The Bas Rutten Liver ShotFiled Under: Instruction, Local
It almost seems that Bas Rutten has the patent on the liver shot – it’s something he does really well. The video above is short and sweet – and easy watch. I really like how Bas delineates between the hook and the liver shot – the latter being more uppercut than hook. And the visual of shanking someone with a knife blade between your knuckles, Wolverine style, … priceless Bas Rutten.
Anyway, the local boys over at Mushin Self Defense have an longer, more in depth video (below) talking about the finer details of the liver and striking it. The first five or so minutes is Sensei Brian taking with a medical doctor about the location and structure of the liver. The music in the background cracks me up.
One other thing – this punch is sometimes called a shovel hook, or a shovel punch, because of how it mimics the way you shovel snow in the winter time, something we all can relate to. To make the punch really hit hard, you need to get your hips behind it and drive through with your feet - without changing much of your vertical height. The video below is pretty decent and you can see the hip shift and the pushing through on the balls of the feet. Since they are coming from a kickboxing point of view, there is one notable correction for us MMA guys – their starting stance is a little wide (foot to foot) and a tad too “slim” (angle to the opponent).
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Tags: bas rutten, body shots, Brian Yamasaki, liver shot, Mushin, punching, shovel punch, taking it to the mmat
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- BartB
- 16 Sep 2009 10:17 AM
- Comments (4)
September 16th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
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September 30th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I believe body shots in general are an under-utilized striking tool in MMA. In lengthy boxing or kickboxing matches they are pretty much required if you are ever going to slow down and stop your opponent. In MMA there is far too much head hunting, likely due to much shorter fights and that ever present possibility of a quick KO thanks to 4 ounce gloves. Still, as the overall skill level in MMA increases (particularly striking defensive skills) we are going to see more and more decisions as fighters search for that one shot kill that never comes. Even with the ubiquity of the leg kick we’re still mostly seeing fighters use it in an attempt to set up head shots rather than actively seeking to destroy the legs. Body shots are the same way but the liver shot is a lovely combination of the best of both worlds. Obviously, if you land it correctly you have the possibility of a fight ending TKO but even if you don’t land it perfectly you are still wearing down the body, making life tougher for your opponent. The overall level of MMA striking is still pretty low, crude but effective with a few elite exceptions. In the future I definitely think we’ll be seeing the liver shot used much more in MMA as pure boxing skills increase. Thank you for the videos.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Josh – you’re welcome for the vids. That’s my job … err… hobby.
Also, you’re right on point with the body shots being under-used. I’ll be watching MMA and screaming at the TV – “Chop him down! Hit the leg kick! Chop him down!”
When you systematically damage an opponent via leg kicks or body shots, it’s only a matter of time before your opponent has a seriously compromised position.
It’s a very effective strategy, IMO, but I can only think of a couple of times that “chopping down the tree” has been a specific gameplan to win fights – Forest vs Rampage and Jardine vs Liddell.
Can anybody remember more?
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Rob Emerson vs Rafael Dos Anjos at 103 was decided by Rafael’s dedication to kicking Emerson’s legs. He destroyed his lead leg, took away all his power and even forced Emerson to put both his hands on the mat a few times to stop himself from toppling over. It was beautiful. I see a lot of guys have success with the leg kick and then it seems like they think “Oh the damage is done” and they switch to something else. Even Forrest (to my disappointment) stopped throwing as many leg kicks in the later rounds of his fight with Rampage. Dos Anjos never stopped punishing that leg, I bet Emerson was on crutches for a week at least.