Hand positioning when sparring

[sonar1234]

Hey guys,

My work buddy came back from competiton, he trains in Shotokan karate and that was of course point system.

The competitors where real fast and a lot of illegal strikes where trown, in close combat some elbows to the jaw, and i was surprised at the amount of punches to the face that where tolerated.

Almost all competitors kept there guard low (Hand positioning) not blocking the head at all and that was what opened all theses headshots.

I have the Bas Rutten cd and dvd training and Bas explains to keep your guard protecting your head.

I have noticed that many fighters in Pride dont protecte there heads either and when they fight Cro Cop get knocked out easy.

Now what would be the proper hand positionning to protect head and body at the same time, or at least get there the fastest.

By keeping your guard to high you expose the stomach, liver and plexsus, but by keeping to low you get the head unprotected.

Its quit sad cause i wanted to get back into martial arts, my back is getting better but i bought a house and am now no where near an MMA school.

I will self train for a year or so, and many of you guys got some very good experience and advise.


Thanks guys.

[soo2bhuge]

Well, it all depends as far as where to keep your hands. For example, take Fedor. When he fought Nog, his hands were lowered because he could protect against the takedowns. You want to be able to sprawl at any point in order to defend it. On the other hand, when he fought CroCop, he kept his hands high, protecting his head for obvious reasons. Then again, Fedor is the best in the game when it comes to game-plans. He comes prepared for his competition and he knows what to expect. In your situation, it's a little different...it also depends what you are training for.
Personally, i keep my hands somewhat high. My fists are usually parallel to my mouth. I always keep my chin down and my shoulders forward. This allows me to take a punch, as well as react to a takedown. I also keep my elbows in...this is very important, because you want to be able to protect from body shots, especially your liver. My right hand is just a tad lower than my left, specifically for that reason.
You need to figure out what is a proper stand for you by trying different things. If you're training for MMA, than obviously you want to be able to avoid takedowns and kicks to the head.

[zimmy]

it's realllly hard to self train man...seriously.

[sonar1234]

Well, it all depends as far as where to keep your hands. For example, take Fedor. When he fought Nog, his hands were lowered because he could protect against the takedowns. You want to be able to sprawl at any point in order to defend it. On the other hand, when he fought CroCop, he kept his hands high, protecting his head for obvious reasons. Then again, Fedor is the best in the game when it comes to game-plans. He comes prepared for his competition and he knows what to expect. In your situation, it's a little different...it also depends what you are training for.
Personally, i keep my hands somewhat high. My fists are usually parallel to my mouth. I always keep my chin down and my shoulders forward. This allows me to take a punch, as well as react to a takedown. I also keep my elbows in...this is very important, because you want to be able to protect from body shots, especially your liver. My right hand is just a tad lower than my left, specifically for that reason.
You need to figure out what is a proper stand for you by trying different things. If you're training for MMA, than obviously you want to be able to avoid takedowns and kicks to the head.

That looks a lot like the muay thai stance. Really good has well.

[sonar1234]

it's realllly hard to self train man...seriously.

You are so right but has of now there is no good school in my area and with the house and all i wont have the extra money either to pay for training.

There are karate schools but i wont go there, i dont like katas and i think they are a waste of precious time that you could kick the bag and sparring.

There is also a tae kwon do school but i did this for 7 years.

[soo2bhuge]

Evan Tanner self trained for years. He learned his ground game from watching tapes and practicing at home.

[sonar1234]

Evan Tanner self trained for years. He learned his ground game from watching tapes and practicing at home.

I add a base in Tae Kwon Do but has everyone knows it really is not the base to have.

I did some boxing in 1998 but only 6 months.

I did Karate also but that was 15-16 years ago.

I will try to find someone to spar with has well. My old house was way much better in term of martial arts school.

[sonar1234]

Kyokushin was always an interest to me, i gave up back when i was 16 cause i got some pertty bad beatings and was so damn skinny that i could not defend against bigger guys.

