A breakdown of a beautifully executed combination by Anthony Johnson using the long guard

[MuayThaiHigh]

 

[ctrlaltdelete]

That was cool. I'm super weird about the muay thai long guard - I want to learn it but I don't really know how to implement it.

My boxing experience tells me that an opponent will bob and weave over / around my arms and tag me so I don't trust it enough to practice.

 

[MuayThaiHigh]

That was cool. I'm super weird about the muay thai long guard - I want to learn it but I don't really know how to implement it.

My boxing experience tells me that an opponent will bob and weave over / around my arms and tag me so I don't trust it enough to practice.

I completely understand, long guard is something that takes a long time to develop.

IMO, one should not even attempt to play with long guard unless they have a really solid foundation of defense and a really good tight guard shield.

And a good tight guard shield doesn't mean just putting the hands up. It means you are able to see the punches coming, rolling with it, able to catch hooks, block punches effectively without absorbing too much damage. The list go on.

I spent about 6-8 months just on developing my defence and my tight guard shield before I played with the long guard.

But since you said you have boxing experience, I think your tight shield should be pretty good

I will share my experience of me developing the long guard, I hope it helps ! Maybe in the future I will make a video about it too.

1) Defensively, long guard is great for jamming and blocking punches.

When I first started playing with the long guard, I only used it defensively. You will find great success exiting your attack with long guard against a punch favour opponent. But you gotta watch out for body shots and body kicks though.

2) Watch out for uppercuts when you use long guard. Check out these two videos, they cover how to block uppercuts.



3) Offensively, long guard is awesome against a person that always have a tight shield.

I honestly love it whenever someone always has a tight shield up. You can literally just use the long guard to pin their arm and elbow / knee the sh*t out of them. Your hands will always be checking their hands so any slight movement coming out of them you can sense it and react to it.

The distance when it comes to attacking with the long guard is quite tricky imo and it takes a lot of time to get used to. That's why I suggest only using the long guard defensively at first, to get used to the distance with the long guard then you can slowly implement some offense with it.

4) Long guard is selectively blocking punches while being aware of body shots/body kicks and low kicks

Unlike the tight shield, which block most punches just by having the shield up, the long guard allows you to cover some part of your head without absorbing as much damage as the tight shield, but leaving other areas of your head and your body opened.

A comment scenario when I play with the long guard these days is that I use a regular long guard to jam my opponent overhand right, he then proceed to go for an uppercut. I then have to switch to a dracula guard to block the incoming uppercut.

Another comment scenario is that my opponent bait me to use the long guard and go for a body shot, I then have to go back to the tight shield blocking the body punches.

The long guard is a higher level of defense because you need to be able to read whats coming and select what type of guard you are going to choose. There are different types of long guard, each used for different reason.

5) If you combine long guard with footwork (evasive footwork, circling around), then you really wouldn't take much damage.

The long guard is meant to be used at a distance, so imagine you combine it with footwork. Your opponent will have a very difficult time getting close to you to land the big shots cause your arm is always out measuring and feeling the distance.

Jeff Chan from MMAshredded uses the long guard extremely well. He not only have tutorials on it but you can also look at his sparring videos and other tutorial videos where you can observe how he uses the long guard.

6) Long guard gets super interesting and fun when two people are both hand fighting

Watch some youtube videos on long guard attacks, and watch some muay thai fights, see how the thai use the long guard to attack and defend. Then grab one of your friends to try it out. It is one of the most fun aspect of muay thai for me. Seriously, there is a WORLD of stuff there for you to explore.

7) If they get pass your long guard, you have to either clinch them up or back the f**k up.

If your opponent get pass your long guard and you still use the long guard, you are gonna get hit with so many upper cuts and body. So you have to make a choice:

A) Transition in the tight shield and you decide what you wanna do from there. I usually either circle out or aggressive counter if I do decide to go for the tight shield.

Don't make the mistake of constantly using the long guard. Sometimes you just have to transition to the tight shield. I have seen quite a few Muay Thai Fights where one guy gets hurt pretty bad and still keep sticking their hands out for the long guard. Their opponent will then spam uppercuts, and they will still try to defend with the long guard ! Needlessly to say they get ktfo afterwards.

