Fist Fighting Basics

People seem to think they know about something simply because they have seen, read, or have participated in a similar thing.

In fist fighting many seem to think they know how to do it simply because they have boxed before or have seen it.

You see the problem arises because many equate boxing with fist fighting, now while they may look the same there is a vast difference between the two.

In this article I’m going to go over some of the basics of fist fighting.

I will explain the why of fist fighting and not just the how to, because once armed with this information you will not only know what the difference is.

But why there is a difference.

Because whether you know it or not, know one ever gets into a street-fight wearing boxing gloves and wraps.

First Things First

The first thing you need to learn is how to make a fist.

You must roll a fist as opposed to clenching a fist, rolling causes your fist to be rock hard.

And when you roll a fist your back knuckles tend to stick out further then if you just clenched your fist.
This will cause more damage to your opponent when you strike him.

The Angle of The Dangle

Next is the angle of the fist, there is basically three ways to throw a fist: Horizontal, Vertical and Diagonal.

If you throw a horizontal punch to the head like a boxer you will have a bigger chance of breaking or injuring your fist.

Striking with a vertical or diagonal fist position is the better way, both are anatomically stronger than the horizontal position.

But for close range punching use the diagonal fist position it is the most dangerous position in fist fighting.

Both the vertical and the diagonal positions fit the contours of the face, not so with a horizontal fist.

The horizontal fist works best striking anywhere below the clavicles and not to the face or head.

Knuckle Up

The next thing to learn is which knuckles to strike with.

Basically there are three ways to do it: First Two Knuckles, Last Three Knuckles and All Four Knuckles of the fist.

The one most used by bare-knuckle boxers was the last three knuckle version.

This was the most anatomically correct position to punch from and the strongest, not to mention the most natural
position to strike from.

On Guard!

Now lets adjust the guard position, you need to keep your fists away from your face.

The lead fist should be about a foot and a half away from the face.

The rear fist is about half a foot away from the face below the chin level.

If you hold your fists to close to your face like a boxer it makes it easier to get hit in the face since you’re not wearing big bulky gloves to hide behind.

The only time you should bring your hands closer to your face is when in close to your opponent.

Chin Up

Next don’t tuck your chin too deeply into your chest, you won’t be able to rotate your shoulders very quickly, which in turn will slow your punches up.

You’ll be putting the breaks on your punches and your power.

Just keep the chin lightly tucked and learn how to slip, duck, and bob ‘n weave in other words move the head!

Final Thoughts

Other things to consider are pointing the knuckles in the direction you want to hit.

This will make you strike faster and with more power plus it will hide your intentions from your opponent.

Strike with the back knuckles of the fist, this will cause more damage to your opponent.

Learn to breathe from the belly, this will help keep you from hyperventilating and train you to keep your mouth shut.

Keep your shoulders rolled down, not raised up.

This keeps the shoulder girdle connected to the torso for increased power in your punches.

Conclusion

I hope you’re starting to understand that there is a lot to fist fighting than just putting up your dukes and boxing.

You need to separate the glove from the fist, the sport from combat, and boxing from pugilism.

These are just some of the basics that you need to know for fist fighting.

Hopefully this will spur you on to research how the bare-knuckle fighters of the past fought and what tactics and tricks they used to defeat their adversaries.

But more importantly that this information will be used by you to make you a better and more dangerous fist fighter.

After all I’ve never been attacked by someone wearing boxing gloves in the streets, have you?


Daniel Sambrano
www.SuperHeroSystems.com

The Amaizing Bag

Today I’m going to teach you about how to use a piece of boxing equipment that has all but been forgotten by most western style fighters.

Back in the day this piece of equipment was used before the heavy bag, and was thought to be the number one tool to train with.

Bare knuckle fighters swore by it, as it would routinely create savage strikers who could take you out with either hand.

Have I got your attention yet? Good, then it means you’re interested in this information.

Hopefully it will become a part of your training and not be discarded on the junk pile of history.

With this one single piece of boxing equipment you will be able to develop:

· Timing
· Range
· Punching
· Footwork
· Body Movement
· Head Movement
· Distancing
· Pivots
· Blocks
· Bobbing and Weaving
· Slips

And condition your fists for impact and accuracy.

If you’re training for self protection purposes then this is the right tool for you, it will turn you into a very dangerous street fighter.


The Maize Bag
And that powerful piece of boxing equipment was called the “Maize Bag”.

Some today call it the “slip bag”, but if you think that’s all it’s good for, then you’re making a terrible mistake.

This one misconception is what made it almost disappear from the fight game in the first place.

More than any other boxer, when you think of the maize or slip bag you picture Mike Tyson using it to develop his head movement.

