In that case I am of the opinion that you should continue switching sides, it is better conserve your energy and throw a lot of opponent’s off/make it harder to game plan against you. You may eventually find that one side feels more “natural” though as you continue to learn/improve in your skills or that your coach (once you get one) has you practicing in one lead most of the time.
Jump rope/shadow boxing
A few minutes of each
Worked focus mitt drills w/ my stepson
Back and forth for an hour. We did some soft sparring and I learned that I am a lot better at getting strikes in than I am at defending against them. I will need to work on some defensive maneuvers, etc… I learned the value of keeping your head moving though.
Practiced some combos on the heavy bag for about 15 minutes. I worked on getting into the pocket, throwing some strikes and throwing a strike as I exited.
Nothing too difficult today. I am sore from head to toe right now so I probably won’t do anything really taxing until Monday.
Just foam rolling and stretching today. I am really tight and sore everywhere, especially around my hips and hip flexors.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
In that case I am of the opinion that you should continue switching sides, it is better conserve your energy and throw a lot of opponent’s off/make it harder to game plan against you. You may eventually find that one side feels more “natural” though as you continue to learn/improve in your skills or that your coach (once you get one) has you practicing in one lead most of the time.[/quote]
I agree.
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
It would be really hard to not switch to southpaw. In karate there is a lot of emphasis on not having a weak side so I have been doing that since I was 4 years old! I am virtually the same both ways so I wouldn’t know which one to choose. Since I can, wouldn’t it be better to stick to southpaw?
What exactly do you mean by “sitting into my punches”?[/quote]
The only good way I can describe it is by saying that when you swing a baseball bat, you don’t do it straight-legged, with your weight up high - you pivot heavy on your rear foot, and almost drop your rear knee so you can get your weight behind the bat.
See how Papi kind of drops his weight, and drives it forward with that back leg? That’s the same shit you want to do with a punch.
Tommy Hearns was always the best at doing this with his straight right hand, and he got unreal power out of it for such a tall, skinny dude. This whole video is full of it, but if you slow it down at :40 in, you’ll see it best, I think
As for hooks and uppercuts, nobody did it better than Iron Mike. His stance is wide, and he drops his weight for a split second before hammering that hook/uppercut combo.
That’s what I mean when I say “sit down.” Big dudes like you can generate tremendous power by doing that.
Good bag work, lots of good things going on there. Good comments and advise. Remember you don’t have to kill the bag with every shot, you have good hands and when your doing bag work try to prolong those rounds by backing off the shots power level a bit. Liked the switching reg and southy, right after your switch load up on the next combo. At this point get to a boxing gym and get a some regular coaching.
I will try to keep that in mind. I do try to always hit with 75%+ of my punching power and it gets tiring. It doesn’t seem productive to throw strikes that wouldn’t potentially ko your opponent unless you were trying to win by decision which I don’t believe will be my forte’. Please correct me if I am wrong.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
It would be really hard to not switch to southpaw. In karate there is a lot of emphasis on not having a weak side so I have been doing that since I was 4 years old! I am virtually the same both ways so I wouldn’t know which one to choose. Since I can, wouldn’t it be better to stick to southpaw?
What exactly do you mean by “sitting into my punches”?[/quote]
The only good way I can describe it is by saying that when you swing a baseball bat, you don’t do it straight-legged, with your weight up high - you pivot heavy on your rear foot, and almost drop your rear knee so you can get your weight behind the bat.
See how Papi kind of drops his weight, and drives it forward with that back leg? That’s the same shit you want to do with a punch.
Tommy Hearns was always the best at doing this with his straight right hand, and he got unreal power out of it for such a tall, skinny dude. This whole video is full of it, but if you slow it down at :40 in, you’ll see it best, I think
As for hooks and uppercuts, nobody did it better than Iron Mike. His stance is wide, and he drops his weight for a split second before hammering that hook/uppercut combo.
That’s what I mean when I say “sit down.” Big dudes like you can generate tremendous power by doing that.[/quote]
Sounds like you just make a kinetic chain from the floor to your fist similarly to when you dig your feet into the ground when you overhead press. I think I know what you mean. Another example is when you swing a sledgehammer. You initiate the swing with straight legs and squat down as you swing to put your weight into it. Does this make sense or am I way off?
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
I will try to keep that in mind. I do try to always hit with 75%+ of my punching power and it gets tiring. It doesn’t seem productive to throw strikes that wouldn’t potentially ko your opponent unless you were trying to win by decision which I don’t believe will be my forte’. Please correct me if I am wrong.[/quote]
Yea, you’re kinda wrong haha. You can’t just ko everyone with one shot - it just won’t happen. Many times, especially with guys who are more experienced, you’ll have to open them up with quick, light shots designed to get their guard to move where you want it to. That’s what creates kos. Not just one shot power.
