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

The reality of real fights

Everyone is a critic when it comes to the Internet and the content that gets posted. My videos receive mostly great feedback, but there's also the contingency that reminds me that the technique I demonstrated could be easily countered with a spinning back kick, or a hook to the body. Perhaps a well timed wedgie could render my strike useless, in a vacuum.

But the reality is that each fighting situation is different, and those golden opportunities to use that ca-ca-ca-combo breaker technique rarely presents itself. Fights are usually spontaneous, involve more than 2 people, and sometimes introduce improvised weapons. The video below came from MyMuayThai's blog this morning, and it reminded me that training for a fight in the ring does not prepare the fighter for what could happen outside the squared circle.

Here's a few tips to survive a situation like the one you're about to watch:

1. Look for an exit, if possible make your way towards it.

2. Do not stay in the same spot long - be dynamic, moving about in a zig-zagging, unpredictable manner, constantly changing directions.

3. Try to remain on the perimeter of the room/area. If you're in the middle of the room, get to the perimeter.

4. If you have to engage somebody in a brawl, think about incapacitation, punching to the head will not stop an adrenalized attacker.

5. Watch for flying objects, this video provides a textbook example of how it works.

This brawl escalates pretty damn fast, and the 4 minutes fly by.

5 Dangerous Mistakes Not To Make In a Streetfight

When a person puts their fists up to form a guard to protect themselves from an attacker’s strike, they make the biggest mistakes that will cause them to be ineffective in their self preservation.

Here are the top Five mistakes and the solutions to fix them to give you the edge in a streetfight.


1.) Keeping the hands to close to the face.

When the hands are held to close to the face, an attacker needs to just punch your forearms and fists to make you hit yourself with your own fists.

Now the reason people tend to do this is a fear of being hit in the face and the pain associated with it.

This is a perfectly normal behavior pattern, but it must be overridden when it comes to fighting.

If you keep flinching and closing your eyes, then it will not take long for an attacker to finish you off.

Unfortunately the only way to fix this is to get punched in the face. Have a training partner punch you lightly to the face in different areas.

For example the mouth, eye socket, cheeks, nose etc… this does two things.
First it gets you used to impact and pain. Second it trains you not to flinch and close your eyes.

Start this training with boxing gloves, then progress to just hand wrapped punching then finally bareknuckle.

You can also train the rest of the body to withstand punches by punching different areas of the body.

This will train you to receive impact and having the ability to shrug it off and continue to fight if need be.

This type of training will toughen you up and get you ready to take a punch.

Remember to keep your hands down or behind your back and allow your partner to punch you with a predetermined amount of impact force.


2.) Keeping the arms bent at ninety degree angles.

Due to the fear of being struck, another thing people tend to do is keep the arms bent at about 90 degrees or less.

This faulty tactic will weaken your defenses and allow your adversary time to smash through your forearms, as they collapse into your face and leave you defenseless and open for attack.

The best way to place your forearms is by extending them to about a 45 degree angle. This will help ensure that your forearms will not collapse into your face.

The structures you have created with your forearms become a solid open triangle.

All you will need to do is tighten your forearms muscles slightly to stiffen the structure of the triangle to insure that it will not collapse.

This will also help to keep him away from you, as he tries to close in and attack.

This structure can also be used as an offensive weapon to use against your attacker. By simply stepping forward and driving your forearms into your opponent, you can strike him in his clavicles and possibly break one or both of them.

Depending on how hard he comes in on you is how much damage he will inflict on himself.

He will literally impale himself into your forearms.


3.) Raising the fists too high.

When your fists are held too high in the guard position your elbows will tend to point towards the opponent.

This will cause the angle from which you will strike with your fists to be too high and make your punches ineffective and powerless.

You will be mostly slapping and pawing at your attacker instead of punching him.

Due to the high angle of your elbows your arms will come down like a draw bridge on a castle.

Again this is a very unrealistic way of striking. I am sure you have seen someone who didn’t know how to fight or throw a punch, do it this way.

