Striking Skills

[El Luchador]

How Much Time Do U spend working
on Strikes.
Do U Pre-fer Kickboxing,Ground & Pound or do U
not feel Striking Works?????

[tkdkid]

I practice boxing thrity minutes a day. I spent more time practicing kicks though. I feel that judo with little boxing would be most devastating for street defense.

[Nick]

Striking works... but unlike grappling, it's easy to do lazily, therefore you could never become skilled at it.

Later...

[Bjjexpertise@be]

I practice boxing thrity minutes a day. I spent more time practicing kicks though. I feel that judo with little boxing would be most devastating for street defense.

Judo isn't the best self defense out there, it's a great sport and everything but i just don't feel it's a good defense.

[ryanhall]

Judo, like any other contact sport, has aspects that can be applied to self-defense situations. It may resemble a real fight less than some other combat sports (which do not look much like a real fight themselves), but it can contribute to your overall skills.

[Tom Yum]

Originally posted by Nick
Striking works... but unlike grappling, it's easy to do lazily, therefore you could never become skilled at it.

Later...

Hey Dr. Nick... It is easy to strike lazily, because some folks don't have to spar wheras in jiujitsu or wrestling you work on the mat.

In a kickboxing class that works in the ring, you find out quickly that you can't be lazy.

[Nick]

Er... huh? "Dr. Nick"... I'm sure whether you're challenging me or being sarcastic or what...

...but, to clarify what I meant...

...it's easier to strike lazily because it's more natural than grappling (you reach out and grab stuff all the time) and since you're on your feet, it's easier to manuver, making it harder to keep someone in your range. Therefore, if you get tired you start to slack off and your training becomes ineffective, whereas, grappling, you can't really run away and you're doing something unnatural.

Later...

[Tom Yum]

Hey Nick, I wasn't challenging you but I happen to hear a Simpsons ad on the radio and since your name is also the infamous Dr. Nick, it riled my humor for a split second.

What I meant was that its difficult to run away in a ring when you spar against a determined partner. If you get tired, its the same as grappling - you wait a moment and then get at it.

Are you familar with boxing/kickboxing training methods? Some MMA gyms focus about 70% on grappling and 30% on striking or some comparitive ratio. Most of the striking is done just to learn how to strike and you're not scrutinized or disciplined (like in a boxing gym) if you drop hands, don't pull in fast enough or keep your chin up and out with your head in front of your feet.

An example if a simple jab, cross drill with focus mitts. At first you are learning technique and go at your own pace, but once you get the fundamentals the coach holds you to higher standards. If you paw your jab back, you get lightly jabbed during the paw and this keeps happening until you figure out that your jab retracts quickly and lightly into a tight but relaxed 'on guard' position. If you don't learn there, imagine what happens when you gear up and your sparring partner uses a hard r. cross instead of a light jab as you paw your jab back.

In stand up you don't run away so much because you get cut off easily by a determined sparring partner. You take a little punishment for getting lazy and try to push yourself. Your coach will know when to call your sparring partner into the corner.

[Lost Ronin]

I work my striking just as much as I do my ground work. I prefer to practice in Muay Thai style rules, you know, with leg kicks and all. But I do work my Boxing with a separate coach because I feel that it benefits me. Boxers kick ass, and when you just separate yourself from your kicks and work with only your punches or vice versa, it really teaches you how to use your tools in as many ways as possible. Most NHB guys I know train a lot more grappling than striking, which is understandable. But I think its a big mistake.

Overall, you wanna be versatile. You want to be able to knock people out with good Boxing combos and at the same time you wanna be able to mix punches and kicks together. But remember, if you wanna be able to use those strikes that you work so hard on, you also have to be a good grappler. You should focus on wrestling and takedown defense. I know guys that could knock my ass out instantly, but take them down and its over. Thats why I spend a lot of time doing BJJ, I also roll with my former highschools wrestling team during their season. The guys get to practice with someone experienced, and I don't lose my takedowns and all around skills. By the way, ground and pound kicks ass. But its mostly angled straights and hooks. You can develop that through Boxing. Although beating on a dummy and practicing ground drills is not a bad idea.

[Nick]

I've been doing Muay Thai this summer, it's pretty good. I've modified my stance because of it.

Later...

[DRLashambe]

I much prefer ground and pound. If you can maintain top control on an opponent through your grappling, there's not much chance for them to hit you back (and I'm a huge fan of not being hit).
A trainer here in London who specializes in Muay Thai, and has great success with MMA (his name is Sean Tompkins) introduced me to my favourite training method for this. He uses an old punching bag on the ground to practice maintaining position while striking, and then switching position when he calls "change." It's just like stand up bag work: it improves your form, striking power, and stamina. Also, this exercise focuses on transitioning from one position to another quickly, an invaluable skill for striking on the ground.