It made him a very elusive and dangerous fighter, but this is just one aspect of the maize bag.


How to Make a Maize Bag
To make a maize bag simply use an old large leather speed bag and fill it with corn, beans or sand.

If you don’t have a speed bag get yourself a canvas coin bag, the kind the banks use to transfer coins in.

If you ask politely your bank teller may give you the used ones for free.

Then all you need to do is fill a zip-lock freezer bag with sand and seal it with duct tape and slip it into another zip-lock bag seal it with duct tape then slip it into the canvas coin bag.

The bag will weigh about 15lbs. which is all you will need, but you can fill it with beans or corn instead which will have more give than the sand.

You can also use an old Swiss ball by cutting it in half and putting about 15 to 16 pounds of sand in it, then gather it up and use two to three plastic wire ties to zip tie it, then use duct tape to keep the excess material wrapped together.

You’ll be able to make two maize bags with one Swiss ball.

Next take your maize bag and hang it by some nylon cord so that it hangs no lower than the level of your chin.

Try to hang it from a high ceiling, the higher it is the more it will swing, just make sure that it hangs at about chin height.


How to Use the Maize Bag
Okay, now you’re ready to use your maize bag, but how do you use it? Good question.

Start by swinging the bag and avoid getting hit by it using footwork to get out of the way of the swinging bag.

You or your training partner can push the bag to keep it swinging as you train your footwork, just make sure to stay as close to the bag as you can.

In a real fight if you move too far from your opponents strike you may get set up for a knock out shot, also you won’t be able to counter his strikes as you’ll be too far away.

Practice your shuffle steps, lateral steps, pivots, drop steps or body shifts as you avoid the maize bag.

Bob and weave, slip left and right, duck and parry the bag as you move around.

Do this for a few rounds to develop your footwork and body movement.

We call this dancing with the bag.


Blocks and Shrugs
Next add your blocks, shrugs and deflections to your movements.

And finally start punching it, elbowing it, using your forearms, palm heel strikes, hammer fists and even try head butting and shoulder butting the bag.

All the while making sure you are moving around as you strike, block and avoid the maize bag.

You will find in a few training sessions that your footwork and movement will improve dramatically, not to mention your striking ability.

If you strike the bag bare fisted, which I recommend, you will find that the best way to strike it is with a vertical or diagonal fist.

No hooks or horizontal punches they don’t work to well bareknuckled and can cause serious damage to your hands in a street fight.

Better to use arc punches instead of hooks, striking with the back knuckles of the fist.

Striking the maize bag barefisted will teach you what wearing wraps and gloves wont, and that is which punches work best and are safest for your hands to strike with.

So start using this valuable piece of boxing equipment and you’ll be a-maize-d at how well it teaches you to become a dangerous fighter, whether in the street or in the ring.

Hit and move with purpose using the maize bag, you’ll be glad you did.


Daniel Sambrano
http://www.superherosystems.com/

The Major Purpose of Fistic Instruction

The Arm of Jack Dempsey

The purpose of learning to box is to teach a person to defend himself with his fists.

This is what Jack Dempsey said back in 1950 and wrote about in his classic book “Championship Fighting”. This is one book I read again and again and always come away with something new with each reading.

Today boxing coaches, trainers, and martial arts instructors have all but forgotten the purpose of using the fists to protect and defend one’s self. You see you don’t start with the premise of learning to box for sport or competition, but for self preservation. You learn how to strike powerfully for one purpose and one purpose only, to knock out any assailant that would try to hurt you, by causing enough trauma by way of your fists to their body and head.

Forget about the jab being used as a set up for your more powerful cross, you don’t have the luxury of time for this in a street fight.

And having a strong side and weak side stance just won’t cut it either.

And don’t even dance around your assailant throwing light punches to score points because that ain’t happening.

And whatever you do, don’t throw your punches the way a boxer does you’ll most likely break your hand, because you won't be wearing any gloves or wraps.

What you need to know is how to make a proper fist with your bareknuckles, and how to throw it for maximum power. You also need to know what angles are best to punch from, and what footwork is the most useful in a streetfight. You must develop non-telegraphing strikes that are so dangerous you could permanently damage your attacker instantly.

Learn to fist fight like the champions of old and develop explosive punching power with both fists and learn to be a true pugilist.


Daniel Sambrano

www.SuperHeroSystems.com

BareKnuckled vs Gloved: One thru Five

Here are five facts to think about when training with gloves and wraps for self defense purposes.

If your used to using gloves, you may be in for a rude awakening when you have to hit someone without any hand protection.

