Hand Position

[CharmingCritic]

Just curious about how people here carry their hands in the guard position. I've experimented quite a bit, and I still feel most comfortable with an ultra tight, gloves by the temples guard you see from guys like Ghita, Spong, Saki, Hari, etc. A lot of great fighters use different guards though...Petrosyan leaves his lead hand very far out, which seems to give people a lot of trouble, Hoost's guard is a bit lower and better for parrying than blocking, etc.

What hand position do y'all prefer?

 

[KyleInAction]

Since we're talking about guard, I think stance is also relevant:

Boxing. I stand with my feet shoulder width apart, weight about 40/60 on my back leg, with my body twisted so my side is facing my opponent. My rear arm is kept tucked tight against my body, with the glove pressed against my chin like I'm trying to pinch onto a beard-hair. My lead hand is about 4 inches from my face at about neck level with my chin tucked below the same shoulder. I prefer having a greater field of vision; I did hands-high for awhile, but I found that I got hit with "harder" shots from around the guard simply because I couldn't see them coming. Now I see more, and can roll with shots better.

 

[Judoxing]

My coaches preach the tight, hands-up stance with about an 20/80 distribution of weight favoring your back leg. My head movement is pretty good so as I've started to develop my own stance I keep my hands lower. I like to have my right up by the cheek for power shots and I keep my left lower, a little above my hip. I also distribute my weight a little more evenly between legs, probably 40/60 as opposed to 20/80. This lets me be more mobile.

 

[Sinister]

I stand like Vic Darchinyan:

 

[CharmingCritic]

damn, that's a stone wall!

 

[Sinister]

His wacky positionings are why it's so fun to watch him fight, though.

 

[KyleInAction]

I've also come to appreciate this guard. Originating in the 1960s, it's passive and provides 360 degrees of skull protection.

Comes with complimentary nickname "De-troit".

 

[Sinister]

Critic, I'll make a more serious post later. Didn't mean to descend your thread into comedy. That said, this is one of the funniest stance photos I've ever taken. Two MMA guys trying to work out how to hit each other:

 

[Catwv]

I've also come to appreciate this guard. Originating in the 1960s, it's passive and provides 360 degrees of skull protection.

Comes with complimentary nickname "De-troit".

This one is awesome. You don't even have to keep your hands up and you don't even get hurt! WORKS EVERY TIME!

 

[ambertch]

I stand differently depending on situation, but there are two rules I *TRY* to NEVER break (the operative rule here is 'try'):

1. right hand glued to cheek
2. right elbow glued to ribcage

I'd say 80% of the times I get hit are due to breaking those rules (to be fair, this includes falling for feints and getting countered, but none the less, it is paramount...)

 

[ambertch]

The reason why #2 is important gets into why you see so many pro boxers hold their hands lower. The solar plexus and liver are such big targets and so easy to be hurt there, and your head is mobile and able to dodge shots while your body is planted. So guys who are good are going to go to those weakpoints on the body, and so some fighters choose to defend the body more since they are confident of seeing shots coming to the head (though this backfires when the other guy is faster - see Mayweather vs. Gatti, or Malignaggi vs. Khan).

But part of why they are doing that is because they are fighting OTHER really good people - people who watch TV and try to copy the stance of the pros don't realize this and then do shit like stand with their lead hand down and get pwned.

 

[thirteen]

I used to hold them pretty tight and close to my face. As I learn to gauge distance better my lead hand has come forward and lower, rear hand stays basically at my cheek though.

 

[Bekim]

Fetal position, on the floor, works against any boxer!

 

[SummerStriker]

Fetal position, on the floor, works against any boxer!

"To avoid conflict, don't contend."

 

[Azam]

I've also come to appreciate this guard. Originating in the 1960s, it's passive and provides 360 degrees of skull protection.

Comes with complimentary nickname "De-troit".

lmao is that a one piece fan - wow he really did his homework with the guard....