Blocking and parrying in combat

[dippedappe]

What are your thoughts on this? Is it unrealistic to block and parry in a real fight? I mean blocking/parrying in the manner of classic Kung Fu/Wing Chun. Or is the only realistic defense in a fight, intercepting with another attack, or the blocking in European Boxing?

What do you think and whats your experience?

[DWx]

I'm not totally sure what you mean by Kung Fu/Wing Chun blocking but... if your average thug tries to punch you, they tend to swing (in my experience anyway). Using the block more as a push to topple them over, especially if a lot of momentum is moving forward, and then punching works for me.

[marie curie]

I tend to dodge, as well as parry/block. Moreso to prevent that fist next to me from becoming a back-fist or short kenpo punch. I think it's personally reasonable as long as they aren't hard blocks, which could very well damage your arm/wrist more than it would have your chest or something.

[straightblast]

The block for me is to passive, I would use it maybe in a surprise attack. I rather intercept or use a destruction. I use the parry more often and trapping if my attack is blocked or the path is obstructed. I have found that the traditional karate block works best when I use them as a strike instead to the body, neck, back, groin..etc instead of the typical block to a punch.

[cross]

Blocks in a traditional sense tend to fall short when it comes to dealing with full out attacks. Often you will learn a number of different blocks and each one will be used to defend against one of more techniques... The problem arises when you add some randomness to the attacks. Being that the hand is quicker than the eye you will rarely have time to see what the attacker is doing, process what type of attack you think is coming, and scroll through your list of blocks to select the correct one and then execute it.

Boxing style defence is definetly alot more practical. But more importantly you should test out your bodies natural reflexes and attach your combative strategy to what you already have. That makes more sense to me than learning a whole new way to move that often requires far 2 many things going in your favor for it to be effective.

Not to mention you should try to have a small number of defenses that can cover a large number of attacks. E.g. your defence against a hook punch should be the same has your defence against a slash to the throat with a knife. Attacker moves exactly the same in both cases, so use a defensive technique that works off your reflexive response and that is capable of dealing with both attacks safely.

For more on this check out https://www.senshido.com

[bushido_man96]

I don't know that I would ever throw a "traditional" style block to an attack, with the typical chamber of the arm prior to the motion, and then the static finish. The only way I would do this is if the attack was very telegraphed, and I knew I could set it up to do the damage.

Mainly, I would attempt to keep my hands in a protective position, especially of my head, and attempt smaller blocks along with some movement, making sure to keep control of my limbs as much as possible. Unfortunatley, if someone is throwing a shot at you, then there is a good chance they already have taken the upper hand; not many people who want to attack you will wait for you to be prepared. Therefore, you may not have much time to block...best case, get your hits in as soon as you can.

[gzk]

One of the things we train a lot is what we call "the shell", where you grab the head as if to rub in hair gel (or rogaine, as is more appropriate for some of us ) and cover the face, looking out through the small gap between the forearms. While it's hard to be very proactive from the shell, it is useful if someone suddenly "kicks off" on you, in no small part because your hands will probably move that way anyway as part of your natural flinch response. It's also a technically easy technique to use under pressure. If your attacker threw 20 punches at full, adrenaline-fuelled force, how many could you parry or execute Karate-style blocks successfully against?

We drill it in stand-up, with one partner moving up and down the length of the mat in their shell, with the other partner continually throwing punches aimed at the face (and blocked by the shell), and on the ground, where the partner on the bottom takes a few punches on the shell before bridging and rolling the top partner off of their mount, or working the guard to control and possibly sweep the top partner.

[glockmeister]

I have used blocks also used evasion and parry. Really, it depends on your opponent more than anything. Is he coming in with a big "haymaker" punch? or is he using short, fast punches? Sometimes it is wiser to just get in and clinch.

[lordtariel]

I feel blocking has it's place but it's better to get out of the way. I would never in a million years use a formal block in fighting. They are like all other formal techniques, they look all spiffy, but don't look anything like how you would use when fighting. How many people fully chamber a reverse punch when they're sparring? Very few, but people still use the reverse punch.

[BLOWN]

Personally, I parry and attack at the same time. I rarely ever just block unless I'm checking a kick.

-Blown