fucked. most of the time you wont see a ko punch anyway, so there wont be anytime to really brace for it.
This topic interest me just because it also seems the route to avoid being punch drunk after a career of fighting. So just tossing out some ideas…
what is a Knockout?
Basically your CNS is interrupted by vigorous force affecting your synapses. It’s like you unplugged your computer. I’m sure we all are aware of what it is. But lets just be clear.
Secondly, lets define what causes a knockout (from wikipedia):
I’ve been flash KO just by REALLY rapid jarring of my neck (normally would incur whiplash, it nearly knocked me out cold) so I can attest to the brain stem damage theory.
While I’m hesitant to compare it to a concussion (because of the implications). IMO, a concussion is caused by the brain bouncing back and forth against the skull. So repeated trauma of that sort (ie, getting punched in the head) should also cause some sort of damage.
So OBVIOUSLY a K.O. is caused by what?
Direct Damage to the Brain.
Then what are the mechanisms that your body (naturally) uses to protect your brain from that sort of damage???
Enhance those and you’ll enhance your ability to take a punch. Two things I’ve heard help:
-
The neck- this idea has been tossed around already. Of course this can help, but you will be unable to brace yourself for the punch if it’s unexpected. So this strategy is pretty hit or miss. That said, I’m sure it has to help some. I would rather strengthen my neck than NOT. Still, I’m not exactly aware of any evidence of this.
-
Proper Hydration- I heard this crazy idea before that cutting weight can effect the intercranial fluid in your skull so with less fluid your brain hits the inside of your skull harder with strikes/collision. So you get knocked out easier… I have no idea if this is true or not. I don’t know enough neuroscience to even comment. I’ve just heard it before, so if you have any idea. Clue me in, I’d love to know how legit this is.
I don’t know what level you guys are boxing at. But as a guy who boxes for fun and has the odd fight here and there, if I’m getting hit that hard, consistently, I don’t want to be in there. Maybe there is some merit to soaking up massive punishment and looking for the lucky punch if you’re a pro, but if you’re not, why bother?
I will say that the only times I got really stumped is when I didn’t see the punch coming.
[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
- Proper Hydration- I heard this crazy idea before that cutting weight can effect the intercranial fluid in your skull so with less fluid your brain hits the inside of your skull harder with strikes/collision. So you get knocked out easier… I have no idea if this is true or not. I don’t know enough neuroscience to even comment. I’ve just heard it before, so if you have any idea. Clue me in, I’d love to know how legit this is.[/quote]
I have no idea scientifically, but you’ll see it happen in boxing all the time. Miguel Cotto, in his last fights at 140, got seriously rocked a couple times, and a lot of people said it was because he wasn’t moving up to 147 like his body wanted.
At 147, he has a much better chin… there are a lot of fighters like this, too, so I would lend this some credibility. Although its difficult to do in a sport with weight classes, coming in as hydrated and not-drained as possible is important.
[quote]duffyj2 wrote:
I don’t know what level you guys are boxing at. But as a guy who boxes for fun and has the odd fight here and there, if I’m getting hit that hard, consistently, I don’t want to be in there. Maybe there is some merit to soaking up massive punishment and looking for the lucky punch if you’re a pro, but if you’re not, why bother?
[/quote]
Very true. I fuckin hate getting hit.
[quote]
I will say that the only times I got really stumped is when I didn’t see the punch coming.[/quote]
Haha. You and everyone else. Most people never see that KO coming.