[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]fearnloathingnyc wrote:
Sento,
Thanks for the comment regarding conditioning.
I read your comment a few days ago and I’ve had a couple of days to shadow box. I’ve been moving more and thinking about possible counters from my opponent. Your post is filled with knowledge that I will continue to refer to in order to dissect it and apply it in my training. There is a lot of useful information here.
I like what you mention about thinking a lot about these counters especially after throwing the jab-cross. I will employ those possible opponent reactions into my shadow boxing and heavy bag work. As far as moving back, I really need to stop doing it. When I spar again this will be one of my top priorities as well as going kick for kick and punch for punch and always disrupting my sparring partners’ rhythm (not giving him a time to set up). Another top priority during my next sparring session is to add these counters you just mentioned.
I’ve never really thought about where I want to end up after throwing the straight right, but, it makes a ton of sense from a positioning standpoint. It would put me in a better defensive and offensive position if I start thinking like this.
The first counter you just described sounds very effective. I will start practicing this counter and movement into my shadow boxing and put it into play when I spar again. Just thinking about it sounds like it will bring me a lot of advantages.
These are all excellent variations/counters that I will start playing with in my shadow boxing, heavy bag, and sparring. I’m going to be very methodical in my shadow boxing when doing these combinations. I can’t wait to really put them into play. Thanks again Sento. As always, your thoughtful and insightful posts are not only welcomed but also appreciated. [/quote]
You’re welcome. Glad to be of help. 
All of those counters and combinations are based on a few key principles, which will hopefully help you to understand they “why’s” as well as the “what” to do.
- “Always neutralize your opponent’s position before you attack.” -GM Joe Lewis
1b) “Always attack from a position of strength to a position of weakness.”
This is one of the cardinal rules of combat. If two opponents (could be individuals, groups, or even armies) meet on even ground, the vast majority of time the better equipped/physically superior/skilled/experienced opponent will prevail. But, an inferior opponent can overcome a superior one given superior positioning. This is the basis from everything from the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, to modern Jiu-Jitsu positions on the ground. This is also equally important as you are recovering or attempting to disengage as that is one of the primary times you are open to being countered.
- A moving target is more difficult to hit than a stationary one.
Learning how to defend using the arms and legs to parry, block, shield/cover, cuff, etc… is an important part of learning how to fight. But, generally those types of defense are only necessary if your opponent has seized the positional and timing advantage. They also occupy your limbs/offensive tools which means that you temporarily cannot use them to inflict damage (or take some damage yourself). By moving your target out of harm’s way/controlling the positional relationship between you and your opponent you render their counters ineffective (or at least seriously limit their options) while retaining the use of all your offensive tools in the process and take no damage.
Now of course this is an ideal scenario, which is why learning to use “blocking” (by which I am including all defensive movements where the arms or legs are used to defend incoming attacks) is important. But if blocking is all you ever rely on, then you are missing out on some other very effective means of defense.
- “The gaps in your offense create the holes in your defense.” -GM Joe Lewis
Already discussed this above, so won’t go further into it.
- The only time your opponent’s advantages or offensive skills are a threat to you is when they are “set”.
This is sort of a combination of all the above mentioned principles. If you can control the distance, angulation, force your opponent to deal with your attacks, or keep them mentally and physically off balance, then you can neutralize any advantage that they might have over you and take away their ability to utilize their offensive skills effectively against you.
All of the combinations you were practicing in that earlier post I responded to were essentially “trading”. You don’t want to trade, you want it to be your turn all the time. Trading means the physically superior fighter will usually win; don’t fight like that, use your mind to win, not your body. Yes, you still want to be in the best shape you can, develop your mental and physical toughness, and condition yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally to be the tougher fighter, but you want to approach the fight like your opponent is always the physically superior fighter, so you outsmart and out maneuver them to victory; you win because you’re better, not because you’re tougher. Then you can always switch back and turn on the toughness if need be or to keep them even further off balance (break your rhythm).
Hope this all makes sense and I didn’t further confuse you. :-)[/quote]
Sento, you have an immense wealth of knowledge and every time you post on my thread, I learn something new and I spend time dissecting it. The intelligence behind your posts are truly remarkable.
I can’t wait to spar again and focus on a lot of the principles you mentioned. I was watching a video yesterday called “Boxing and Bruce Lee and the 5 ways of attack.” All of the principles of attack in the video are in unison with what you’ve mentioned.
I think this will drastically improve my sparring in the sense that I am someone who likes to study things thoroughly and think a lot about certain topics (in this case principles of combat). The idea of neutralizing my opponent’s position before my attack and attacking from a position of strength is invaluable skill which will improve my game tenfold.
This all speaks to the facts of never being in a position to get hit. I never really knew that as you mentioned: “learning how to defend using the arms and legs to parry, block, shield/cover, cuff, etc… is an important part of learning how to fight. But, generally those types of defense are only necessary if your opponent has seized the positional and timing advantage. They also occupy your limbs/offensive tools which mean that you temporarily cannot use them to inflict damage (or take some damage yourself).” This makes a lot of sense since I do find that parrying and blocking slow my offensive production. I have a strong idea in mind about what you are saying in terms of positioning. For instance, when throwing the jab-cross, I should pivot and or move to a position (possibly to my right side (which would be opponents left side)) in which I can hit and not get hit. Basically I should throw my combinations and move into another position which places me at an advantage. If I throw a jab-cross and stay there, then I am being stationary. I definitely need to employ the principle of moving after throwing since I haven’t done that in sparring yet.
One of the things that I have done (but infrequently) is breaking my opponent’s rhythm by not giving them a chance to reset. I really like when you say, “You want it to be your turn all the time.”