Defence Variations

[marksmarkou]

Regarding defending strikes there are many variations including blocking, parrying, bob and weaving, taking the blow, stop hitting etc. Although one variation is not necessarily better than the other, and each can be used depending on the situation, everyone has there preferences when defending. Ask Mike Tyson and he will probably say he prefers slipping over parrying for example.

What is your preference and why.

[tallgeese]

Hands up at the head, elbows cover the body, legs cover legs and groin. Each weapon stays primarily on it's own side of the center line. Now all of your major avanues of attack are covered. There's no reaching for incoming attacks. The lead shoulder is slightly elevated and the chin dipped slightly into it. That's the core posture.

Now, we add distancing and body/head movement. Slipping, added with parrying and trapping. This, working off the core posture from above, gives you a strong defensive base to work from. Movemnt should endevor to work off of the angles rather than straight back and forth, t his again will make you harder to hit.

[Tiger1962]

For starters, I don't believe in all that jumping around that some people advise you to do while sparring - it tires you out and uses up good energy.

For defense purposes, I generally keep my ribs & face covered. Covering the face but leaving the side of your ribs open is setting yourself up for a real bad hit. Trying to "read" the other person's body language and switching sides of the body between open and closed stances are also good defense techniques that seem to work for me.

On the other end of it, I avoid swinging a punch in a circular motion but rather straight out ahead in a quick snap out and snap back motion. Mixing it up by pretending you're going to use one technique and quickly switching to the opposite usually tricks the opponent nicely.

[bushido_man96]

My most reliable defensive stance is like a Boxer's stance. I tend to block a lot, cram inside, and then attack. I try to work angles a bit, too.

[Prostar]

Mostly, I like to watch out for what not to do and morph that into something to do.

Watch out for backpeadling. Go no more than two steps back, then move sideways. Even mix that up.

Don't ever reach to block anything. Let it come to your block. Then with your hands still up and in tght, move in with a counter.

Obvious stuff, but it is amazing how many people miss these things.

[joesteph]

Don't ever reach to block anything. Let it come to your block. Then with your hands still up and in tght, move in with a counter.

I think this is a good general rule, Prostar. An exception I can see is with someone like me, who's usually at a height and therefore reach disadvantage, in that I may have to move in with a block in order to infight. And it usually refers to kicks, with Tae Kwon Do in the past and Soo Bahk Do today, that my sparring partner forgets s/he has hands to punch with.

I think the best block against a roundhouse is if you can block at the opponent's knee. I'm not as fast as in the past, but I can think of a few times sparring with a particular higher belt who relies perhaps too comfortably on his kicks, expecting no one to get past them. It's non-contact, so I can't strike him should I move in, but I have opened my hands right in front of him, as though I were going to push him over.

[Shotokan-kez]

I tend to have my shortness as an advantage and i use that quite a lot. I keep my guard up high and use my elbows to protect my stomach and ribs. I tent to use my legs to block their kicks, raising my knee's, sometimes it hurts but that gets me close enough to get a jodan to the face and score an ippon. Also a lot of ducking and diving helps with my size.

[The BB of C]

I prefer parrying because it leaves most room for a counter attack and has virtually no recoil. I can parry outside to set up a trap or I can parry inside to move in with a counter attack and even set up some combinations.

[joesteph]

There's no reaching for incoming attacks.

Don't ever reach to block anything.

Tallgeese, Prostar . . . Do you ever utilize "slapping down" your opponent's punches? I don't mean to the side, as when near your face, but slapping down to intercept the punch's motion, say about two-thirds of the way to you?

[tallgeese]

I incorporate it as part of my trapping training. And it is highly effective. The key is to not reach from your guard position but to trap it as it travels into your sphere of influence. Like you said, aabout three quaters of the way there.