So what you must do is keep your elbows low, by doing this you will have more leverage to throw a more powerful punch without having to telegraph your strike.

The way to do this is by rolling your shoulders forward and down, like a surgeon getting ready to operate.

Make sure to keep your elbows in front of your hips and not to the sides.
This will help increase the speed of your punches and also aids in breathing deeper.

Not to mention that it helps your abs contract harder and brings more of your bodyweight to your punches.

And lastly with the rolling of the shoulders your ribcage will cover and protect your solar plexus.


4.) Raising the shoulder girdle away from the torso.

Many tend to raise their shoulders to the ear lobes to protect themselves from getting hit from the sides and getting knocked out.

While this method may hold some truth, there is a better way to do this.

What you need to understand is when you raise your shoulders you are lifting the shoulder girdle away from your torso.

If you were to strike from this position you will not punch with very much power.

Also your full bodyweight will not transfer into your punch. And when you do strike your opponent, the harder you hit him the more recoil you will absorb.

Not to mention it will also restrict your breathing and cause you to hyperventilate.

Now let’s fix this by making one simple adjustment. Just roll your shoulders forward and down.

When you do this you instantly attach the shoulder girdle to the torso making you a more solid and powerful striker.

When you punch, you will be bringing your bodyweight with the strike; there will be no recoil as your force will transfer into your opponent.

You will also be able to breathe better and be more relaxed, the more relaxed the faster and more powerful your punches will become.

And the more dangerous a fighter you will be.


5.) Keeping the chin up and the mouth open.

More guys get knocked out or hurt badly not paying attention to these two important potential targets.

Many fighters get caught doing this as the adrenaline starts to flow and they start swinging with gross motor type punches.

Again another reason is the fear of getting hit in the face. The head will get pulled back as they throw their strikes and the chin will be exposed.

Now due to the large amount of energy being expended, heavy oxygen intake will ensue, causing the person to open his mouth to breathe more easily. This is a recipe for disaster.

Now let’s fix these two dangerous habits.

First you need to train to keep your mouth shut and second to keep your chin down.

And one of the easiest ways to do this is by wearing a mouth piece when you train.

Working out with a mouth piece trains you to bite down on your molars which by the way will give you an extra boost of power in your punches, some say by as much as 30 percent, not to mention keeping your jaw set solid when struck.

Also learning to breathe in through your nose and out through your pursed lips or clenched teeth, helps to slow down your heart rate and keeps you from opening your mouth.

Another way that works well is to just breathe in and out through your nose and grunt as you throw your strikes.

You can also try keeping your tongue pressed against the roof of your mouth. This will increase the power in your punches, as you train to keep your mouth shut.

Now to train you to keep your chin down just place a small handball or rolled up hand towel or hand wrap and place it under the chin, then start to shadow box or hit the heavy bag or have a partner hold focus mitts while you strike them for time.

If you lift your head up for any reason the object you have under the chin will fall out letting you know that you raised your head and opened yourself up to the attacker.

Conclusion

So there you have it the five dangerous mistakes not to make in a streetfight and how to avoid and eliminate them.

Go over this material and train and practice getting your fighting skills honed to perfection.

The only way to do this is by repetition, repetition, repetition, you must get these skills internalized and getting the reps in, is the only way you are going to do this.

Yes it will take some work on your part but the rewards will be well worth it, trust me.

It must be ingrained in you and become second nature or when the time comes you will revert back to your old ways and possibly set yourself up for some serious damage to your face and head.

These tactics will go a long way to enhancing your fighting ability and give you an edge over your adversary without opening you up to danger.

While these tactics might not fit your typical boxing or kickboxing stand up style of fighting, they do fit perfectly for the street.

Lastly get serious with your fighting skills when you go to the gym and train as you will fight in the streets.

After all you can’t hide in the gym or dojo forever; you have to come out sooner or later.


Daniel Sambrano
“Keep It Simple and Savage”
www.SuperHeroSystems.com
www.PrevailToday.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