[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
After watching the videos a couple of times I see a lot of things I need to work on. Especially bringing my hands straight back to my guard after throwing a punch instead of letting them fall a little bit before bring them back up to my face. I could also keep my guard a lot tighter than it is. This doesn’t seem to be an issue when I have gloves on. The gloves keep me more aware of my hand position. I’ll keep drilling these same combos until I get them down perfectly before I add anything else in.
Edit: I didn’t seem to have that problem while shadow boxing, just on the heavy bag.[/quote]
I hesitated to write anything in response to the bareknuckle videos, because a.) I feel like I’m constantly popping up and writing criticism in your thread which I don’t like because you’re coming on nicely, and b.) if you’re new to it, there is a lot that is different enough to fuck you up. That said, if you’re looking for feedback, I’d offer the following:
-
Bareknuckle is a totally different beast. How you defend yourself, how you punch, where you target etc is all effected seriously by the lack of gloves. You can’t necessarily compare it to shadow boxing or gloved bag work.
-
If you are specifically working on bareknuckle skills, rather than trying to make sport striking fit a gloveless environment, then you need to change your guard, the way you use your strikes, and the areas you target.
-
Your guard either needs to be higher or lower. Up to you, but where it is now is about the absolute worst place it could be from a bareknuckle perspective. If it is higher (crazy monkey style, or whatever it’s called), you’ll have an effective deterrent for punches to the head, as someone is quite likely to hit an elbow. Given that your elbows are about the size of my knees, that could be quite unpleasant. That makes it a good defensive guard, although it does leave you pretty vulnerable to the body. It is also, in my view, a far more limited offensive guard, as punches come from a sub optimal, highly visible position, and travel in less efective arcs. A lower guard (I would favour personally), forces you to rely more on movement, but gives you greater scope to see punches coming in. It doesn’t offer a deterrent (shattered hands), but it does allow you to hide your own strikes better, protect your body better, and generally stay more out of the way of trouble.
-
In the video, you actually lean in, pause, and then throw a strike when you lead with your left. This is obviously telegraphing and a big no-no. Punches go confidently to the target or not at all(ignoring feints etc). This is partly because your guard is sub-optimal, and partly because you are obviously new to bareknuckle striking, and conscious that a 300lb mistake with connection could be a long term injury. You can also see this lack on confidence in your lead left, which you are more or less tapping with through most of the video, and there are also points where you throw a combination and pull the power on all of the punches. It’s only natural, and you’ll get over it if you keep practising.
-
The way you throw strikes bareknuckle is slightly different, in my opinion. I find it most effective to loop punches slightly more, as it leads to a more natural wrist alignment, whereas straight punches tend to benefit in part from wrist support in gloves and wraps. It’s not to say you can’t effectively throw straight punches bareknuckle, but I find personally that you are much less likely to roll a wrist if you connect less than perfectly if your punch has been looped slightly.
-
Targeting - if you’re training for bareknuckle specifically, then it would pay to adopt bareknuckle tactics. By that I mean you should be working the body far more than the head. It is far more forgiving an area than the head on an actual opponent, and without gloves it is easier to really cause pain and damage with shots to the body, as gloves tend to get their blows in part absorbed by ribs/pelvises etc, in a way that a bony knuckle can more easily drive through. [/quote]
Please don’t ever feel reluctant to post criticism in my log. If there’s something I’m doing wrong that you want to point out then I need to hear it and do appreciate it very much.
As far as training with bare knuckles. I did that mostly so that I didn’t have to put my gloves on and off constantly because I was hitting the bag between sets of overhead press. I’m not specifically training to fight with bare knuckles; although, I imagine that anything that would work with bare knuckles would work in gloves but not vice versa. So, maybe it would be a beneficial habit for me to get into.
I was deliberately pulling the power on that 1,2,1,right kick combo which I have been drilling a lot lately. I’m really just throwing the 1,2,1 to get them to pull their guard up high and leave their thigh or body open so I can drill them with the right kick. I don’t want to commit to the punches too much because I need to be able to commit to the kick fully. Do you feel that this is a mistake? It’s not something I would want to do all the time but it’s just a combo I’ve had some success with in sparring so I’m trying to get to the point where I can throw it without thinking. I have also been drilling 2,1,2, left switch kick but didn’t do it quite as much yesterday.
I appreciate your advice about the guard. I am particularly bad at moving my head defensively so do you think it would be better for me to rely on a high guard or to use a low guard and drill my head movement a lot?
I have not had any instruction on how/when to work in body shots. Are there any basic combos I should start drilling that would set up body punches? I am assuming I could use the body shots to set up head punches/kicks as well?
[/quote]
With regards to your question about pulling power to set up a kick, I would have to defer to someone who knows more about that than me. I don’t honestly know. When I box and throw combinations, I will sometimes vary the power between punches, to set up a bigger shot, but each punch would be a legitimate punch in its own right. My instinct, while I understand where you are coming form, would be to either throw the 1-2 normally, then the 1 as more of a tap/range confirmer and to give yourself space, then throw the kick, or to throw both of the 1s more gently, but still put some pop behind the 2. 3 light punches screams ‘I’m gearing up for something wild and powerful’ to me, and given then lack of genuine pressure from being tapped on the gloves by 3 punches, I’d just pivot or change angle to throw off the kick. Or I’d ram a hard 1-2 down the middle to show you the dangers of trying to set up big KO strikes. Either way, the odd softer strike to disguise/set up that the one immediately after is a big one is a good, advanced technique. 3 pitty pat punches is just giving your opponent a chance to hurt you, in my opinion. But again, I defer to those that know better here.
