At my University’s MMA club, when we do boxing drills, we wear head cages and boxing gloves, but I get punched in the head a lot because I suck at boxing. The sound it makes reminds me of when I was a hockey goalie getting hit in the mask with a ball/puck. (Hockey rules and I was a rad goalie, btw). Anyway, the other day I leaned back too far to avoid a punch and then the follow up punch hit my head and since I was already leaning back I was off balance and I got knocked on my ass when the second punch came. It kind of sucked, but it was kind of cool because I rolled out of it with mAd ninja skillz.
But the point is, aside from becoming better at blocking and dodging, what drills can one do to make getting hit in the head suck less? My neck is pretty strong, I guess. Or at least it’s pretty big. I’m not that big, but I have to wear 16 1/2 -17" neck size dress shirts.
What about that drill where you stand against a wall resting only on the top of your head? Does that strengthen the neck or just make the top of the head more resilient against attacks? My traps are decently strong so I guess they provide some support.
I’m going to a meeting in about 2 hours and I’ll probably get punched in the face more. Dude it sucks, the first time I did this dodging drill I was being punched by this guy who’s really fast and I couldn’t even see his hands coming at me. It was nuts! One moment he’s sitting there in a boxing ready position and the next instant his glove is covering my cage and my head is getting knocked back. And we weren’t allowed to hit back because it was a dodging drill.
Do they teach you to lean back to avoid the punch, or to duck and weave? I personally prefer duck and weave because leaning back puts you in a pretty vulnerable position.
Otherwise, getting hit in the head always sucks, ya just gotta get used to it
Originally posted by joedoe
[B]Do they teach you to lean back to avoid the punch, or to duck and weave? I personally prefer duck and weave because leaning back puts you in a pretty vulnerable position.
Otherwise, getting hit in the head always sucks, ya just gotta get used to it [/B]
They teach us both. But I’ve only been to two meetings so far and in the beginning I had no idea what I was doing so not only did I not know whether or not to lean back, weave, or duck, but I didn’t know how to either.
Frighteningly enough, you just get used to it. I’ve never decided if that’s actually a good thing or not.
I was sparring two weeks ago and got clocked a beauty right in the side of the jaw. I didn’t have my gum shield in cos I forgot it (I know, I know!) but anyway, the punch didn’t really rock me too badly and I continued sparring. I knew I’d been tagged and I’ve seen people knocked out from punches like that before, but I really didn’t worry about it at all. Was just a big punch, I rode it and carried on.
Anyway, two weeks later and the joint at the top of my jawbone on the right hand side still hurts from where my jaw was cranked by that punch. I thought nothing of it at the time, but it’s still bothering me now.
A few years ago when I was in form for a tournament, I was so used to getting hit in the head that I actually used to take a few to the head at the start of sparring just to get warmed up. Now that is kinda twisted.
Ironfist, that kinda sucks that you were thrown into the deep end like that. Did they eventually show you how to avoid punches?
Having a stronger neck isn’t gonna help much. By what you described, that has very little to do with what’s happening in your sparring. Your perceptions govern your actions. Change the way you peceive getting hit, and you’ll change your fear-based reactions into positive tactical responses. Simple…
I’ll tell you what - don’t think that the punches you guys are describing are the limit of the power of a punch that you might receive in a street-fight or competition.
When you’ve been TKO’d, then come back and talk to me.
Originally posted by fa_jing
[B]I’ll tell you what - don’t think that the punches you guys are describing are the limit of the power of a punch that you might receive in a street-fight or competition.
When you’ve been TKO’d, then come back and talk to me. [/B]
Yeah, right, big man. We weren’t talking to you in the first place.
Why are you assuming we haven’t been KO’d in the past?
Originally posted by fa_jing
[B]I’ll tell you what - don’t think that the punches you guys are describing are the limit of the power of a punch that you might receive in a street-fight or competition.
When you’ve been TKO’d, then come back and talk to me. [/B]
I’ve KOed someone and been TKOed myself… I don’t understand the comment though - was that in response to JD purposely taking head shots?
Originally posted by Shooter Having a stronger neck isn’t gonna help much. By what you described, that has very little to do with what’s happening in your sparring. Your perceptions govern your actions. Change the way you peceive getting hit, and you’ll change your fear-based reactions into positive tactical responses. Simple…
I think it could be both. He leaned back, which is a viable method of getting out of the way of a jab. A stronger neck will definitely help his shot absorption, and once he’s used to punches being hurled at him, he’ll learn how to move accordingly, and with better timing.
Originally posted by fa_jing
[B]I’ll tell you what - don’t think that the punches you guys are describing are the limit of the power of a punch that you might receive in a street-fight or competition.
When you’ve been TKO’d, then come back and talk to me. [/B]
I did mention that I was talking about training for a tournament. Ironfist did say he was training at the MMA club. No one said anything about full power punches in a street fight.
I think what Yenhoi and Shooter said are both very valid points. However, it’s also a matter of getting used to being punched. In any confrontation, be it street or competition, you will get punched and you need to get used to that.
