Shoulder roll in MMA noob question

[slicebergjim]

Hi everyone,

I have a boxing background, I’m currently training kickboxing (Dutch style) but I’m planning on transitioning to MMA in the near future.

I have a (perhaps negative) tendency to use the left shoulder roll and upper body movement to block and dodge body and head strikes. It makes me a little susceptible to leg kicks, however my reflexes are decent and I’m usually able to block or dodge these in time.

MMA guys usually keep their hands a little further down to defend takedowns, as opposed to (Dutch) kickboxers, who usually keep a high guard.

Does a partial low guard like the shoulder roll help when fighting opponents that you know like to shoot for the takedown? I can imagine the blocking hand being relatively low would be able to fend off opponents shooting quickly by pushing them down, while you simultaneously push your lower body out the way and sprawl.

 

[Cole train]

You learn to use it in mma in time

I literally shoulder rolled 80 percent of opponents punches in my third mma fight

Still lost though

A lot of basic stuff from other arts works in mma, you will learn how to use it in mma in due time

 

[tekkenfan]

i think hand sup is very very important in mma more so than other combat sports small gloves very explosive art anything can happen people need to drop their ego iv been boxing more than half my life and i still keep a veyr fundamental guard it isnt the end all be all of defense but when in doubt hands up

so many guys get ko'ed due to this in mma defense is something in mma that isnt really high level everyone trains offense to the t with pads ect and just sparring thats why we see so many flash kos and upsets especially above 155

 

[eternaldarkness]

The biggest danger of shoulder rolling is getting kicked in the head, but your right, the low lead can help fending off shots if you have a decent sprawl.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

It’s not a bad thing honestly. But staying in exchanging range too long without moving your feet is always a bad idea. Blocking a combo or two at most and you have to move in mma. Mostly because of the takedowns

 

[AndyMaBobs]

Watch Dustin Poirier for an example of it working - he does it from southpaw and it's pretty confusing for his opponents, Max Holloway says "he's blocking weird" in between two of the rounds of their fight.

 

[eternaldarkness]

It’s not a bad thing honestly. But staying in exchanging range too long without moving your feet is always a bad idea. Blocking a combo or two at most and you have to move in mma. Mostly because of the takedowns

100% I have a bad habit of this and it becomes easy to get taken down if you try to block too many shots without moving.

 

[ImmigrantMentality]

My opinion is that you can use it but don't make a habit of it like you're Mayweather or james toney or something. A big puncher who favors his rear hand would be a good opponent to make use of that technique