Judo guy working the bag - still lame but better thanks to you guys

I initially posted a video at:

I got plenty of great suggestions from you guys and I feel like I have made some progress although theres still a long way to go.

I think my footwork is a little better, as is my low-kick, jab, cross and hook - all of which were essentially non-existent on the first video.

I am trying to keep more centred and involve the hips in the power-punches as well as jab from different angles (although the location of the bag makes it a little bit limited)

I feel I am not covering up well enough and am open for counter-punches and body shots. I also would like to start working a bit on my own body shots and uppercuts following some slips/weaves.

As before, your suggestings and commentary both positive and negative are very welcome. I'd like to know what some experienced eyes tell me to work on a bit further. I DO know it would be best to go and visit my local MT club (a very strong club, actually) and will do this at some stage. For now...

--------------------------
Video ('bout 2.3Mb)
http://www.budokan-judo-club.com/idump/jugogido/judogido-boxing2.wmv
--------------------------

From the first post: (+video for reference: http://www.budokan-judo-club.com/idump/jugogido/gido-boxing.wmv

 

Nice work bro, you are looking alot cleaner than before, just keep at it and I'm sure you'll get even better. A few things i'd like to see that would help is if you circled the bag a bit more, you are pretty much just hitting it from on angle but maybe you're just doing that so we get a good look on video. Another thing is work your kicks a bit more, I wanna see you throw a big head kick those are always nice to have in your arsenal. Besides that you are looking great man, keep up the great work

 

Definitly looking a lot more crips than before. Good progress and keep with it, man.

 

First and foremost your jab needs a lot of work; you are tending to hit and then leave your arm extended, leaving yourself open for body shots among other things, As you move forward your rear heel is off the ground when you hit which which throws you back as you connect.

Your supporting leg isnt turning as you throw your roundhouse kick so your toes are still pretty much pointing at the bag, turning your supporting leg will put more of your bodyweight behind the kick and that'll add a lot of power.

When you throw body hooks towards the end of the tape you are'nt commiting behind them and they dont seem to have any real power. You then try to double up the hooks on one side throwing body then head, which is a nice combination, but as you rise up to throw the shot to the head you're losing contact with the ground and the hook loses a lot of power from doing this (you've got to have contact with the floor or else when you hit something you just go backwards, the whole Newtonian action/reaction thing).

At the moment your footwork is still pretty scrappy, although its a fair improvement on the previous video, more practice and concentrating on how you place your feet will improve that.

Hope that helps.

 

BRAVO, honestly, while something's still need work of course, you are looking so much improved from the last time, nice job on keeping your left up while throwing the right straight, keep it up!

 

Smashius, I'm going to have to post a vid so you can critique me as well. People usually have to pay for this much advice.

 

I love the part where you rub your shin after kicking 3 times, that's so cute!

 

you need to have your shoulders/ hips in one line more and turn your whole upper body each time you punch because your left straight is really weak

 

Yeah, you're going to get LOTS of mixed criticisms when you come to a very diverse public domain and ask for open advice like this. However, the trick is to put it all into practice at least a little bit, step-by-step adapt what feels natural compared to what you don't like. Keep the tips and tricks that you feel increase your speed and power, and throw away anything that hinders those two factors.

Stand up game is first and foremost about just that. Speed, and power. Those are the two things you want to polish and spit shine as much as possible. You can have the most unconventional, sloppy looking, shitty appearing hook in the world. If that thing moves like lightning and knocks over trucks, that's exactly what you need to keep.

My primary concern with your video is that, although you 'keep your hands up' pretty well, you look like you're spending conscious effort on keeping them there. There's tension in your arms and shoulders. Relax, lower your elbows a bit more, keep 'em closer to your body, and not 'out front' the way they are. This will not only help you keep energy and bloow flow through your arms and shoulders, but help provide extra shields down the side of your body, to protect your liver, ribs, etc. from body shots. The key to a solid stand-up game is developing a level of familiarity and comfort with your capabilities where you no longer have to mentally remind yourself of each key point. Primarily, you just want to be able to relax alot more. There's alot of energy being expended not only in each of your movements, but in your basic 'stance' you look like you're a little bit Deer-In-The-Headlights. There should be a level of relaxation in your static, or 'guard' stance, where you'll actually be able to RECOVER energy and stamina.

With your hands a little lower, you might feel like your head isn't as protected... But that brings about point #2. Tuck your chin. Alot. Technically, the lower your chin is to your chest, the better you stand defensively. You'll see some of the K-1 pro's like Remy Bonjasky go 'defensive' and they tuck their chin all the way to their chest, lock their hands 'up', and pretty much just look down at the floor while their opponent goes flurrying all over 'em. They can stand there and weather a storm of incoming strikes in their 'turtle mode'. You don't have to tuck it all the way down, but the lowest you can go while keeping your airway completely open, and strong visibility of your opponent, is exactly where you want to set it. Keep it there when throwing punches, kicks, anything. If you see a big headshot coming, you tuck your chin the rest of the way, and the only KO point you have on your head is your temples. Which you should easily be able to cover up with your hands.

Think of it visually as if your jawbone/chin was a mechanical lever set in the wall of a factory. Your chin is the 'handle' or end of this lever, and the back of your neck(in a straight line back from the point of your chin, following your jawbone), is the socket this lever extends from. The lever can only move so much in any direction. That's how it was designed. Anything farther than that will short out the mechanical systems, resulting in a shut down of the entire factory. On the end of this lever is 'The Button', which controls all of the electrical systems in the factory. The same problems can occur if anyone manages to land a punch right on The Button(your jawbone will actually slide backwards a little bit farther than normal in your skull, and can pinch a major nerve set right under the earlobe) The biggest priority, if someone is trying to break this lever, should be to put it in the position where it is hardest to make any physical contact with.

