How to fight a WRESTLER with martial arts

[ShoriKid]

Well there has to be a charge somewhere in there, maybe get in at a 45 degree angle and punch when he does that? I mean, when he's got you he clearly has the upper hand but if you can stay away form him he can't really do anything. It's sort of like bull fighting if you think about it.

Sort of like bull fighting. Only the bull can cut tight angles and follow you. And has thumbs. A decent wrestler can cut corners on his shot, it's not a blind rush forward. They are mobile, aggressive and used to getting beat and banged on. Clashing heads, catching a shoulder, knee or forearm to the face and head are pretty common. They are used to being knocked around and have learned to just keep coming. A wrestler is nothing if not a determined individual. You won't just defend one shot. You'll defend until he gets you down.

Now, I'm not saying that a wrestler isn't someone you can stop if needed. But, you will have to walk in his world a while to have a good chance. Yes, learn to sprawl. Then lower your stance. Learn to protect your hips and how to hand fight. Think of it as very sticking trapping. If you can avoid getting sucked into a clinch or an arm drag and counter with a quick punch, your life will be better. Not every take down is a single/double leg.

Lastly, move, move, move. Mobility is something you must have. Stop moving and you're begging to be set up and taken down.

[brickshooter]

After watching the last Lesnar fight, I'm incline to think that one has to be a good puncher. And one has to punch the wresler early to put some fear into him. As big as Lesnar was, getting punched a couple of times did put the fear of God into him.

Going back to the old Liddel vs. Ortiz fights, it was the fear of Chuck's right hand that kept Ortiz from committing to the shoots.

But allowing oneself to be backed into a corner is a bad idea. Maybe it's a good idea to close the distance and force the wrestler to shoot, rather than keep on backing up into a corner.

What do you guys think?

[sensei8]

After watching the last Lesnar fight, I'm incline to think that one has to be a good puncher. And one has to punch the wresler early to put some fear into him. As big as Lesnar was, getting punched a couple of times did put the fear of God into him.

Going back to the old Liddel vs. Ortiz fights, it was the fear of Chuck's right hand that kept Ortiz from committing to the shoots.

But allowing oneself to be backed into a corner is a bad idea. Maybe it's a good idea to close the distance and force the wrestler to shoot, rather than keep on backing up into a corner.

What do you guys think?

An absolute solid post!!

[brickshooter]

Well I thought other posters did a solid job giving opinions on techniques. But I wanted to address the mental aspects of fighting a wrestler.

It seems that wrestlers have an "offensive mentality." Once you take them out of their focus on shooting your legs, you really put them in an position that they're not trained for. That is defending strikes.

While I know that wrestlers can deal with pain, it seems that taking a punch to the face is a different type of pain than facing an armbar. IMO, they get a little "discouraged" after taking a punch.

So IMO, the best way to fight a wrestler is to actually take the offensive? Kind of counter-intuitive... and scary. LoL.

But waiting for them to shoot is... allowing them to get real comforable in their game plan.

[bushido_man96]

Well, I'd agree that waiting for anyone to do anything is a bad idea; action is always faster than reaction. So yeah, if you know its a fight, going on the offensive is a good idea.

I'd say, punch, and be ready to sprawl, and like was suggested earlier, keep moving.

[dwarf2]

I would go to a good bjj school and get the tools i need and if it ever came down to facing someone with ground skill then i would be ready. There are so many different way's a wrestler could come at you this is the reason why you should get a ground game. This i think would be the answer to those 2 tiny words, what if.

[Montana]

Well, here's my $.02 worth. I used to be a school teacher and taught classes in high schools and colleges, where I've had a lot of high school and college level wrestlers in my classes over the years and this is what I've learned.

In a fight situation, where your wrestler opponent doesn't know what you know, you have an advantage to strike first, and strike hard. Basically, use the element of surprise.

Secondly, every wrestler I've had in class, until they learn otherwise, approaches you with hands held wide in a grappling stance. Their head is VERY exposed and vulnerable to a hard jab or back fist, which needs to be followed up immediately with a hard technique such as a lunge punch or snap kick. They also sucker easily for a fake front snap kick (make it fast or they'll grab it) followed by a hard punch...then keep on punching.

Third, the wrestle loves to dive for your legs. What always seemed to work for me was to take a half step backwards leap and push their head down when they dove in and follow up with a punch to the back of their head/neck, which could be followed by a tap dance on their back in a street situation...then get the heck out of there!

As has been said before, keep your legs apart so that they can't grab both of them if they shoot, and pummel the back of their head if they do grab one of your legs.

Anyway, that's what I've experienced and it's worked for me.

[brickshooter]

Intersting school you taught at. It wasn't a reform school was it? LoL.

Just watched the Lesnar - Valasquez fight. Valasquez won the fight by going on the offensive versus Lesnar. Apparently Lesnar doesn't like getting punched in the face.

Lesnar never looked like he was in danger of getting KO while on his feet. But the moment Valasquez landed a couple of head shots, Lesnar threw all plans out the windows and panicked.

From my own personal experience, wrestlers are highly submission resistant. I think they're made of rubber. But getting hit by a strike is very foreign to them.

So IMO, the moment they're open, one should take the innitiative and try and knock them out immediately rather than dance around thinking that one can avoid their take downs.

[kansascityshuffle]

My advice would be learn how to wrestle, grapple, BJJ (you'll probably end up on your back), etc. and you'll better understand how to use your karate or whatever else against a wrestler.

Yes, make every hit count, of course learn to sprawl, side step, cut angles and counter but if you don't learn some 'rassling', grappling, etc. you're only giving yourself the short end of the stick.

You should learn how to fight in all ranges of combat.

[KumitePanda]

my friend in sydney is a wreastler and when she was down in adelaide we had a play fight i got her good, she was also a BB so it was a good fight.