Taking a hard hit in the face

[Ben Martin]

My suggestion would be to headbutt the punch. It hurts his hand alot more than your head.

i dono it sounds to me like youve been watchig to much jet li

[CagedWarrior]

My suggestion would be to headbutt the punch. It hurts his hand alot more than your head.

i dono it sounds to me like youve been watchig to much jet li

No, that really does work. It kind of sucks, but it's better than nothing. Some of the old boxers in the bare-knuckle days used to do that as part of their strategy.

[Infidel]

I've heard that boxers move their head with the punch in order to absorb less shock. For instance; if you get punched on the right side of your face, you'll want to pull your head left. If it's a straight jab, pull your head directly back.

[Menjo]

yea also i think your supposed to clench a certain part of your face, like your jaw or something..

[Aodhan]

yea also i think your supposed to clench a certain part of your face, like your jaw or something..

Actually, the more relaxed you are, the less damage you will incur. This is why a lot of drunk idiots come out of car crashes with minimal injuries, because they don't tense and fight the forces around them.

As far as blocking a punch with your forehead, it's similar to heading a soccer ball. You need to hit higher on the forehead, so you "duck" your head so they hit approximately around the hairline. The danger with this, is that a really hard hitter can compress your spine at that angle. Best to try and "roll" with the punch to minimize damage.

Aodhan

[Menjo]

hmmm ok, ill agree but one question. If you tighten up when your hit wont it make more of a shield??maybe, i dunno?, it seems to work for me, but i dont think ill experiment lol.

[White Warlock]

hmmm ok, ill agree but one question. If you tighten up when your hit wont it make more of a shield??maybe, i dunno?, it seems to work for me, but i dont think ill experiment lol.

There needs to be a 'learned' balance between both hard and soft. To tighten in defense, as well as flow. Consider 'where' the strike is made. If someone strikes the jaw and it is lax, it can far more easily be dislocated. On the other hand, if someone strikes the jaw and it is tight, the bone can far more easily be broken.

[Ben Martin]

My suggestion would be to headbutt the punch. It hurts his hand alot more than your head.

i dono it sounds to me like youve been watchig to much jet li

No, that really does work. It kind of sucks, but it's better than nothing. Some of the old boxers in the bare-knuckle days used to do that as part of their strategy.

ok maybe it does work but what is the likelyhood of hitting the flying fist with your forehead and not some other part of your face. the only time id ever try to do that is if i had my arms held behind my back and couldnt do anything else.

[White Warlock]

Ben, if you train in utilizing such options, it can be intuitive. Using the skull to block a punch is a very quick counter. Essentially, it is yet one more 'option' you can use for defense. And frankly, i would rather be struck on the forehead than on the nose or mouth.

[angus88]

You should probably try and turn your head or "go with" the punch if you can. It takes practice, but it's worth it once you get it down. It's that old saying that the best block is when you're not there.

That said, some people are going back and forth about tensing your face up or not tensing your face. The only thing I'd say to that is you should definitely clamp your teeth nice and tight on your mouthpiece. One punch or kick to the jaw with your mouth even slightly open and you'll find out why.

As for the head butt - I guess it depends on the speed of the puncher. The old boxers used to punch a lot right between the eyes. You could probably head butt those, but a quick jab to the nose might be tricky to head butt. It might be just as well to use that energy getting out of the way of the punch than running right into it!