Haha, fair enough. I will have to work on that. I will frequently tell myself that I am just going to work on speed and form on the heavy bag but then I get bored after 3-4 minutes and start slugging it. I need to be more strict about it because I know that speed and form are my weak points.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
I will try to keep that in mind. I do try to always hit with 75%+ of my punching power and it gets tiring. It doesn’t seem productive to throw strikes that wouldn’t potentially ko your opponent unless you were trying to win by decision which I don’t believe will be my forte’. Please correct me if I am wrong.[/quote]
Yea, you’re kinda wrong haha. You can’t just ko everyone with one shot - it just won’t happen. Many times, especially with guys who are more experienced, you’ll have to open them up with quick, light shots designed to get their guard to move where you want it to. That’s what creates kos. Not just one shot power.[/quote]
Ye completely agree with Irish. Right now, any half decent amateur at 160lbs and above (assuming they are of average height or thereabouts), would probably box/Muai thai etc the spots off you. I don’t mean that as any kind of disparagement, simply a reflection of your level of experience in the fight game. This is largely because they have a much stronger grounding in the skill and strategy side of the game, and they would use all the shots you don’t see the point in to put you right where they wanted you.
Low power shots, and arm punches, have plenty of relevance in striking sports:
-
It is better to hit your opponent than not hit him.
-
Even punches with no power can blind an opponent, disrupt their rhythm, or make them move in a direction other than the one they want to.
-
They still have to be defended, so you still use up some of your opponent’s resources.
-
They can be thrown to draw specific counters, and disguise bigger shots of your own that follow after.
-
In doing all of this, you can gauge your opponent’s response to all sorts of shots, without expending a lot of energy. Does he reach for the punch when he blocks a right hand? Is he sloppy getting his guard up to protect against hooks? Does he over commit to his uppercut defense? Does he keep his rhythm and feet right when he slips and rolls? Does he favour one type of head motion or the another when he moves his head after a slip and roll? Does he like to counter, is he good at it? How does he control range? These are just a few necessary things to know about an opponent, and if you can learn some of them without wasting energy, then that will make you a much better fighter.
-
If you compete, an arm punch can still be a scoring punch, this can demoralise your opponent. I’ve never experienced frustration quite like walking away from a fight where I was comprehensively beaten on points, and didn’t have a mark on me. It’s the fight game, and to be in the ring knowing your getting whooped on points, without actually feeling like you’re in a fight, can be very frustrating.
-
None of the above is an excuse to throw a shitty jab. Just don’t do it.
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
Haha, fair enough. I will have to work on that. I will frequently tell myself that I am just going to work on speed and form on the heavy bag but then I get bored after 3-4 minutes and start slugging it. I need to be more strict about it because I know that speed and form are my weak points.[/quote]
You’re in a strange position, because you’ve obviously got impressive strength and size, but it won’t count for very much when you come up against a big guy who can also fight. As a strongman, I’m sure you know about Bud Jeffries. He would be a good person to look to. There is an excellent manual of his, for combat sports, available as a pdf online.
The key thing is that your size and strength will be a significant disadvantage to you, unless you can forget about it completely for the first few months. You will use it to compensate for a lack of skill, and whilst it may be viable against other newbies, it will hold you back from reaching your technical potential, which could lead to you coming unstuck later on against higher level opposition.
You have a very reasonable starting base of skills, judging from the video. Try to keep that in mind when you get to sparring. Build on the skills, let your strength be something else in your locker that might help you turn the tide in a fight occasionally.
[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
The key thing is that your size and strength will be a significant disadvantage to you, unless you can forget about it completely for the first few months. You will use it to compensate for a lack of skill, and whilst it may be viable against other newbies, it will hold you back from reaching your technical potential, which could lead to you coming unstuck later on against higher level opposition.
[/quote]
This is great advice and you should heed this advice if you want to reach your potential. I generally tell the really big strong guys who I train and who I help my instructor train to try to approach learning to fight from the perspective of the physically inferior fighter (which can be difficult for them since they are often used to being the bigger, stronger, physically superior person). By doing so they must focus on strategy, technique, timing, rhythm control, positional dominance, essentially on being “better” from a skill perspective rather than just a physicality standpoint. Those who can put their egos in check and do this progress much faster and ultimately go further than those who don’t.
And like London said, you will always have that strength and size ace card up your sleeve for a later time that you can pull out in a fight which may tip the scales against an opponent who is matching you skill wise or even to allow you to “make things ugly” against a superior technician. Just don’t focus on that now or rely on it now.
