"How Not to Punch" 1-5

[SinCitysmallGUY]

It's a slow news day and an American holiday to boot.  So I'm rewatching Saturday's fights to kill some time.  The Lambert/Gouveia fight just ended and it's just frustrating as all hell to watch.

If you've been paying attention to our site since Saturday afternoon you probably read my live blog of UFC 80 where I said the following in regards to Jason Lambert getting knocked out by Wilson Gouveia:

On the replay Lambert is shown breaking enough boxing golden rules to make me sick...dropping his hands, lifting his chin, telegraphing his next punch.
Then when Nick Thomas posted the Knockout/Submission/Fight of the Night honors he also posted this GIF of the KO:


http://i30.tinypic.com/335bihg.gif     (couldn't get the gif to upload sorry fellas)


Let's break it down:

Lambert has Gouveia against the fence, key to establishing distance when he drops both hands to his waist and starts to throw a long right hand from his hip pocket.  Wilson's punch is also a little on the long and looping side but it's thrown from higher up (right around nipple high) and as such gets there quicker.  To top it off watch Lambert's head.  Throwing a punch from your hip pocket naturally forces your chin away from your body and leaves it up to be knocked into the third row.  If he throws the right hook from a more sound boxing stance the punch is delivered quicker, your right shoulder remains in place to partially protect your chin, and your left hand is available to come across your face and deflect the return shot.

Chin down, hands up, and short, crisp punches.  That's how you box.  You start breaking those rules and you can have a fight that is going your way turn on you very quickly.

[SinCitysmallGUY]

http://s246.photobucket.com/albums/gg102/kidnateBE/th_lambert.gif    (sorry again the gif's wont allow me to save and copy)



If you turn up your volume really loud when watching Jason Lambert fight Luis Cane you can hear the following:

"AHHHH!  I'M COMING IN PUNCHING AT AIR!  ROAR!  HERE I COME!  ...ouch"

So I've done the "How Not to Punch" articles twice before and this is the second time that I've had to do one for Lambert.

Lambert is a strong guy and he is a very good wrestler.  But he seems to be in love with throwing big punches.  He throws shots with his chin up in the air and seems to never think about how he is going to deflect shots coming in return.

Hands, arms, elbows, shoulders...those are your protection.  If what you are doing is not going to allow your chin to hide behind one of those then DON'T DO IT!  When you see a fighter like Wanderlei Silva throwing those running punches at someone he usually already has them hurt and backing up.  When your opponent is backing up his power is generally a bit sapped, and when you have them hurt they aren't thinking about punchin in return.  Jason was not in a situation like that, Cane was fresh and is by far the more dangerous striker in that fight.

I think what Lambert wanted to do was throw a barage of shots that allowed him to close the distance so he could use his wrestling.  What isn't stressed in MMA nearly enough is a solid jab.  If Lambert wanted to close distance he could have simply started pumping the jab.  The gameplan for closing the distance in that situation can be as simple as: jab, step right, jab, right hand, step right, jab and follow right behind the last jab for a takedown or at least a clinch.  Beyond that a jab is a pretty low-risk strike.  Usually you aren't leaving yourself open for a big return shot as long as you're protecting yourself with your jab shoulder to prevent a hook "over the top."  Running in with your chin exposed hoping the other guy doesn't touch it is the mark of an immature striker.

I really don't mean to pick on Jason.  He seems like a pretty good dude and he has got a lot of talent.  But in his last 2 fights we've seen him "standing in front, feet planted, chin exposed" and "running forward, throwing pointless shots, chin exposed."  Really, I don't see how he'll ever be able to hang with a big striker going forward other than just running in and hoping he can get a clinch and takedown.  Anything more than 20 seconds of striking and I'm just waiting for him to take a nap.

[SinCitysmallGUY]

I've already gone over bad punching technique by Jason Lambert.  And as bad as I thought that was, Doug Marshall's wide throwing, hands down, chin up display was even worse.