There is nothing wrong with using gloves to train with provided you know where they belong in a self defense training program or a sport fighting program.

That difference is very important for you to know.

So here are five differences to give you something to think about.

1. Striking with an unprotected fist is hard.

You have to know how to punch correctly, get used to not wearing gloves, understand which part of the fist to strike with and how to hold your hands to defend yourself. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, there is a whole lot more that needs to be understood.

2. Extremely skilled fighters tend to break their hands in street-fights.

Many fighters get so used to wearing gloves that their hands get more prone to injury, after all wearing gloves and wraps is alot like wearing shoes and socks for the hands.

3. Gloves throw off your distancing.

Most gloves are so padded that they extend anywhere from one to three inches from your fist. This will make your strikes come up short when you take off your gloves as you'll be more used to their striking distance.

4. A gloved fist doesn’t cause damage the same way a bare fist does.

Most strikes with a glove are spread out equally on it's surface but with a fist it is more compact so the impact force is more solid. And a barefist can get into areas that a glove can't.
In other words it hurts more getting hit with a bare fist.

5. A gloved fist turns the punch into a push.

Since the padding of a glove can be very spongy as you hit your target, you'll end up pushing thru the glove as you make contact.

So there you go, think about these five differences as you train, especially if it's for self defence purposes.

Daniel Sambrano

Happy Birthday Champ!

Today was the birthday of one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, William Harrison Dempsey better known as Jack Dempsey, he was born at the turn of the century June 24, 1895.

The west was still wild when he started to fight at the age of 15 against bigger and older opponents.

Between 1919 and 1926 Dempsey reigned as the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.

He could knock you out with either hand and was not ashamed to be called a slugger, men feared getting in the ring with him.

Above are a few quotes and pictures of the champ, enjoy.

And happy birthday champ.

Daniel Sambrano

Outta My Way! Shedding the back-and-forth mentality in fighting

We've recently seen a spike in new student enrollments at the Muay Thai Academy International, a number of which have defected from Fairtex and Master Toddy. Others have a background in TKD & other sports oriented martial arts. Regardless of their respective backgrounds, they all tend to have one trait in common - they have the 'exchange' mentality.

Almost all sports oriented martial arts teach students to always stand in front one's opponent. Body movement is much like that in fencing - get in, strike, and back out - but always be in front of your opponent. Whether we're doing shadow boxing, pad drills, or sparring: most new students want to strike and wait to counter, thus exchanging blows with their partners.




If I'm in a fight, the last place I want to be is in front of my opponent trading punches. I've been trained to use continuous movement and react on the fly. Instead of simply blocking, I move in at angles to get myself close enough so its uncomfortable for him to attack. That's my comfort zone. If I don't move in, I'm trying to get behind him because, where else could you be safer than behind you enemy?

Its really just a matter of your mindset. If you train to stay dynamic and reject the rule that states you have to stand still and absorb blows you'll find your movements more fluid and your sparring partners more frustrated.

Punch Your Way to Fat Loss!

Hey guys here is a great article by a friend and student of mine by the name of Aaron Briscoe, check it out and learn some new twists for fat loss using punching and fighting drills, enjoy.

And don't forget to check out his website to see some samples of his training via video clips and to read more interesting articles.

PUNCH YOUR WAY TO FAT LOSS!

Ever wonder why you hardly ever see a boxer, muay thai fighter, or any other combat athlete with a soft mid-section or soft anything else? Well, aside from the intense conditioning they must go through, prior to a fight or competition, they are on a strict diet, but in reality, these people BURN CALORIES!

Making weight can be difficult for anyone, but when you consider their profession, it's no wonder the vast majority of pugilists are lean.

For the rest of us, boxing can provide an unreal calorie burning workout that few can rival. The average boxing session can burn up to 600 calories per 60 minutes. Now, in this sense, when I refer to boxing, I'm referring to bag and focus mit work. Not actually sparring. If we talk about sparring the rate of caloric expenditure goes up much higher.

In order to get the absolute most out of our boxing sessions, what I like to do is incorporate movement drills with the boxing. For instance, there's one drill we do often--"Running to Battle".

Basically, the client throws 20 punches, then has to run a pre-determined distance, and then back to me for another round of punching. Try doing that for 5 straight rounds and see if the sweat doesn't pour down. Once comfortable with the coordination of the movements, I also incorporate Thai knees into the equation, making the body work just that much harder.

Also, boxing offers amazing core work. The constant rotation of the hips and upper body creates tension throughout the entire abdominal complex, in particular, the obliques. Your obliques are your shrink wrap. Work them well, and they help pull the rectus abdominis in creating a leaner mid-section. You will also develop a strong, defined back. Look at the back of any combat athlete and see if you can't point to each specific muscle.