I could probably deal better advice if you could show us some shadow boxing. Since that's your judo dojo(am I right?) there should be some good open spaces so you could show us some of your footwork during lateral movement(There's not much room around that heavy Bag, I see. ) As well as some straight on footage, where you're throwing techniques towards the camera. With more lateral movement, we can analyze you from multiple different angles, and you can incorporate a bit more diversity in your techniques also. Let us get a look at how you throw knees, for instance. Knees are some of my favorite techniques, and can make a world of difference at any level in the fight game.

 

Definite improvement...at least this time you don't appear to be afraid to haul off and hit the thing. :wink:

Couple items that occurred to me:

1) I think perhaps your punching a little too much with your arms and not using your hips and shoulders enough. It's kinda hard doing so with ease, since I think most of us start out thinking that punching is more using your arm to propel your fist out instead of using your shoulders and hips to propel your arms out. The latter is how I try to visualize when punching; I try to worry about what my hips and shoulders are doing, maybe even exaggerate hip and shoulder movement a little from time to time so that it comes more easily when I punch normally.


2) Footwork is a little better but has a way to go, I think. There seems to be a certain tenativeness to your foot positioning; if I had to guess, I'd say you're actually cognizant of where they are and are consciously re-positioning them. You should not, of course, be doing that. When your working the bag or sparring, all movement should involve you essentially moving from one ready stance to another, not moving and then getting into a stance, so you can react quickly and instinctively. You'd do well to spend some time doing nothing but foot work drills, which you can at least do anywhere you can find a little floorspace (such as at home); spend a little time regularly just moving about in a fighting stance until it becomes second-nature.

 

I think, as a complete beginner, you've made a lot of progress and are getting some good power into those punches. Good 1-2. Great job!

My suggestions would be:

1) Forget the fancy stuff for now - double jabs, body shots, fancy combos, etc. Right now the #1 thing you need to work on is your stance, movement, and footwork. As someone stated before, you are VERY tense. I sense a lot of hesitation and stiffness. Striking is VERY much like dancing. Mas Oyama once said that you need to love music to do budo, and that he once saw an untrained ballet dancer kick ass in a bar fight simply because he had good rhythm.

Remember to keep your body loose at all times. I can't emphasize this enough. Tense only at the right moments, at the end of a punch or when receiving a blow. This will do wonders for your mobility and power. Work a lot on shadow boxing and moving around until it feels totally natural.

2) Try to get more pop into those punches. You are pushing a lot into those jabs...remember, you need to bring the punch back as fast as you threw it out, and in a straight line. Also, you can try to torque your body a bit more when jabbing, i.e. twist your hips/body to the right, this gives you more power and minimizes exposure as well.

Have fun practicing!

 

Oh and one more thing. I don't know if you already do this, but skipping rope is absolutely essential. It's one of the best things for your footwork.

 

Dude, good improvement. The first video is about where I'm at right now. You look a hell of a lot more confident and crisp in the second video.

Is that your judo dojo? How come the tatami looks so thick? Is there a thick layer of padding underneath?

 

Use your hips more with that left jab and work on that footwork. I'm quessing you are right handed, so your left hand isnt as strong and coodinated. It's seems that you are focusing on that strong jab before throwing that big right. Practice on that more. The jab is to lead, so don't worry to much about power for it.

For that last combo you did, focus more on that body shot. You aren't committed.

For now, just focus on your jabs and that footwork. Rotate that body. Don't stand restricted. Throw those punches, don't stiff yourself up.

As for the kicks, work on that later on.

 

ground reaction force: keep both feet on the floor when throwing javs

 

I'll do just about anything to put off work so if you're lucky enough to catch me when I should be writing a aerodynamics report you've pretty much got my full attention.

 

Most definitely it helps. Thanks for the advice!!

You are most correct about my footwork & I admit I can "feel" it. I noticed myself falling/stumbling backward after throwing a hard combination - I will try to keep my heel on the ground & see if it helps any.

As for the body shots - they suck - I know. Again - related a lot to footwork as you said. I am going to spend a little time on this.

Thanks again...

 

Guards, they should revoke the Double Yellow for that post.

"Deer-in-headlights" made me laugh - but you pick up on something I have been consciously trying to do. I know with practice it will come, but at the moment you are spot-on inasmuch as I get really tense and it wears me out.

The shoulders, neck and delts ache after a while & I normally give a shrug & a shake & try to relax - only to find I'm tensed up again 20 seconds later. It is quite wearying.

I HAVE been worried a bit about defense - I will work on it as you suggest.

As for me shadow-boxing - I might take your advice & post that too. I'm afraid I'm gonna look as bad shadowboxing as I did in the first heavybag video. Ah, well - in for a penny, in for a pound - time to put the ego aside again & look foolish for the sake of progress.

Thanks very much for the advice.

 

Yeah - it really hurt...

However, I managed to fix it by following some advice from my post last time.

Someone suggested I try and kick at a slightly downward angle, like a "chop". Made a big difference plus much less bruising.

This, plus not wearing my judo pants really help. The judo pants gave me some scrapes which bled & hurt.

I can pretty much kick for 3 minutes straight now with only some minor bruising.

 

Thanks! I am definitely able to put a bit more "oomph" behind those punches. Amazing what a little technique does, huh?

I'm getting better with this. I think I have to "slow down" and concentrate. more on it. When I try to go too hard, I start reverting back to old habits.

I DO have to really think about my footwork. It is definitely not coming naturally.

Considering how many people are posting "footwork" I might just have to set some time aside especially for this - including some shadowboxing.

Thanks!