Hi everyone I was sparring last night with only jabs and hooks and no matter what I seemed to do, my opponent found a way through my guard. My hands were up, close to the chin with (what I thought) very little room for error, and still he came through. Anyone got any good techniques that may be useful? Thanks
Was he getting your head or your stomach? I don't find keeping hands by head the most effective blocking method- you need to adjust your guard all the time really to work with your opponent.
It was only head we were working on (which is even worse as I didn't exactly have a lot to think about!!)
Was he getting right through a gap or was the power of his punches allowing him to get through? Just work on your guard- get someone to just attack you and work on either moving out of the way, or countering or getting those punches deflected.
move back a tiny bit when it is delivered and give yourself some reaction time, for starters. snap your head back.
You could try moving your feet more and using parry (slap blocks) and jabs. You partner might be a good "sharpshooter" (e.g. good at faking one way to get you to move and then hitting you where are going). Sharpshooters love when people go flat footed and basically only move their upper body. Just remember, be a hard to hit target, when you are blocking/parrying, you can keep moving away and to the side of his attacks, this will make the opponent come to you. This makes it much easier for you to close the distance on them because they are already moving towards you so when you do move forward, you only have to do half the work. When they are head up, jab them, when they crouch or duck, hit them with uppercuts. This is just my opinion.
There's a few things you can do. When they jab: - You can hit the glove as it gets close to you with one of your hands (like you would if you we're holding pads) - Hold you hands together tightly to not let them through (leave yourself room to actually see though if your hands are up high) - Dodge the punch so it doesn't hit you at all For a hook: - Dodge it (move back, go under, move ahead and uppercut, whatever) - Block it by bringing your glove past your ear and hide behind your shoulder a bit. You should also turn with the punch a bit so your not like a wall when it hits you. I'm sure there's more but there's some ideas. A lot of good advice for moving and such in this thread so read everything.
If he was finding the way through your gaurd as you were jabbing at him, make sure you ducking your head in towards your shoulder behind your jab, also make sure your right glove stays tucked at your chin, catching the jab hes probably throwing at you. Thats what I get told.
Thanks for the advice. I do feel very stationary and flat footed, but I'm quite a big guy and being nimble on my feet isn't the easiest or most natural thing. Guess it's something I'll have to learn how to do!
Yeah, I'm sure if I mention it, it won't be a problem. I was told skipping would help me get a bit lighter. Any truth in this?
In my Kickboxing class we warm up with some skipping usually, around 9 minutes of it. We skip for 3 minute intervals and take a minute rest. Every 30 seconds we change from a slow pace to a fast pace or vice versa. Give it a shot. I wouldn't say it will do much for helping your fighting stance but it is a good warm up. The only thing that will really help your fighting stance is practice, but who knows, you may find the skipping helps. Everyone is different after all.
Hey Wadey, What do you feel was different about the night that you got jabbed in the face using hooks and jabs as to any other night that you was sparring an opponent?
mma fortress fighter Straight Blast Gym's street boxing is my favorite. It will teach you to keep from getting hit very quickly! MMA Fortress Fighter style works great.
Nothing really. He just seemed to be very quick at getting his shots in. One minute I'm going for him, the next i'm getting a dig on the chin or cheek. Think I just need to work harder. It seems the general concensus is to keep moving. Hard for a big guy like me, but I guess I'll have to work on it