I found a school near my house, a guy where i work also told me that there is a very small boxing gym, guess i will visit thoses this summer.

I would have to see how much time the kyokushin schools spends on katas (YAGGG)

[zimmy]

katas = useless :|

[Billy_Bathgate]

i think id rather do katas than try to self train though...thats a very good way to pick up a terrible habbit and be stuck with it for a long time

katas may not do much...but they dont really hurt anything

[zimmy]

true...i'm lucky enough to have tons of schools in houston...so it's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of self training ya know

[Billy_Bathgate]

oh i agree...katas are worthless

but there is other shit you can do there too at a karate school and at least have some instruction

[sonar1234]

We used to live close to the city me and my girlfriend, i add an private martial art school just a few blocks from our appartement, there was aikido, traditional jiu jistu, full contact karate, judo. 10 minutes from my appartement there was this MMA school that add Muay thai, shootwrestling, MMA and boxing. There where about 3 shotokan karate schools, 3 tae kwon do schools.

We decided to get away and moved from the city closer to our jobs funny usually people get into the city to work me and my girlfriend worked out of the city.

Now we bought a house in a very calm neighborhood, and pertty much all the martial arts schools are a good hour from there.

The kyokushin school is at about 15 minutes from my house, there is another karate school at 5 minutes from my house but its packed with kids? i add this bad experience when i practiced tae kwon do the last year, seemed like all the adults add left and i would have to spar with kids and teenagers, i was 23 at that time.

Kyokushin school has more adults.

[Panzerfaust]

Just keep your hands up...thats a good start!

[soo2bhuge]

If i were u, i'd concentrate on the ground game. I would do bjj or judo or sambo. Karate, tkd, are not exactly very helpful in MMA. I think it's a lot easier to learn stand up than to learn the ground game. Most of my stand up was self taught. You can always throw it in the mix, but the ground is more important. Whether MMA or street fight, most fights go to the ground.

[zimmy]

We used to live close to the city me and my girlfriend, i add an private martial art school just a few blocks from our appartement, there was aikido, traditional jiu jistu, full contact karate, judo. 10 minutes from my appartement there was this MMA school that add Muay thai, shootwrestling, MMA and boxing. There where about 3 shotokan karate schools, 3 tae kwon do schools.

We decided to get away and moved from the city closer to our jobs funny usually people get into the city to work me and my girlfriend worked out of the city.

Now we bought a house in a very calm neighborhood, and pertty much all the martial arts schools are a good hour from there.

The kyokushin school is at about 15 minutes from my house, there is another karate school at 5 minutes from my house but its packed with kids? i add this bad experience when i practiced tae kwon do the last year, seemed like all the adults add left and i would have to spar with kids and teenagers, i was 23 at that time.

Kyokushin school has more adults.

an hour away isn't bad by houston standards :P Then again i moved 5 minutes away from my main dojo just so i could go home faster to sleep :P

[sonar1234]

Sorry bro i think not, after working 8 hours, having a house and a girlfriend i would certainly not drive an hour to get to the dojo train for another hour or so and take another hour drive to get home at 10pm. That would mean the ending of my sex life and the ending of my relationship with my girlfriend.

I have no ambition in becoming an MMA fighter or having a career in MMA has some of you guys might have and i do which you all the luck in the world so someday i can enjoy your fights has much has i do UFC and Pride.

My girlfriend has shown interest in martial arts and we have talk it over last night, i found a school that is very close to my house that has kickboxing, karate and jiu jitsu self defence (once a week) but its a start, i will have to visite the school and see, pictures i have seen of the dojo are pertty cool there is even open hours where you can show up and train by yourself.

http://www.karatesunfuki.com/

[zimmy]

lol..see i don't have a gf so it's not biggie to me

[sonar1234]

lol..see i don't have a gf so it's not biggie to me

Well i am also 33 and getting slowly back from a 5 year back injury so this again is food for toughts.