Headbut

[Tom Yum]

Anyone ever try to do a controlled headbut while sparring? I found 3 ways to do it.

1.Straight on
2.On the rebound from bob and weave (in close quarters)
3.From the thai clinch

The plus about straight on is that it can hit really hard.
The risk is that if the other guys chin is tucked (as it should be!) your nose ridge will collide with his crown and you will be down and out.

From the rebound, you can suprise the other guy and catch him off guard by bobbing and weaving around a hook or short straight. You have to be infighting though. On the way up aim your crown at his chin/jaw/face/ear.

The risk is that if you are not in infight range and he has good mobility then you will miss and he can pick you off on the way out. Against a slugger, brawler type fighter this could work but is harder to pull off against someone who keeps moving.

If you are defending the headbutt, it is better to have your hands in upright muay thai style guard position. Use your elbow as if pulling off a destruction.

[ryanhall]

I've been able to work it from inside the guard. You can keep your base pretty well and deliver some decent shots. In addition, it's tough for your opponent to get the crown of his head down to protect himself. It always depends on the other guy, though. It will work on some people and it won't work on others.

[bvermillion]

i didn't know you could head but while boxing

[Tom Yum]

You can when practicing self-defense, but not in any match.

[IPON]

Originally posted by bvermillion
i didn't know you could head but while boxing

That's the reason Tyson chewed on Holyfield's ear

[bvermillion]

thanks for clarifying

[osopardo]

What about the grinding head butt? In a tight clinch, you don't actually bump into the opponent, but you grind the side of your head against his face and ear. Irritating as hell, and sometimes causes enough distraction to get in a good body shot.

[osopardo]

Something else that's been drilled into me;

1. "There are only two targets for the head butt; the oponent's nose and temple. There is only one area of the head to be used as a weapon, the right-front and left-front sides of the skull, (where a devil's horns would grow)."

2. "Never butt heads with a Samoan."

[swagman]

A technique

I was taught in a Bando class, is done from the clinch, holding your opponent in a tight clinch, you slacken the clinch a little and bend the legs a little, as he pulls away you drop your head so as to keep your neck and head in a straight line, but still keeping your grip behind his neck you then pull as though to pull him back into the clinch, but instead you pull his face onto the top part of your head whilst forcing your whole body forward by starightening your legs. You basically become a ramrod, ramming your head into his face

Its not an easy manouvre to execute, but if you can get it in, its massively forceful.