B) Engage the clinch. Both MMAshredded and Sean an have videos covering this, I will also include this in my "how to enter the clinch safely" series


Sorry for the long post I hope it helps !

 

[ctrlaltdelete]

Another good post, I'll take your advice in this thread and play around with it, thanks!

 

[ARIZE]

I personally don't use the Long Guard the same way @MuayThaiHigh. Not that I think something is wrong with the way he does it , just that it's another style.

I don't use the LG from a distance. I don't like to have my arm extended if i am not touching my opponent.
I mostly use it in transition between clinches: If i want to set up mine, or if I want to avoid his. I find that a long guard + a piercing knee to an advancing opponent does wonders to stop him.

It also helps to trap/grab the opponents hand and with a quick step in, you can throw an elbow to the exposed face.

I don't really use it to block punches, I prefer the snakes guard or the shield up guard.

When using the LG, you must be aware of what openings you give, and what strikes and feints your opponent will use.
Like MuayThaiHigh said, you give your opponent I clear view of your ribs so you must be aware of the roundhouse. Against a LG, i will feint a kick to the opposite side (most of the times a switch kick for example), then throw a kick while his shin check is compromised by the feint, and the side exposed by the LG if he doesn't tighten up his guard.

Another thing i like to do against long guard is to use teeps... A lot of people use the front hand do block/redirect the teep. But when it's extended like that it's a lot harder. So you must have that in mind. You may want to train to block the teeps with the rear hand.

Don't worry to much about people coming around the LG. After a while you will see it's very easy to "follow" their movement with your extended hand. And if people go under make them pay with knees.

 

[Higus]

Can it be modified for boxing, or does it hinder your rear hand too much?

 

[MuayThaiHigh]

I personally don't use the Long Guard the same way @MuayThaiHigh. Not that I think something is wrong with the way he does it , just that it's another style.

I don't use the LG from a distance. I don't like to have my arm extended if i am not touching my opponent.
I mostly use it in transition between clinches: If i want to set up mine, or if I want to avoid his. I find that a long guard + a piercing knee to an advancing opponent does wonders to stop him.

It also helps to trap/grab the opponents hand and with a quick step in, you can throw an elbow to the exposed face.

I don't really use it to block punches, I prefer the snakes guard or the shield up guard.

When using the LG, you must be aware of what openings you give, and what strikes and feints your opponent will use.
Like MuayThaiHigh said, you give your opponent I clear view of your ribs so you must be aware of the roundhouse. Against a LG, i will feint a kick to the opposite side (most of the times a switch kick for example), then throw a kick while his shin check is compromised by the feint, and the side exposed by the LG if he doesn't tighten up his guard.

Another thing i like to do against long guard is to use teeps... A lot of people use the front hand do block/redirect the teep. But when it's extended like that it's a lot harder. So you must have that in mind. You may want to train to block the teeps with the rear hand.

Don't worry to much about people coming around the LG. After a while you will see it's very easy to "follow" their movement with your extended hand. And if people go under make them pay with knees.

I totally understand what you mean. Long guard can actually be risky being used to block punches from a distance.Your post is great and I think it will help lots of people who are trying to play with the long guard

Can it be modified for boxing, or does it hinder your rear hand too much?

Watch Lomachenko, he incorporates some long guard (not in the traditional muay thai long guard sense, but very similar) and lots of hand trapping.

By the way guys my new video of 4 powerful right kick chains against a southpaw is up , be sure to check it out !

 

[MadSquabbles500]

Anthony Johnson has vastly improved upon his striking since the last time I watched him which is like when he fought Koscheck and got choked out.

Who does he train with now? I remember he used to train with Cung Le, I think.

 

[PivotPunch]

Anthony Johnson has vastly improved upon his striking since the last time I watched him which is like when he fought Koscheck and got choked out.

Who does he train with now? I remember he used to train with Cung Le, I think.

He was training with Henri Hooft