Note: This post was submitted by a friend and fellow student at the University of Utah. If you want to submit an article to be considered for publication, drop me line.
Putting Basic Combinations together
One of the most elementary skills all strikers must learn is often one taken too lightly or quickly forgotten in practice; combinations. Most just associate the act of throwing combination punches more as routine to practice the individual punches themselves or simply as a violent aerobic exercise – but in reality, these punch sets are mainly designed to teach fighters how to roll their bodies with punches to increase the power and speed of each action.
One very basic combo that most people will associate is the basic jab, cross, hook combo. But why in that order? Why not just throw 3 cross punches? The reason is balance and the removal of the next punch’s windup.
Imagine you have just thrown a powerful cross, what does it take to throw that same cross again immediately afterward? It sounds fairly easy but in reality so much force is lost in the recovery. Assuming you threw the first cross correctly, your crossing shoulder would be in front of your body to lead your weight into the punch. In order to re-throw that punch you would need to recoil your arm and twist your shoulder back in your stance to its starting position.
It sounds like a simple motion but in the midst of a fight it is laughably slow especially if your intention is to throw another long cross once the starting position is regained. Instead you want to use your twisting torso to your advantage and allow each to punch to wind up the following action.
So in the cross scenario, the full extension of the punch in your leading shoulder (the one that throws the jab) has been rocked backward just as it would be if you were winding up a hard jab. As you throw your right, you simultaneously wind up your left; and as your throw your left you wind up your right and so on. This allows your punches to fly in at the maximum speed and power possible all while keeping your body balanced and well defended – should your opponent try to sneak through a well-timed counter punch.
From a birds-eye view, your shoulders should look like a teeter-totter with your head as the fulcrum. This same concept doesn’t just apply to basic striking – it applies in a to kicks, knees, elbows and even take-downs. A 1-2-3 combo doesn’t necessarily have to be a jab, cross, hook if you don’t want it to be. Try throwing a left jab, right elbow, left knee or a left jab, right cross, left kick or whatever other combination you feel like suits your skills and situation but remember to stay in balance with your moves.
Here’s a quick video of Frank Shamrock teaching a couple of points on basic punching. If you’re just beginning, don’t worry too much about getting everything right. With practice, you’ll get there. The first time you tied your shoes, you sucked at it. Same thing for all the skills in the combat arts – especially striking.
A lot of times fighters will excel at a handful of moves, perhaps even developing “signature” moves. While this is great, you need to make sure to be aware of the situation and never get stuck in your ways. For example, a competitor will start fighting and try to assert his/her plan A. If it works, great. Logically, if it doesn’t, they should switch to plan B or plan C. However, it’s common for people to just try asserting plan A again, only this time, doing it harder. Some people even do this socially – they tell a joke that flops and instead of dropping it and moving on, they become louder to compensate, repeat the punchline with extra gusto, or worse try to explain the joke, hoping it gets funnier.
Cut your losses and do something else. The real problem, in my mind, isn’t that the technique failed. That happens all the time. The error is the lack of awareness to shift from what’s not working and adapt. We all do it to some extent, so it’s good to be on guard against it. (If you can, tape your sparring sessions and review them with this in mind)
Yin/Yang Combinations
In boxing, it’s common strategy to work the body with strikes and then send some punches upstairs. The idea is that hurting the abs will drop the hands and open up opportunities to head punches. Even if the blows don’t land, often the hands will come down and create the opening. Same thing goes if you’re working attacks that aren’t going through – do the opposite of what you’re doing. If punches aren’t going well, try kicks. If punches and kicks aren’t doing the job, try grappling.
Within grappling, you’ll see a lot of yin/yang setups. A jujitsu player will attempt a sweep, but the opponent posts out his arm, stuffing the technique. Anticipating this, the grappler takes the posted arm into a shoulder or arm attack.
The Zen-like philosophy is that every time someone defends strongly in one area, they simultaneously become weak some where else. Strategies like punching for the takedown fall under this kind of thinking.
Here’s one vid that illustrates the concept pretty well within one specific technique. Attempted scissor sweep gets blocked and opens up a hip sweep.
It takes time and effort to develop a broad skillset, but it’ll pay off. The mental self awareness takes just as long. The days are gone in MMA where guys can only be good at one thing alone. There are probably too examples of how to switch up your attacks to enumerate – can you think of any? Let me know what you’re favorites are.
One man who has made extensive use of the looping overhand punch is UFC fighter Chuck Liddell. To me, the backbone of his success with his “sprawl and brawl” style was his hard-hitting punches that seemed to sneak past your defenses. His loose and unorthodox boxing punches slip past because they’d come at crazy, unexpected angles.
To illustrate a little bit about the punch, I present the Iceman himself:
A couple of pointers not covered expressly in the video:
The overhand has a greater range than a horizontal hooking punch. If you fire off an overhand when you’re in traditional hook distance, expect to miss your mark.
This is an aggressive punch – your body mass is moving forward, your torso is leaning forward over your center of mass slightly.
It can be an excellent counter punch – perhaps from a jab cross combo – but the timing is a little different. The punch needs to be initiated just before or at the same time your opponent is throwing his punch. If you can read your opponent, step slightly towards him and at an angle to his back, anticipating his strike. Both punches will start approximately at the same time but the overhand will land just a fraction of a second after you’ve slipped or parried his punch.
Watch out for the take down, even if the punch lands. A single or double leg takedown is a well fitting counter to this punch. Just like Chuck, “brawl” and “sprawl” go together for a good reason.