As far as body shots go, the answer is it’s partly a matter of time and experience, partly a matter of confidence, and partly a matter of drilling. Everyone likes to go to the body in different ways, and it will vary particularly according to your body mechanics. I have long arms, and am extremely effective at long and mid range with hooks and uppercuts with both hands. I am (relatively) poor in close, rather like a stick insect. Body shots can be harder to master in the beginning, because you feel like you’re very exposed when you throw them, and sometimes you are (if for example, you do Fighting Irish’s rib patter 1-1 head-body without a step 
).
How you carry your guard will determine how you need to move to set up a body shot. My basic, beginner’s treatise on body shots would be as follows:
Unlike a punch to the head, which can be thrown from a fairly upright/‘static’ position, a shot to the body generally requires more total body movement to carry off effectively. You need to move offensively in the best defensive position you can for the punch you’re going to throw, put a shot on the target, and then know where you’re going on the way out, and how you’re getting out.
For example - single shots:
-
A jab to the body. I may want to keep an upright, defensive posture, weight over the back leg. To jab to the body, I will maintain this posture, but drop my weight on my knees slightly, so that I sink about 9". At the same time as I do this, I will also step decisively forward (even if only an inch) with my lead foot. This is a strong offensive move in a defensive posture. Also at the same time, as my weight shifts slightly forward, I will fire my jab at the solar plexus. As the punch makes full contact, my weight should have shifted optimally forwards, and it’s time to step back and up decisively, pushing off my lead foot, returning me to my upright defensive posture.
-
Alternatively, a counter left hook to the body. My opponent throws a straight right hand. Maintaining my balance, I will rotate my right (rear) heel out as far as possible, and bend my left knee slightly. This will maintain my balance, but shift my weight forwards so that it is more over my lead leg. The result of this maneuver is that my head moves about 6" off centre, and I drop down slightly. This causes me to slip the right hand thrown by my opponent, putting me on the ‘outside’, a safe defensive position. As this happens, I may well raise my right glove slightly to offer more protection against his left hand. Slipping the punch like this has put me in an optimal position, given my location relative to my opponent and the distribution of my weight, to throw the left hook, and essentially sit back down in my original defensive position with my weight over my rear foot.
Remembering what I said earlier, you have to have a way in, get your shot off, and get out safely. If this is a long range left hook (say I haven’t also stepped slightly with my left to close distance when I slipped), then I go from the outside, weight more over the front foot, rotate back towards my rear foot, while throwing my counter left at my opponent’s liver. When it hits, I now need to ‘get out’ safely, which I may do by staying low and trying effectively to roll under and through my opponent’s centre line and end up, weight over the back foot, on the outside of his lead hand.
If you want to throw body shots as part of a combination, the same principles apply, but the exit strategy becomes more immediately relevant, as you’re likely to end up in closer proximity and have to spend more time in the Danger Zone (nod to Robert A, wherever he may be).
This is not always true (sorry to immediately contradict myself), for example a simple 1 to the head, followed by a 2 to the body, from long range. Body shots generally, aside from the lead jab to the body, are more effective when you throw a shot to raise your opponents guard, and expose more of the target for the body shot. This could be a jab to the head, and a straight right to the body, or a jab to the head and a jab (AND A STEP) to the body. Of course, long range combinations can also be more complicated, as you could practise slipping to the outside to avoid a jab, while jabbing simultaneously yourself, before rolling back through and under with a right hook to the body. Again, same principles generally apply as was mentioned above with regards to single shots to the body. Good initial movement to great a defensive and offensive platform simultaneously, a firm strike to the target, and a decisive movement aimed at restoring range and defensive posture.
Where it gets more critical/complicated with regards to exit strategy is when you close the distance. This may require a multiphased approach, and may require you set up camp in your opponents face before launching your next combination.
For example:
1.) As above, assume you slip the straight right as described, except as you rotate your ankle and drop your weight over your lead knee, you also take a small step forward with your lead leg. Now you are in the same defensive posture, but you are that bit closer to the opponent, meaning you’ll be throwing a shorter hook. Your exit strategy can’t be to step beck now, because you will still be in range of big shots from your opponent, and you are much more likely to take shots. So your exit strategy becomes more of a control of position strategy. When you throw your short left hook, instead of rolling under and pushing back out, you may bring up your rear foot to complete the closing of the distance, and look to roll up the inside so that your head is on your opponent’s lead shoulder. From here, he can’t bring his full power to bare, your exposure is limited, you can get underhooks in and clinch, use your head to push his head off centre, roll back under and rip your right then left to his body, finishing with your head on his rear shoulder, you can pivot and spin him, etc etc.
I realise I am getting over wordy and quite complicated. Say if anything is unclear and I will try to explain better.
Basically:
-
Maintain good defensive posture and balance.
-
Shift your body off your opponent’s centre line, as this will protect you and allow you to set up the punch.
-
Throw the punch in a way that allows for a smooth flowing movement back to your original defensive posture, either at range or in close.
-
Always have an exit strategy for controlling your exposure to your opponent’s shots.