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
It would be really hard to not switch to southpaw. In karate there is a lot of emphasis on not having a weak side so I have been doing that since I was 4 years old! I am virtually the same both ways so I wouldn’t know which one to choose. Since I can, wouldn’t it be better to stick to southpaw?
What exactly do you mean by “sitting into my punches”?[/quote]
The only good way I can describe it is by saying that when you swing a baseball bat, you don’t do it straight-legged, with your weight up high - you pivot heavy on your rear foot, and almost drop your rear knee so you can get your weight behind the bat.
See how Papi kind of drops his weight, and drives it forward with that back leg? That’s the same shit you want to do with a punch.
Tommy Hearns was always the best at doing this with his straight right hand, and he got unreal power out of it for such a tall, skinny dude. This whole video is full of it, but if you slow it down at :40 in, you’ll see it best, I think
As for hooks and uppercuts, nobody did it better than Iron Mike. His stance is wide, and he drops his weight for a split second before hammering that hook/uppercut combo.
That’s what I mean when I say “sit down.” Big dudes like you can generate tremendous power by doing that.[/quote]
Sounds like you just make a kinetic chain from the floor to your fist similarly to when you dig your feet into the ground when you overhead press. I think I know what you mean. Another example is when you swing a sledgehammer. You initiate the swing with straight legs and squat down as you swing to put your weight into it. Does this make sense or am I way off?[/quote]
You’ve got the idea, but of course the application and specifics of the skill are different than either of those other examples.
The thing you want to realize is that all power in striking comes from the ground up and must be based on having an effective “drive” leg. Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (paraphrased), so if you want to create force forward (say a straight right), you need to have something driving/bracing behind you.
From there you want to focus on learning/understanding how to maximize your use of Mass Transfer, Torque, and Inclination; how to coordinate those power sources and the different parts of your body so as to maximize efficient transfer or energy; and how to maximize leverage at and through the point of impact. You already do some of these things, but like most of us could use more work on them.
Like Irish said, if you can really get these down, then given your size and strength you should be able to generate some serious power and even your speed strikes are going to hurt people.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
It would be really hard to not switch to southpaw. In karate there is a lot of emphasis on not having a weak side so I have been doing that since I was 4 years old! I am virtually the same both ways so I wouldn’t know which one to choose. Since I can, wouldn’t it be better to stick to southpaw?
What exactly do you mean by “sitting into my punches”?[/quote]
The only good way I can describe it is by saying that when you swing a baseball bat, you don’t do it straight-legged, with your weight up high - you pivot heavy on your rear foot, and almost drop your rear knee so you can get your weight behind the bat.
See how Papi kind of drops his weight, and drives it forward with that back leg? That’s the same shit you want to do with a punch.
Tommy Hearns was always the best at doing this with his straight right hand, and he got unreal power out of it for such a tall, skinny dude. This whole video is full of it, but if you slow it down at :40 in, you’ll see it best, I think
As for hooks and uppercuts, nobody did it better than Iron Mike. His stance is wide, and he drops his weight for a split second before hammering that hook/uppercut combo.
That’s what I mean when I say “sit down.” Big dudes like you can generate tremendous power by doing that.[/quote]
Sounds like you just make a kinetic chain from the floor to your fist similarly to when you dig your feet into the ground when you overhead press. I think I know what you mean. Another example is when you swing a sledgehammer. You initiate the swing with straight legs and squat down as you swing to put your weight into it. Does this make sense or am I way off?[/quote]
You’ve got the idea, but of course the application and specifics of the skill are different than either of those other examples.
The thing you want to realize is that all power in striking comes from the ground up and must be based on having an effective “drive” leg. Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (paraphrased), so if you want to create force forward (say a straight right), you need to have something driving/bracing behind you.
From there you want to focus on learning/understanding how to maximize your use of Mass Transfer, Torque, and Inclination; how to coordinate those power sources and the different parts of your body so as to maximize efficient transfer or energy; and how to maximize leverage at and through the point of impact. You already do some of these things, but like most of us could use more work on them.
Like Irish said, if you can really get these down, then given your size and strength you should be able to generate some serious power and even your speed strikes are going to hurt people.
[/quote]
I have actually been trying to work on this, especially in regards to my right cross. The biggest obstacle I am having at the moment is that the floor in my garage is about as slick as glass which makes driving into it with my foot practically impossible. If I push off really hard I’ll actually lose my footing and fall over. I’m sure this won’t be an issue once I get into a studio though.
Speaking of the studio, I picked up a side job 2 weeks ago and am still waiting to get paid for it. That money is my expendable income for MMA so I need to call that guy today and see what the heck is taking so long. I’m itching to get in and start learning but I can’t until I get that from him.
