Hands up

[Dijita]

Oh yeah, something I was taught by Shihan Isobe (he's trained Francisco Filho and a lot of other really good Brazilian Kyokushin fighters), is that when you punch... you have to tuck your chin into your shoulder. A lot of people keep there head up high when they punch and thus leave their head and face open to strikes.

[Guest]

Hey, these are all great and really appreciate all the advice. Thank you all very much

[Shane]

I'll tell you a great way to build strength in your arms while training, start holding the thai pads. Between your regular pad training if you are also holding you will start to build that strength. The shadow boxing with weights is another great training technique that others have already brought up here, so after your mitt drills and your holding time pick up the weights and do a few rounds of shadow boxing.

 

I have not had one student tell me it was not hard to hold the thai pads for others, so trust me about adding it in with your regular mitt drills.

[kbgirl]

One trick my instructor showed me, is that it's easier to stay relaxed and have your hands up if you're thinking more about your elbows.

 

When you put your hands to your cheeks with your elbows tucked in, think about keeping the elbows close together but up. The forearm can be nice and relaxed, as can the shoulder from that position.

 

This also leaves you in a great position (thinking of your elbows) for reacting quickly to block body blows as well as hits to the head.

[Dijita]

That's awesome kbgirl.

 

Myself, I have an issue with having my elbows out for balance. I know I eventually break this habit as my technique gets better, but right now it's hard for me to keep my elbows without even thinking about it.

[cross]

you have to tuck your chin into your shoulder.

 

Another way to explain this is to look down your arm like its a gun when your punching.

[Vito]

spar with a guy who jabs all the time. youll learn.

 

dont forget to shrug your shoulders up.

[47MartialMan]

Yeah, but why keep the hands up? Is it for competition? Is it neccessary for self defense? I ponder upon the need for this like shin and knuckle conditioning. In a modern society, whereas people have to work and earn a living, isn't this over-rated? The long term detremental effects are not just the factor. Why continue to waste effort on these whereas the same effort could be made on something beneficial along the lines of self-defense or other body health improvement?

 

Rocky Marciano was such a hard hitter, that he would actually pound the arms of his opponet in order to weaken their guard.

 

But, such as the case in training to keep the hands up, shin and knuckle conditioning, what purpose, other than contact competition, do they serve? And in the decades to come and past, such a practitioner would perhaps discontinue it anyway.

[Topic]

Vito - Shrugging your shoulders up will just make it worse, you MUST keep your shoulders down but hands up, shrugging your shoulders up means theyre also out of place and there is no muscle protecting it when theyre shrrugged up, so if you were to get punched in your shoulder while theyre up, u might get them knocked out of place because thyre weaker whe theyre shrugged. SO SHOULDERS DOWN - HANDS UP

[Dijita]

47MartialMan, I think a lot of people who do MT or kickboxing do fight in the ring, where keeping your hands up is essential to avoid being punched in the face.

 

I know that in my Kyokushin tournaments, I keep my hands up, because my first tournament when I didn't, I ended up in the hosipital with a concussion.

 

However, not that I've been in a streetfight, but I assume blocking punches to your face is probably a good thing. I mean are you just going to stand there and take the hits to the face??