Which way is more effective to strike? Relaxed (Conor/Anderson) or Stiff (the rest)

[Oduj]

This is why the wait for Aldo-Conor is killing me, two distinctive and opposite way of striking. Just look the difference between the two approaches here with Anderson and Jacare:

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[Jimmy James]

Relaxed. You can throw faster when your muscles aren't already tensed up. It allows you to throw short ranges punches very rapidly too once you learn how to keep your muscles loose. And not just short range punches but all of your punches. Look at Anderson, Ali, Bruce Lee and Conor. Take note.

 

[chaos_36]

All the people you mentioned as being effective when relaxed also happened to be very unorthodox and creative. Generally the most successful fighters are those who have solid fundamentals but the truly great fighters are the ones who know the fundamentals but adapt their own unique style which may or may not follow textbook techniques. Roy Jones is a prime example of this, he knew the fundamentals extremely well but when he fought he followed very few of them.

 

[JKS]

Really depends on the fighter and how good he is.

 

[Jimmy James]

Go to any kickboxing, boxing or MMA gym and they'll tell you to relax and not be stiff when sparring, even hitting the bag or mitts. Being stiff means that your muscles are already contracted or semi-contracted, which means more resistance that will get in the way of how fast you can throw and how fluid you can strike. Being tense/stiff hinders this. Wanderlei was as stiff as a board, as an extreme example. He never had fast hands but he was always a powerful puncher. Dan Henderson too, even Rumble. All of these guys are "stiffs" but have been very effective with their punching power and getting the knockout.

Defensively there are benefits to staying loose and relaxed too. When a punch comes in and you're loose and not already tensed up you'll be able to absorb it more like a sponge than if you were stiff, where the punch (or any strike for that matter) would meet it dead on with full impact because there's little to no give to take some of the impact away. When Conor was eating GNP from Mendes, notice how extremely relaxed he was. By doing this, it made him a lot harder to hurt with those punches and elbows.

Same concept when getting into a car wreck. If you tense up then you risk being injured worse than you'd be if you were relaxed. You go with the momentum/force, you don't want to fight it and meet it head on.

 

[BLIND]

This is an odd question with a very obvious answer. Jimmy James hit the nail on the head. Chris Leben was as stiff as it gets and he mad power
Edit: drunk, the Chris Leben comment was just to provide a perceived positive to being "stiff." Being loose and fluid is the way to go for aspiring/training fighters

 

[prikoke]

Relaxed. Unless you're George Foreman.

 

[Mixedfights]

Relaxed. Tight is slow and actually not as powerful. Plus it stresses your muscles more.

 

[Koro_11]

This guy's way seems pretty effective...