Elbows from close inside?

[LardAss]

Hard sparring last week.

Opponent was *very* good, admittedly well above my skill level. He's fought a number of regional pro fights, has a strong winning record, trains most days of the week, etc.

He'd got me in underhooks, then backed me up into the fence and started in with the horizontal elbows. I turtled up as best I could, tried to explode out with uppercuts and haymakers, got him off me with a few leg kicks but he'd repeat the process and wound up beating me up pretty good with elbows and knees whenever he could get a good plum on me. It sucked.

Do you find yourself defending elbows differently than other strikes?
Do you think there's a psychological factor involved with them, since they're so sharp and cut so bad? I'm normally pretty fearless about putting myself in there and getting beaten up if need be but when he started sinking those damn elbows into my face, I found myself thrown well off my game, psychologically speaking. I actually tried for this weird tip-toed standing guillotine out of desperation that was incredibly pathetic and just resulted in more elbows.

Anyone else experience a psychological factor with elbows?

(the good news was I learned a lot about myself in the process of getting beaten up and the guy in question was extremely cool, talked to me a lot about how to improve my inside work, pointed out a couple flaws, etc)

[Eric Bradach]

Yeah, there definitely is a psychological factor when it comes to elbows but its the same as opposed to getting punches, kicks, or knees. You just have to get use to it.

Your mistake during sparring was turtling up. If your opponent starts throwing elbows you have to either A.) get them at a distance where they can't throw them or B.) clinch up with them and control there arms. I like B and go for bicep control and go for vertical elbows.

[aries]

You guys spar hard with elbows?
Main defence is clinch them up. If he has underhooks then you can easily get your arms inside his and elbow him back. Underhooks isn't a great position for throwing elbows anyway. Tuck your head on the side his has the underhook opposite to the side he is throwing the elbows from. He can't hit you then.

[Muay o Muay]

Above advice is sound but personally not sure if I believe ts.

[aries]

^ yeah that's what I thought when he said opponent has underhooks. What double underhooks and is throwing elbows?? How is he getting separation? And who spars with hard elbows?? I would be pissed off if someone cut me with a hard elbow.

[Flava]

Hard sparring with elbows?

[Discipulus]

Originally Posted by aries

^ yeah that's what I thought when he said opponent has underhooks. What double underhooks and is throwing elbows?? How is he getting separation? And who spars with hard elbows?? I would be pissed off if someone cut me with a hard elbow.

Dorian Price showed me a way to land with the meat of the arm where the elbow folds. You can throw them at least medium intensity without hurting anybody, and his explanation was that if you can contort your arm into that position to land with the arm, you're already in a position to execute the much easier motion of throwing a normal cross elbow. Still, doesn't sound like that's TS' explanation. Maybe they wear elbow pads?

The best way to avoid elbows is to control the arms, or control the space.

He's not going to be able to elbow you if you have a tight bodylock or double overhooks. He's not going to be able to elbow you if you're too far away (be sure that he doesn't control your hands, because this is where clinching range really begins). And he can't elbow you if you control his biceps, either from the outside or the inside.

You're in danger of being elbowed if you shell up, or if you're trying to clinch and you let him crossface you or gain inside position.

[LardAss]

Originally Posted by aries

^ yeah that's what I thought when he said opponent has underhooks. What double underhooks and is throwing elbows?? How is he getting separation? And who spars with hard elbows?? I would be pissed off if someone cut me with a hard elbow.

That he got me in unerhoods, backed me into the gate and started with elbows?

You struggle with that? Reading comprehension, much?

As far as who spars with elbows, we have hard spar once a week with modified rules. It's all full power striking. I've explained it before, don't have the patience to keep doing it over and over. Believe whatever you want, but at least read carefully.

[barnowl]

Originally Posted by LardAss

That he got me in unerhoods, backed me into the gate and started with elbows?

You struggle with that? Reading comprehension, much?

As far as who spars with elbows, we have hard spar once a week with modified rules. It's all full power striking. I've explained it before, don't have the patience to keep doing it over and over. Believe whatever you want, but at least read carefully.

We are reading and your not making sense. Is he dropping the underhooks after he gets you to the cage? If so that is when you stop the elbows from even starting.

[Discipulus]

I think we're having difficulty believing that you know so little about fighting that a man is able to elbow you directly from double underhooks. Or that you responded to advice you yourself asked for in such a douchey manner.