First, to everyone that’s posted on this thread, thanks. It’s an enjoyable read. I’m not a combat athlete by any definition, but I was a successful high-school wrestler and feel some kinship to combat sports and admiration for those pursuing them. Now, while striking sports and wrestling are EXTREMELY different animals, one place I see a parallel is this discussion of throwing non-full-power punches:
[quote]LondonBoxer123 wrote:
2. Even punches with no power can blind an opponent, disrupt their rhythm, or make them move in a direction other than the one they want to.
-
They still have to be defended, so you still use up some of your opponent’s resources.
-
They can be thrown to draw specific counters, and disguise bigger shots of your own that follow after.
-
In doing all of this, you can gauge your opponent’s response to all sorts of shots, without expending a lot of energy.
[/quote]
These really spoke to the former wrestler in me. For every true attempted SCORING move in wrestling, there is much jostling and hand-fighting, some of which is just passive time-wasting and resting, but most of which is akin to LondonBoxer’s points here: those movements (executed properly) are good for feeling out your opponent’s stance and defensive strategies, getting him to move a way that he doesn’t want to, etc. Your passive movements can demand a reaction from him that prevents launching his own offense.
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
I have actually been trying to work on this, especially in regards to my right cross. The biggest obstacle I am having at the moment is that the floor in my garage is about as slick as glass which makes driving into it with my foot practically impossible. If I push off really hard I’ll actually lose my footing and fall over. I’m sure this won’t be an issue once I get into a studio though.
[/quote]
That could definitely make things more difficult. Do you find that you also cannot step effectively without having your feet slip? Have you tried gripping the floor with your toes/feet, going barefoot, or getting yourself a good pair of wrestling shoes or Vibram’s Five Fingers? All of those can help improve traction.
With the Straight Right (a Right Cross is actually not a specific punch per se but any right hand that “Crosses” over top of the opponent’s left jab and could be anything from a straight right to a right hook, technical overhand right, or a looping overhand right) another thing you can do is to step forward with the lead foot (as if stepping in with a lead jab, making sure to land heel first) as you push yourself forward off the back foot (though perhaps not as hard as you can if your feet are really slipping) then rotate your hips and shoulders, then release your punch as you simultaneously bring your rear foot up to regain your fighting position and lastly land the punch as you simultaneously complete your hip/torso rotation, weight shift to the front leg, and plant the back foot (which should now be turned so that your knee is now pointing in the direction you are punching, thus allowing you to activate your calf, hamstrings, quads, and Glutes to stabilize you and allow you to brace at the point of impact). This results in a very efficient transfer of energy while also allowing you to stay a little lighter on your feet.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]Loftearmen wrote:
I have actually been trying to work on this, especially in regards to my right cross. The biggest obstacle I am having at the moment is that the floor in my garage is about as slick as glass which makes driving into it with my foot practically impossible. If I push off really hard I’ll actually lose my footing and fall over. I’m sure this won’t be an issue once I get into a studio though.
[/quote]
Yes, basic footwork is difficult because I slip and slide so much. The best thing I have for gripping the floor are my Olympic lifting shoes, believe it or not, but they still don’t grip particularly well and they feel really awkward because they have a 1" heel and the soles are completely rigid and flat. They really aren’t good for anything but lifting. I’ll look into getting some wrestling shoes but I don’t know when I will be able to since I just bought boxing gloves and shin guards.
Do you know of a video showing what you just explained? If I can see someone do it I can understand it a lot better.
That could definitely make things more difficult. Do you find that you also cannot step effectively without having your feet slip? Have you tried gripping the floor with your toes/feet, going barefoot, or getting yourself a good pair of wrestling shoes or Vibram’s Five Fingers? All of those can help improve traction.
With the Straight Right (a Right Cross is actually not a specific punch per se but any right hand that “Crosses” over top of the opponent’s left jab and could be anything from a straight right to a right hook, technical overhand right, or a looping overhand right) another thing you can do is to step forward with the lead foot (as if stepping in with a lead jab, making sure to land heel first) as you push yourself forward off the back foot (though perhaps not as hard as you can if your feet are really slipping) then rotate your hips and shoulders, then release your punch as you simultaneously bring your rear foot up to regain your fighting position and lastly land the punch as you simultaneously complete your hip/torso rotation, weight shift to the front leg, and plant the back foot (which should now be turned so that your knee is now pointing in the direction you are punching, thus allowing you to activate your calf, hamstrings, quads, and Glutes to stabilize you and allow you to brace at the point of impact). This results in a very efficient transfer of energy while also allowing you to stay a little lighter on your feet.[/quote]
I will have to look around youtube to see if I can find one. Or I suppose I could film one and post it
Jog 1 mile
Jump Ropex500
Heavy Bag: 5x2
This training session didn’t go as well as planned for various reasons. Mostly it was because it was my wife’s birthday so I didn’t have a lot of time.