Sparring for newbies (part 2)

keep em coming!

Thanks olyella,

any other advice from anyone else? Khun Kao? Mule? Paulm? Siam-i-am? anyone?

Part 4
Jab counters
Opponent throws left jab
(i) slip (in or outside) à think of 'shooting' the shoulder
e.g. if you are slipping outside, the left shoulder shoots to the right and slightly downwards. This allows you to keep your centre of gravity in between your feet.

The slight downward angle is to facilitate the oppo's punch going over your left shoulder. Try to hit as you slip.

E,g. as you are slipping outside you are hitting his body with your left. Chin and left shoulder are together. The left shoulder acts as a barrier. Hit him with that left and a right and move around.

When slipping inside oppo's left jab....need to be aware of his right that will probably be coming. Your hands are higher up near your head, ready to counter with a left body rip (could be a bit dangerous because if you are to slow with this....you eat the right and you have nothing on that side of your face to protect you)

Try throwing a right cross as you slip inside, your right shoulder this time protects your chin on that side. Experiment with throwing different hits as you slip. Key is to hit as you slip.

Think about why you are slipping, and after you have slipped what benefit/advantage have you gained? What are you going to hit?

(ii) right hand parry.
Jab comes to you, wait for it....before it hits you PARRY. Someone mentioned the movement akin to brushing fly from your nose. 'Parry as late as you dare' TAO of JKD

Do not reach out for the jab.....because he will feint...you reach out and you get nailed by a sweet left hook
Your right hand parries across or slightly downwards and then throw your right cross at your opponents exposed chin. Do it fast.
You want to minimise the time between parry and counterstrike.

Always aim to minimise that time.
e.g. oppo throws round kick, if you want to check, check , but as you check the other side of your body is shooting forwards with your own offence.

I.e. you check with your left leg but the right side (shoulder and right cross) is already forwards crashing into your opponent...kinda like a hinge. Left goes back right shoots forward...occupy the centreline your opponent has given up with his round kick.

awesome....makes me think. haha

Part 2
When opponent throws straight punches (jabs / cross).....

your hand moves higher up on your head
knuckles (close hands / palms inwards) move closer to appropriate side of the head
shoulder 'shoots' towards the opponent
experiment with shooting the shoulder to the left or right
(laterally or diagonally downwards)

make sure that after the slip you either move around the side and follow with offense
or come back to the basic position and get ready to throw some back
If possible, avoid being directly in front of the opponent.

Protect the line between you and the opponent. Put 'something' in the way
fill that line. Otherwise you will eat punches. Be careful that when you are in close
and you are low kicking, you do not drop that hand on the same side as that kick.

E,g, if right low round kick, the right hand has to be up, extended / covering face,
Otherwise you may eat a punch if opponent steps in, checks/jams the kick and follows with right cross. When you extend it or you are touching the opponent, do not keep it out there. If it is out there for too long, there is nothing guarding your face.

The only reason(s) it should be extended is to monitor that side/limb of the opponent or to shove/shunt his head, he loses his balance, you go in and finish it.

NOTE: as soon as you detect a change in shoulder position and the elbow 'lifts',
bodyweight changing, hip moving. (the punch is coming)

To be continued

Part 3
If you find yourself in close and are wearing a few punches, cover up.
palms facing in, the hands move closer to the cheekbone/eyebrows
keep your eyes open. Look through your gloves.
Move your head. Move it left right, bob and weave etc.
Circle around your opponent, move your feet.
It is easier to hit you if you stand still .
Move either in or out. (if possible diagonally).
Move out (diagonally back left or right), step back in to hit or move around and hit
your closest target.

Other way of covering up, (IMHO) this works better if you do not have big 16oz
gloves keep your right hand up similar to the guard when throwing a left elbow.
i.e. the wrist of your right hand is in contact with your forehead. The left wrist is 'lined up' in a straight line, this means that your left hand is able to re-direct the strikes that are coming in and it also acts as an extra barrier.

NOTE: when doing this, it is important to look at your opponent through your eyebrows, that way, if you do get hit your hands do not fly into your nose.
Important point, do not just stand there whilst you are covering up, move around to either side, although moving to the left is probably easier.

If you are trying for his lead leg, keep him busy upstairs, he moves his guard up,send it in.