When you watch the end of that fight Marshall spends a lot of time standing in the same spot firing punches that I'm pretty sure couldn't possibly be any wider (and width is generally the opposite of power in punching).  What's even worse is that the flurry is all noise and no substance.  Of the fifteen punches he throws only one really lands.  Stann is able to sit with his hands up, just waiting to throw a shorter, quicker punch at Doug's exposed chin.

Gunfights aren't always about who shoots the most bullets.  They're about who lands the one shot that counts.

Congrats to Brian Stann, the new WEC Light Heavyweight champion.

[SinCitysmallGUY]

This is the fourth installment of my "How Not to Punch" series.  We've covered Jason Lambert twice and Doug Marshall once and now we're looking at Badr Hari in his recent K-1 bout with Alistair Overeem.

With 1:52 left in the first round Hari throws a looping left hook with his right hand down and Overeem counters with a shorter left hook of his own that clips Hari and sends him stumbling for a second.  Almost exactly 50 seconds later Hari does the exact same thing and so does Alistair which shuts off Hari's lights and ends the bout.

If you watch the entire fight you can see that every time Badr throws a hook with either hand he drops his other hand to nipple level and leaves his chin exposed.  Alistair follows perfect boxing technique to counter a wide hooker, throw your own hook that is going to get there quicker and protect yourself from the incoming shot.

Look at the gif for a second and watch the right hand of both fighters.

http://assets.sbnation.com/imported_assets/76147/overeem_hari_3_medium.gif (fucking things wont save and load)


See how Hari pulls his right hand down as he throws the left hook?  His chin comes away from his body slightly in the process of throwing the hook and there is nothing to prevent a return shot.  Now watch Overeem, his right hand guards his temple when his head is low and his jaw is protected by his arm and shoulder.  As he throws the hook and his head comes up he slides the defensive hand right to his jaw and keeps it pasted there.

The result is clear, Overeem lands flush on an exposed jaw and Hari's hand (while slowed due to getting jacked) bounces harmlessly off of Alistair's glove.  It really is picture perfect technique against pretty bad technique which is sad considering it came from such a high level K-1 star.

Throwing a punch requires more than just throwing your fist at the other guy, everything from proper foot positioning to proper hip movement and protecting yourself from return shots can not be over looked...obviously.

[SinCitysmallGUY]

It's now the fifth installment of my "How Not to Punch" series and it is nice to get a new "boxing rule" broken for this segment.

Today's Rule:  You never, ever, ever bend at the waist and look at the ground while throwing a punch.  Especially a "push jab" with little snap behind it.

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/110635/16a8ppe_medium.gif (still wont load the gif)

Look at the action here.  Josh starts by lunging when he throws the jab, his feet leave the ground as he starts to throw the punch.  There is no reason to "jump in" with this punch for starters.  It isn't like a superman punch, you're not gaining any momentum on the jab by hopping forward as you throw it.  A jab is a snap punch, the power on it comes from pumping it and snapping it back.

Next, as he hops he bends at the waist.  I suppose there is an argument to be made that he was "changing angles" but to me it is all part of his getting cocky in not only his new found KO power but in the fact that Thiago hadn't yet been able to really strike with him. Looking at his body positioning I can only guess that he was going to try to wing a big overhand right behind the bunny hop.

Lastly, watch Josh's eyes as he throws the jab.  Where are they?  Is he locked in on his target in Paulo's head?  Is he locked in on Paulo's chest and shoulders to follow any potential counterpunch movement?  No, he is looking downward somewhere between Thiago's legs and the ground.  Josh gave himself no chance to see a punch coming in return and in the end it came down to bad jab vs. solid uppercut.  Guess which one wins that clash damn near every time?

While Thiago's striking was anything but technically sound for the fight up to that point in the fight he was able to sit down on one uppercut that Josh was leaping in to the power of and not looking as it hit him in the jaw.  The reason the old saying "the shot that hurts the most is the one you don't see coming" is true is because you're usually not in a position to defend it although you usually aren't also hopping like a bunny directly into the other guy's power at the same time.

[Lion666]

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