For stress relief, aside from maybe meditation, I don't know of a better exercise. If a client comes in and says they've had a bad day, we go straight for the gloves. If their mind is distracted, even in the least, clean and presses will have to wait!

Now, for safety considerations, I highly recommend taking a few lessons, buying some large gloves and hand wraps. Some contraindications to boxing are if a client has any shoulder, elbow, or wrist conditions.

When I teach clients to punch, I prefer to teach them the old bareknuckle style which is to NOT turn the hand over as you see in boxing today. The reason is simple, it protects the wrist. As you turn your wrists over during a punch, it is easy to "snake", or bend, the wrist and upon impact if your wrist is not straight, it will hurt....bad. Having done this before, I can assure you, this is something you do not want to do.

Also, when first beginning, I never advise punching hard. Most people don't spend time punching anything, and to, all of the sudden, start slamming your fist into bags or pads will result in bad cramps in the hand. Go easy and focus on speed and movement. After all, this is to burn fat and not to train to fight.

Boxing offers a change up to the traditional workout. It makes things fun and exciting, and at the same time, helping to burn fat at a high rate. I have yet to see a client not have fun with this while working extraordinarily hard at the same time.

Again, make sure you always focus on what you are doing to protect yourself from injury. Just like any other exercise in the gym, one lapse in concentration can result in you getting hurt and that's not point of any workout plan.

Now, get out there and punch your way to fat loss!

By Aaron Briscoe

Aaron Briscoe is a Martial Artist and Personal Trainer specializing in unique and funtional

training programs for fat loss. For more information and video exercise clips... Go To =>

http://www.mindbodypersonalperformance.com/

5 Key Components to Bareknuckle Power

To strike with power and be effective you need to be able to generate speed and force and be able to drive it to its destination.

Also you need to be able to do it without losing balance and stability or you will give your adversary the advantage.

Below are five key components that will help you be a more powerful Bareknuckle Striker.

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1. Move the feet from under the center of mass to quickly drive the body in the direction it needs to go.

In order for you to develop the power to knock someone out quickly, you need to bring your body weight behind your punch.

Footwork is the key but it must be a coordinated effort with your body mass.

You must be able to move as one unit, not as fragmented parts.

Both feet must be under your hips and on the ground or your punch will loose up to forty percent of its power output.

Drop Stepping and Trigger Stepping, two powerful components of power punching use the drive created from footwork to generate a large amount of force.

But, it must bring the body’s mass with it or your punch will not have knockout power.

2. Keep the hips low and level when moving linearly, laterally or diagonally.

If your hips are moving up and down like a buoy being tossed around on rough seas, you will be wasting your strength, energy and sacrificing speed.

Keeping the hips level as you move takes advantage of leverage and gravity to help increase your speed and movement.

Having your hips low gives you explosive balanced energy.

Your legs become compressed springs ready to explode and drive the body.

3. Be quick with your fists.

Never let your fists get behind the drive of your legs, hips and torso or your punches will lack power and follow through.

The fists must move in a coordinated effort with the feet and torso to be able to generate maximum power.

This will speed up your strikes without losing power.

This is what I call “Striking Off Your Move”, this principle is very important to use in a street fight.

Remember never drag your weapons to war.

4. Decelerate with purpose.

Nothing is more dangerous than to throw a punch with such force that it throws you off balance and leaves you open for a counter attack.

What is the use of throwing bombs that end up being duds and draining you of precious energy you can’t afford to lose?

You need to develop what I call “Controlled Aggression”, to be able to control your power and not let it get away from you.

Using this powerful principle will allow you to harness your power, you will be able to flow smoothly and chain your punches more effectively.

Having intent with every strike and step you take is the tactic you want to cultivate for better knockout stopping power in a street fight.

And if you miss, you will be able to instantly fire off another powerful strike, as you will be balanced, controlled and explosive without missing a beat.

5. Stop the power leakage.

Improper fist and body alignment will contribute to power leakage in your strikes and slow you down.

You will leak out power through your joints if they are not properly aligned when you throw a punch.

Adjusting and aligning your structure will go a long way to developing your power when striking.

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So there you have it five key components to help you unleash bareknuckle power on your unlucky adversary.

Using these five keys will help to unlock your potential to strike with power and destruction.

It will also take you less time and energy to do what needs to be done in a dangerous situation.

When violence tries to touch your life, take it out with Speed, Power and Intent using these five key components in your fight game.

Daniel Sambrano
“Keep It Simple and Savage”

www.SuperHeroSystems.com www.PrevailToday.com