Do not forget that if you are attacking his legs, don't do it facing him front on, you are just going to get hit. Move to the sides and kick him hard. He turns around to faceyou, move again.... assuming that this is your tactic.

If clinching, grab guard/ neck etc move in, keep him close so he can't knee you,step back, knee as many times as you want and shove him away.
Repeat as necessary.
Do not stand in one position when in clinch, keep moving, press weight of opponent nto one leg and knee the thigh of that leg.

Push him aggressively away, really shove him. Common mistake is to just let the clinch go, If you do that he will just come back at you. Shove him away and follow
him up. Practice throwing elbows from the clinch, aim for the temples/chin etc.
Don't forget that you can pull his guard away (swinging gate) and elbow.
Or hold onto his neck with one hand and elbow with the other.
This is a bit hard sometimes to do because he would most likely have his hands up.

To be continued

Methods of covering up
(this is a continuation for the sparring help for newbies thread)

In all methods of covering up, the idea is to temporarily protect you whilst you try and move away or move in to clinch. Too often people forget that as they are covering up they do not move, the result is therefore target practice for the opponent.

You cover up, they strike, you parry/redirect/catch their strike and move around or move on and clinch (hold on tight).

For both methods, the key is to move as you cover up, your head and body moves. This is emphasised greatly because there are quite a few converts from JMA and KMA who try and swing their arms and block with them. I tell them that the arms need to remain as close as they can to 'biggest' part of the body i.e. torso/head, and when covering up, the idea is to catch it and throw something back as soon as you feel that contact. MOVE - MOVE - MOVE.

(i) Palms in (peek-a-boo)
both palms are facing inwards. The knuckles of both palms go up to the forehead. Chin is down and you are looking through the gap between your hands. Practice rocking from side to side as you try and deflect the punches coming at you.

e.g. oppo throws right cross, you can choose either forearm to 'catch' that strike. The thing to remember is that as the forearm moves towards it, there is an imaginary centreline that the forearm must not cross.

If you cross that centreline, it means that there is nothing protecting that side of the body from getting hit. If you decide on using your left forearm to catch that strike, the left forearm goes towards the middle of your body, catches the strike and move away.

If the left forearm goes too far, your left side is available to be hit.

Practice also catching the punches with your elbows. If you see your opponent really load up the shot to the body, you move your elbow into their corresponding glove.

IMO, the palms in approach is great for practicing especially during sparring drills, where one gets to practice a certain combination and the other has to cover up.

DO not forget that the elbows move to the front of your body. A thing to consider is that as you are covered up and he is hitting you, and you are not moving....for whatever reason, try and time it such that you throw a strike, as he is extended.

As soon as you feel contact from the 'covered up' position fire it in and move or continue process.

Depending on what is allowed during sparring classes, elbows should always be considered. Do remember that you can throw an upwards elbow in the clinch in between their guard.

Continuing from covering up


(ii) 'elbow approach' or modified figure X block
I have mentioned this as the (I don't have enough time and things are flying at me approach). Again the reason for the covers is to move out of the way so that you can throw something back. Think about zoning away from the opponent. The human body is designed to operate in a forward manner. When you start zoning out of that frontal region, you protect yourself and put your opponent in danger. Simple, I know, but easily forgotten in the 'heat of battle'.

Ok, in case you missed it. Assuming you are in left lead.

(a) wrist is in middle of forehead
Your right wrist goes up to your forehead, similar to when you throw a left elbow. Your left wrist is either touching or slightly extended ready to parry/ redirect the strikes as you are moving away or moving and ready to strike.

(b) wrist is at top of left ear or just above the left ear.
Now I know what you are saying....it is hard to see what is coming when you do this. If you do this correctly, you can see out of the right side of your right forearm. That includes both eyes. Your right bicep should be touching your right cheek. Your right elbow is pointing at your opponent and obviously your chin is down. Left hand is again slightly extended to parry and move around opponent.

REMEMBER that this as well as all the covers, it is only temporary. You don't stand there are try and block all that is thrown at you. Your left hand is formed is a sort of an X slightly extended for the sole purpose of zoning off.

"any other advice from anyone else? Khun Kao? Mule? Paulm? Siam-i-am? anyone?"

Angrylock I hope you were referring to Mulekick.

I'm an attributes guy with some basic knowledge of kickboxing.

I appreciate the comment though if you were referring to me.

Great stuff man.

I'm saving both threads to my hard drive.